Hello! I'm new here.

Oct 19, 2020
12
Cal 33 Toledo
Hi! I'm trying to work on my 1972 Cal 33 -1 Lapworth.

Having a forum to go to, regardless of anybody's experiences, seems to help. Lol... I'm a nervous wreck.
 

HMT2

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Mar 20, 2014
899
Hunter 31 828 Shoreacres, TX
Hi! I'm trying to work on my 1972 Cal 33 -1 Lapworth.

Having a forum to go to, regardless of anybody's experiences, seems to help. Lol... I'm a nervous wreck.
Welcome ! You will find a wealth of experience and some very nice people on this forum. Learn to use the search function effectively and you will find all sorts of treasures at your finger tips.
 
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Nov 6, 2006
9,884
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Welcome !! Lots of good info on the site I certainly agree with what Mr. Grahame wrote..
". ... Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing — absolutely nothing — half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
 
Oct 19, 2020
12
Cal 33 Toledo
Welcome ! You will find a wealth of experience and some very nice people on this forum. Learn to use the search function effectively and you will find all sorts of treasures at your finger tips.
Thanks, Mike, Justin and Kloudie. I appreciate the welcome.
I'm kinda starting backwards, owning this boat. A friend, well, umm, uhh, well, he, ... I have a boat. A very nice friend. I was sick and a little older, he was nice.

BUT what do you do when a 33 foot Cal ... makes it's way to you? Nice boat! We went 9-12 knots, with a couple of 14's, on HIS transport from Toledo to Sandusky
8 years ago.
We were motorsailing. Downwind, following seas, Surfed a lot. Genoa and motor. No main. Helm was wonderful.
***The boat still has that crazy 1960's - early 70's sliding track gooseneck on it that I want to swap out.

Thanks for the welcome! Vince
 
Nov 30, 2015
1,336
Hunter 1978 H30 Cherubini, Treman Marina, Ithaca, NY
Hey @OffCourse welcome to the forum. Things change in boat performance and structure in just 8 years. I’m sure you had a wonderful experience hitting anything above 8 knots on your friends boat a while back. We’ll do everything possible and critical on this forum to offer a hand.

Are all your lines led back to the cockpit? This is just a starter question to assist in trouble shooting your standing and running rigging. Any pictures you can share will also be invaluable in resolving your issues.

My second questions is why you feel the sliding gooseneck on your Cal is crazy and unwanted. I have a sliding gooseneck on my 1978 H30 and it’s one of the best features on my boat for main sail trim. I will explain if you can elaborate on your concerns.

No need to be a nervous wreck. Let us help you get it understood, and adjusted to fit your needs and appropriate utilization.:cool:
 
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Oct 19, 2020
12
Cal 33 Toledo
Thanks, Wayne. H30's are great boats! What do you like about your system? When I said crazy, I meant interesting.
I can see that things would be automatically trimmed including luff tension with the sliding gooseneck instead of a cunningham.
Almost nothing goes back to the cockpit for the main on my boat. I am thinking of at least double ending the sheet at the traveller by putting a fiddle mainsheet block and cleat in the cockpit. The mainsheet is on a winch on the doghouse which is far away from the tiller if I want to singlehand the boat. I remember trying to trim, with a lot of difficulty and having to use a lot of strength, on the main of the old C&C 39 OB Canoe that got turned into Moulin Rouge when I crewed on her 30 years ago. It was a bit imprecise and slow.
Fortunately I do have a nice roller reefing genoa for cockpit trim.

The present system has a lot of turns, sheet length is long, it doesn't seem direct for sheeting and it would have wasted energy. The boom is mid sheeted but dead ended there. Trim is on the doghouse.
My sailmaker suggested putting a bolt at the mast to tame the gooseneck like he did on his Ericson 33 or 35 years ago. And he suggested using a split cunningham with the mainsheet cleating control on the traveller.
Of course I'd have to pay for a grommet in the sail for a cunningham. I might just not put in the bolt but use the front system that's there as a separate cunningham and still use the sliding gooseneck. Then using a sheeting block in the cockpit.
A regular mainsheet system midboom would take 2 - 90 degree turns out of the system, reduce drag, and about 20 feet of line not going forward, down and back. But at least i'd move the adjustment to a traveller block and clamcleat to make it simpler change to start with to just adjust in the cockpit for now.

The main halyard is 1/4 wire (4600# breaking strength) on the mast at a winch there. The halyard is tattered with meathooks all over it. I'm thinking of changing it to 5/8ths (10,000#) rope to the cabin top turning block or a cheekblock on the lower mast then back to the cockpit.
Can the rope be used on a wire winch instead? Has anyone done that? The masthead turning block is U shaped not V shaped so that'd be good for a different halyard line.

Thanks for cheering me up. 5 years ago I couldn't get off the floor. Hidden medical problems. Bad on the confidence. Also...It's easier to be crew for decades than to own your own boat! You know?
I raced 8 times this year, twice on a Mumm 30, and sailed 2 more times times. All was good. It's funny what you remember!

I have to redo the bottom of the boat. I had 4-6 layers of bottom paint sandblasted off. There're no blisters. I'm not sure if there was a water barrier before but I suspect there is. There is no gelcoat underneath. The bottom used to be as smooooth as an old sidestreet blacktop!

