H37c and H33 rake characteristic

[Terry Arnold]

Both the 37c and the 33 have a lot of rake. With my 79 H33 Bayhorse out of the water too long, I have had more opportunity than I wanted to gaze at the fine entry and impressive rake of the boat. Anyway, I have been wondering if the large amount of rake in the stem would be sufficient to ride the boat up in a collision , say at sea with flotsam, or more likely, into a low dock. Anybody out there had experience with a head on collision with an obstacle lower than the pulpit with one of these boats? Did it ride up or just smash the stem.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Funny you should ask.

On my very first ride, three seasons ago with a marina hand at the helm. He wanted to impress me with his boat handling, not knowing that you cannot stop 18000 pounds with a 2-blade prop on a 20HP Yanmar. Short story, it rode up on the steel dock and took off about 12" of gelcoat from the bow.

 

[jcherubini]

'Rake' terminology

I was confused by the use of the term 'rake' which is correctly applied to the amount of backwards lean the mast has, usually given in degrees. You measure this by dropping the main halyard shackle to the deck and taking a ratio between how far back it is from the aft edge of the mast and how far down it is from the masthead. If you do this just to the boom you can use the H dimension of the mainsail.My dad's boats were noted for LOTS of mast rake (Warren Luhr's Cherubini 44 cutter had the most ever I think-- maybe 5 ft in 57 ft of hoist--- VERY dramatic!). His boats are also noted for dramtically angled bows (not called 'rake' but maybe 'bow rake'??). It results in a short-waterline boat (as with the Raider 33) and indicates light displacement, but it will be very fast in moderate weather-- and one that needs a little attention in lighter conditions as the pointy bow will 'seek' its own course sometimes.I would not give that much credit to a sharply angled bow in a collision-- seems to me with impact adequate to drive the boat upwards on something you'd crack that pointy bow all to h*ll first anyway. But as Ed points out, it may be that riding up on something like a dock could be the better of two possible outcomes. (Though the guy he was sailing sounds like he had his priorities a little mixed up!)I do know that it might be a good thing for a sharp bow to drive flotsam downwards. If the deadrise and angle of entry are also steep the stuff will be prised away off to one side and the boat won't take it dead-on. Even if it did go downwards the fin keel will get rid of it (hopefully) and a full-keel boat will probably have a protected prop. I've never hit anything that bad (and with all the dumb stuff I HAVE done I have to brag about that) so I don't know.But all of this is academic-- the best plan is to keep a 'log and lobster-pot watch' and not hit anything hard enough that we ever have to find out!!JC 2

 

[Ken Palmer]

Collisions aren't fun.

A couple years ago I had the misfortune of T-boning a Catalina 30 during a club race. Liberty, a 1981 H33 hit the other boat about 4 feet behind its bow-stem. We were going at a slow speed in windy conditions, tacking at the windward mark. Liberty had a good kink in the bow pulpit, and gelcoat damage just below the SS bow bracket. We did ride up on his rail, causing damage to the Catalina, but I think I got the worst of it. The Yard did my gelcoat work, and I replaced the bow pulpit with a new one made by Tops In Quality in Michigan.As for the rake of the mast, if I hang the main halyard (without the boom attached) to the cabin-top, How far back should it be from the mast?Thanks for visiting this site and sharing your wealth of knowledge.Ken Palmer, S/V Liberty