Hunter 26 sail plan?

[Thaniel]

I don’t remember seeing anything in the manual about which sails to run in what winds and recommended wind speed to reef. Does anyone have a sail plan they care to share?

Oh also at what heel angle does the rub rail touch the water. Umm asking for a friend.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

You got my phone number. I can help

 

[Doug J]

It's been said the H26 and 260 sail best at 15 degrees.

 

[rgranger]

Try to keep her flat... they sail better that way

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

This is the old man talking now due to sailing in all types of weather as a pleasure and racing sailor on both the 26 and 260.
If anyone considers sailing with the rub rail in the water, people may and have fallen off the boat, you could rip things off the deck and/or boom, turn up into the wind accidentaly, rip sails if old, and the list goes on. In fact loved ones and friends will say hell no going sailing with you as one would scare the bull fiddlesticks out of them. I pray you are listening to me.

First the hull is flatter and the center of gravity is higher with water ballasted boats vs. swing keel or fixed keel. Why? The boat was designed as a trailerable sailboat which was the plan in designing which I was involved with for many reasons. Easier to launch and retrieve and less weight to tow as starters. The B&R rig without a backstay gave you more room in the cockpit but with that the boom is longer with a larger mainsail. Wiith the 110% jib and the mainsail being greater than a standard, it pretty much is equal to a standard main and 135-140 % genoa. Therefore in lighter airs, I always suggested an asemmrtrical spinnaker as it does not requried much more in way of gear vs. a racing spinnaker. The boat was designed for pleasure sailing.

As for heeling no more than than 12-14 degrees or you will not sail as fast as you will be fighting the boat. Reefing is a choice but anywhere 15-17 knots I would really consider reefing, anything below that will include letting the sheets out on either or both the jib and main. Heed this advice or you will be sailing alone my friend.

 

[rgranger]

I've had mine since 2017. Some things I've learned are....

1) a loose foot main is may better for this boat. And if you are fighting the rudder, you may need a new main. As the wind picks up, work the outhaul to get the sail as flat as you can and the loosefoot main makes this a lot easier to do.

2) Letting the sheet out to stay on your feet is a solid technique in a breeze but you loose a lot of speed and you can't point as high... the boat really needs a traveler (Sorry Dave). If you can get the boom to the mid-line-ish of the boat with the sheet a little slack, the top of the sail twists off and you can stay on your feet in a stiffer breeze and you maintain the slot effect with your jib so you can continue to point high. One thing I do like about the Hunter is that it points hight than you might expect.

If you want to feel the effects of a traveler on your boat's performance, you can take a sail tie to the windward winch and back to the sheet (see pic). I liked the effect on my boat's performance so much that I installed a traveller on the bridge deck (see pics). I bought the rail for my traveler on eBay and it came as a pair. So if you like the idea, I can send you the other rail. Actually I'm in Virginia about once a month so I could even get it close (if you are anywhere near Lynchburg)

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Rob, I am speaking to a question not specifying added gear. Concur with you on the traveler sir. How did you secure the travel lift inside. Remember there is dead air space between the deck and the ceiling liner which many do not know about. Please advise if you were to remedy that issue. I cannot remember if Hunter put an encapsulated plate within the fiberglass in the area where you drilled

 

[rgranger]

Rob, I am speaking to a question not specifying added gear. Concur with you on the traveler sir. How did you secure the travel lift inside. Remember there is dead air space between the deck and the ceiling liner which many do not know about. Please advise if you were to remedy that issue. I cannot remember if Hunter put an encapsulated plate within the fiberglass in the area where you drilled

I through bolted and used a hole cutter on the underside so I could get past the liner.

This is one of the last mods I did before moving so I have not yet had a chance to really push the hardware in a sustained hard blow. So far it works great.

 

[Thaniel]

Hi guys. Great info. And yeah I know heeling is unproductive but we took the classroom theory out and proved it one afternoon. However I still don’t know how much heeling we had as I was watching other things besides the angle meter. Was hoping someone new. Anyway back to the important question.

What sails to set at what wind speeds (to keep from excessive heeling)? I saw on one of the vlogs I watch they pulled out a card from the manufacturer that recommended what sail to go with at various wind speeds. We have done some experiments but am curious what the experts and experienced sailors do.
My thoughts are something like: Going from lightest winds to heavier winds
Genoa and full main
Genoa and reefed main or
Jib and full main
Jib and reefed main
full main only
Reefed main
Jib only?

Interesting comment about fighting the rudder. Running close hauled with the jib we were fighting it a lot. Also the jib would luft way earlier than running with the main alone (could point higher with a main only). Also had more heeling than we wanted and little speed with the main reefed and jib. Again close hauled pointing high. We went to a reef on the main and Genoa and it was more balanced had better speed and reasonable heel. Made me think my jib is junk or I’m not using it right. Anyway it could be the main isn’t right. I’ll play with the out haul and see what effect it has. I’ll also see if I can try the traveler simulation. But my headsail always lufts first so that seems to be my limiting factor when trying to point higher.