I think that's really all I have to do besides check the wiring and lights for it to go in the water next year. I might modify the Atomic 4 a little. It dies after an hour. Word has it there's a condenser or coil on them that gets hot and shuts things down. It has a new fuel tank and electric pump.
And a depth sounder. Needs one. My boat draws 6 feet. It has 4 sets of sails, old but all checked out by a a sailmaker and a spinnaker. Also I have 2 new wood spreaders already made up to put on. I'd like aluminum ones.
She's almost ready for water!
I'd like to hear what you like about your mainsheet system.
Vince
 
Nov 8, 2007
1,523
Hunter 27_75-84 Sandusky Harbor Marina, Ohio
Welcome! What Marina are you in? We are in Sandusky Harbor Marina (now Safe Harbor) behind the coal piles to the west.

We love cruising the islands, and the Lake. Racing is behind me because with her shoal keel, and sheets outside the spreaders our '77 h27 is simply not designed to go to weather.

Sounds to me like you have a good program to launch in the spring. Lady Lillie comes out on Tuesday.
 
Oct 19, 2020
12
Cal 33 Toledo
Hi David.
I think my boat came from your marina where my friend Chuck had it. My boat is at Mienke's West. He renamed it "Serenity". It used to be called "OfCourse" out of North Cape. It was known as "Off Course" by the rest of the fleet.
(Sailors can be so mean.... jeesh! ) Everybody liked Dick, I hear. Lol.
It was a Danny Tschaun(?) boat, the Toledo Cal dealer, for one year and then went to Dick Poinsdexter for dozens of years.

I used to crew against Hunter 27's at Monroe in the early 80's. I was on a C&C 27 "Windrover". The Hunters were competitive back then against us, at times. Shoal draft? I don't think we did go against them. The Tartan 34's SHOAL drafts though, were MONSTERS off wind and not bad upwind. Shoal drafts are ... ??

Were you ever a racer?

I sailed against the older 27's. I just looked up H27's series-es and sss online. You take a hit on shoal draft per PHRF on the older '70's ones. Elbowing you a little, does your boat sail to it's ratings?
 
Nov 30, 2015
1,336
Hunter 1978 H30 Cherubini, Treman Marina, Ithaca, NY
Howdy Vince @OffCourse , sorry for the delayed response. By the way, nice write up on your plans to get to a better running rigging setup... nice looking boat you have there. It appears to be decently maintained on the outside.

So my story is this, it would be very difficult to single hand my H30. The only lines running back into the cockpit are the topping lift, mainsheet and jib sheets. Halyards, main out haul, boom vang, single reef line, and cunningham are all at the mast using a single mounted winch, whenever necessary. There is no wheel lock for the helm, nor auto pilot.

Fortunately I have never single handed on the H30 since purchasing in 2014. I have several close friends living nearby and my Admiral whom all have been to the BVI‘s as working crew for the bareboat charters we’ve taken over the last 7 years. We’ve been on Cayuga Lake for the last 6 seasons and I’ve always had at least 1 crew that is comfortable and reasonably well skilled to allow me to set and trim sails.

The things I like best about the boom and sliding gooseneck, are exactly what you had stated with respect to raising the main sail and getting the luff tight. When raising the main, the gooseneck is pinned into the upper stop, cunningham, mainsheet and vang released, sail raised by hand (no need for winch). Once I get the head of the sail to the mast stop, I cleat off and drop the boom by pulling the spring pin and letting the boom settle into the slide. Usually about 2 or 3 inches lower. I then tension it up with the cunningham and boom vang...boom drops another inch or so.

Since the main is bolt roped at the foot, I don’t have a lot of options to increase a pocket or add twist on a broad reach, but if I ease the cunningham and vang, fill the sail keeping it off the spreaders, and letting the boom rise a few inches we gain a bit of speed off the wind.

The gooseneck slide has 18“ of travel and that helps as the main ages and stretches a bit. The final benefit to the slider is getting the boom higher above the cockpit, umbremini or bimini, tall people and those prone to making a glass raising toast. We simply level the boom here with the adjustable topping lift. Cheers Vince:beer::beer::cool:
 
Oct 19, 2020
12
Cal 33 Toledo
Hi Wayne!
Never thought about raising the boom at the mast for partying clearance! Novel idea! Really nice idea. Granted, having a boom as a handrail when walking on a cabin top is nice. I think ... I can't remember how muchhead clearance she has right now in the cockpit. The Bimini can stay up while underway....
I have no boom slide stops on the mast. I'll get one! Maybe two. Up AND down.

Boat in the water, first.

A boom topping lift is probably why I have what looked like two main halyard sheaves on the top of the mast instead of just one. Only one is occupied with that frayed wire halyard.

Do you have any problems or difficulties raising or lowering the halyard in a breeze or reefing without a winch? My boat doesn't have a cunningham. That front sliding gooseneck would act as one, I guessed.

I don't think it had a vang either.

Does the front slide make it easier/ harder/ trickier to slab reef it?
Is your main a bit small like on the old IOR mains? Mine is about the same size as my fore triangle. At least the boom is about as long as the J. 12/5 feet as opposed to 14 for the the J.
Some of those old IOR boats looked like they had 170 genoa's with 15-16 foot J's and only 8-10 foot long booms and postage stamp mains.

As far as the main stretching with age, I seem to remember there being an old fight in the racing community in the '80's that people fought over the booms going lower than the bottom size stripe.
It'd be ungangly, but I wonder if lowering the whole main would keep the boat on it's feet better in higher winds. Not much wind but in a race saving a reef to 18 knots of wind would be an advantage over reefing at 15.

Were you a racer once? The BVI's sound nice. I've never been there yet. Vince