H310 heeling

Jul 2, 2019
102
Hunter 310 Pine Beach, NJ
1998 wing keel with new main & orig jib. Jib is probsbly anout a 110. Main is very close to orig size but loose foot. This boat thinks nothing of leaning over 30 to 35 degrees on any form of reach. This in a 12kt steady breeze. Is the boat way overpowered with its orig sail plan? Lower ports touch the water. Its cool but snnoying LOL. Wouldnt it sail much more efficiently a lot flatter?
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
... Wouldnt it sail much more efficiently a lot flatter?
Yes! Something is wrong. Maybe your sails are ballooned. Maybe you have them over trimmed for reaching. Maybe there is a rig tuning problem. But something is wrong. 12 knots on a reach should be "Life is good" time. When you are heeled that much you rudder is dragging and slowing the boat. Is the new main new to you or new? If you bought it new talk to the sailmaker. Regarding trim on a reach, you should let the sails out until they flog and then trim them just enough to stop flogging. Maybe a bit more so you don't have to re-trim for every small oscillation.
 
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Likes: Tally Ho
Oct 22, 2014
20,992
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Like car racing it may take you a bit of time to learn the art of adjusting your sail to make your boat go fast. The first year often is spent just getting used to the rig and the many options available to make it perform.

If you go out on the boat every day in the summer, what maybe 90 days. How many of those days are in perfect wind.

Compare that to the number of days spent in a car practice racing to get the car to go fast. Perfect track perfect engine perfect set up.

I’d say you can cut yourself a little slack on making a sailboat go fast and not heal. Making the sail boat go fast in less than perfect conditions is an art form.
 
Jul 19, 2013
384
Pearson 31-2 Boston
Generally anything over 20 degrees or so is both slow and uncomfortable. Be sure your sail are flat (halyards and outhaul are well tensioned, the luffs should be smooth) and properly trimmed, if that doesn't reduce the heel to 20 degrees of less, then you are experiencing one of the drawbacks of a wing keel, your boat is tender. Reef the main as needed to reduce heel, then the jib if necessary.
 
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
how have you loaded your vessel? is all the heavy gear down low below the waterline? you have the tall rig and the short keel, that implies you have a tender boat.
so what might you do? well, you will do well in light winds, this is good. :) you will need to reef earlier. no big deal. get all your reefing gear in top shape. all tweeked. learn to reef through practice so it's quick and easy. and reef as needed. as you reef you will notice that you will loose no speed by reefing, if your gear is all set up to do it right . having the boat stand tall will keep your foils up in the clear breeze. being over powered creates drag, that's slow. properly reefed is fast.
wind builds more? reef some more. still fast.

tune your reefing system, tune the crews ability to reef, have fun:cool:

you have a great boat that's fun to sail in all breezes. enjoy
 
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Likes: jssailem
May 25, 2012
4,333
john alden caravelle 42 sturgeon bay, wis
as the wind builds you will want less twist, more vang, easy peezee.
never over trim the main. so many people over trim, pull the main in to tight. don't! i like the main with a little bubble at the leading edge. that's fast.
 
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Likes: jssailem
Oct 19, 2017
7,732
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
Wdonovan (sorry, spell check changed the spelling of your name), I see you joined us about two years ago so I'm reluctant to ask this question of someone with a few years of sailing exprienced, but I have to be know. When you say 30 to 35 degrees, is that measured or an estimate based on how it feels? That's a lot of heel and things start sliding off the deck at heels like that.

You probably already know that people with little or no exprienced on a sailboat can worry something fierce about a boat tipping over with even 12 degrees of heel. So just to be clear, that's an actual 30 to 35 degrees of heel and not 20 degrees that feels like 30? I don't want to insult your seamanship, I just don't know what you know.

-Will
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,992
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
So just to be clear, that's an actual 30 to 35 degrees of heel ?
At that point control can be lost as the rudder leaves the water. It is easy to broach.
A broach is an abrupt, involuntary change in a vessel's course, towards the wind, resulting from loss of directional control, when the vessel's rudder becomes ineffective. This can be caused by wind or wave action. A wind gust can heel (lean) a sailing vessel, lifting its rudder out of the water.

The movement is uncomfortable - out of control. Sudden.
 
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Likes: jon hansen
Jul 2, 2019
102
Hunter 310 Pine Beach, NJ
It pinned the gauge more than once. I was too busy to get a pic of more than this 26 or 27. And the high heal times weren't brief during puffs, they were sustained.

I like the post about reefing. I always worried it would slow the boat. I have rigged jiffy in the mast but after hooking to the sail I did not like the amount of rope hanging all over so I untied the reefing line and figured I would only retie it when I intended to use it. I was afraid of that much rope just begging for something to foul on.
IMG_0601.jpg
 
Jul 19, 2013
384
Pearson 31-2 Boston
..

I like the post about reefing. I always worried it would slow the boat. I have rigged jiffy in the mast but after hooking to the sail I did not like the amount of rope hanging all over so I untied the reefing line and figured I would only retie it when I intended to use it. I was afraid of that much rope just begging for something to foul on.
You should be reefing early and often, and when you are heeling excessively, your boat will sail faster and be easier to control if reefed, plus folks wont need to be hanging on for life.

You definitely want to have your reefing lines permanently run and ready for use. To try to run a reefing line when you need to use it, is asking for trouble, say the someone falls overboard kind of trouble. Reefing line are intended to be left installed, if you have a loose line management problem, then something just isn't being secured away properly.

If you have a clew reefing line that runs forward on the boom, the trick when reefed is to hang the excess reefing line off the cleat on the boom, just like a hanging a halyard on the mast. Take a look at this video for hanging a halyard, same idea.
Note with double braid line the rope coils should be figure-8s not circular, as circle coils actually put twists in double braid line.

I'd suggest you install your reefing lines and make and post a picture of the hanging lines conundrum and we should be able to advise how to solve that issue, as none need exist.
 
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Likes: Will Gilmore
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
Reefing line tails used to annoy the Admiral who is very tidy on my Ranger 29. We were constantly neatening them. But if you have enough slack to raise the main, when the main is down you're gonna have extra line. I wish I saw that video back then.
I don't think you always need the second reef in for daysailing because if you need the second reef it's not really recreational any more. And I'll add my voice to which will be a chorus - you will sail faster with the reef in.
 

Ward H

.
Nov 7, 2011
3,645
Catalina 30 Mk II Barnegat, NJ
I was taught that if you're thinking about reefing, you should have been.

Several sailors here on the southern end of Barnegat Bay go out with reefs already set in. Easier to let out a reef if you don't need it than put one in after you wished you were.

When I decide to reef my boat sails flatter, under better control and usually just as fast.
 
Jul 2, 2019
102
Hunter 310 Pine Beach, NJ
Let me guess...
Always to that side, i bet.

The reason is your gauge is NOT level with horizontal.
Jim...
Hope you didn’t put a lot of money on that bet jim. The gauge is perfectly level. I saw over 30 on both tacks.