So far this has been a quite interesting experience. We may not be the fastest or most efficient but we can sail out and back which is pretty cool.

 

[bmorr]

Just a thought, have you put tell tails on your jib and main? They really help as you are learning your boat. I tell my passengers to watch the gage if they are concerned, 15 degrees alls well, over 20 they should yell at me. Our lake is deep so we don't get high waves, but when the white caps pick up I reef the main. I think my 26 handles better with both a reefed main and jib (although sometimes rolled up a bit). ork on sailing smooth and don't worry about pointing higher then everone else.

 

[Thaniel]

don't worry about pointing higher then everone else.

Here that isn’t a concern as we have been the only sailboat we have seen sailing. However when 10 miles out and the marina is directly upwind, how high we could point became something of personal interest.

 

[rgranger]

@Thaniel
You mention fighting the rudder. Do you have weather helm or leehelm issues?

I’m guessing you have leehelm with jib alone and vis-a-versa with the main. If you have excessive weather helm with both sails up, you either need to flatten your main, or your main is blown.

The H26 has one addition “sail trim” option and that is the sail that is in the water (your centerboard). You can move the center of lateral resistance aft by slightly raising your centerboard. You can’t get carried away with this idea but it can help you combat weather helm. Next time you are out, get on a reach and if you have weather helm, have a crew member slightly (and slowly) raise the centerboard while you have your hand on the rudder. You should feel the pressure on the rudder decrease. Try to get it balanced so you can almost let go of the rudder. The surface area of the centerboard that you remove from the game is minimal and getting your sails balanced means you no longer are dragging your rudder through the water.. you will feel the pickup of speed and now the foil action of your rudder and centerboard help combat slippage.

You will also feel less heel and more speed with the traveler trick. One point of caution with the traveler trick. The way I did it (with the sail tie) pinched my mainsheet and it took a few seconds to undo it… so it was not as easy to dump the main if a gust came up.

 

[Thaniel]

@Thaniel
The H26 has one addition “sail trim” option and that is the sail that is in the water (your centerboard). You can move the center of lateral resistance aft by slightly raising your centerboard. You can’t get carried away with this idea but it can help you combat weather helm. Next time you are out, get on a reach and if you have weather helm, have a crew member slightly (and slowly) raise the centerboard while you have your hand on the rudder. You should feel the pressure on the rudder decrease. Try to get it balanced so you can almost let go of the rudder. The surface area of the centerboard that you remove from the game is minimal and getting your sails balanced means you no longer are dragging your rudder through the water.. you will feel the pickup of speed and now the foil action of your rudder and centerboard help combat slippage.

You will also feel less heel and more speed with the traveler trick. One point of caution with the traveler trick. The way I did it (with the sail tie) pinched my mainsheet and it took a few seconds to undo it… so it was not as easy to dump the main if a gust came up.

Unfortunately the last 3 days of our vacation the weather was very windy. On 2 of the days we chose not to go out. The 3rd we went out as the winds lowered a bit. That session was pretty bumpy as the lake (Okeechobee) had been pretty churned up from the crazy high gusts from the previous day and the wind was still plenty strong. In short didn't get to try any of the tips you described. Perhaps next trip we can try them . Changing the center board angle I find really interesting.

 

[rgranger]

Unfortunately the last 3 days of our vacation the weather was very windy. On 2 of the days we chose not to go out. The 3rd we went out as the winds lowered a bit. That session was pretty bumpy as the lake (Okeechobee) had been pretty churned up from the crazy high gusts from the previous day and the wind was still plenty strong. In short didn't get to try any of the tips you described. Perhaps next trip we can try them . Changing the center board angle I find really interesting.

Well summer is almost here so you will have another chance....

 

[Thaniel]

My thoughts are something like: Going from lightest winds to heavier winds
Genoa and full main
Genoa and reefed main or
Jib and full main
Jib and reefed main
full main only
Reefed main
Jib only?

Finally took some time to learn more about sail balancing. Most sailing instruction spends a lot of time focusing on how to optimize the sail shape to get the most power and surprising little on how to depower them to balance the power. From our week of sailing trying to get more power was usually not the problem. Anyway after some education on the topic and reflecting on our experiences I've revised my sail plan from wind lightest to strongest.

From lightest winds to heavier winds

Genoa and full main
Genoa and reefed main (my main sail currently only has the single factory reef point)
Jib and reefed main
Reefed main only?
Jib only?
Bare poles.

Now I don't have any wind speeds to place next to each configuration and with no wind meter on the boat that'll be difficult to be accurate on. But it's the beginning of a plan.

 

[rgranger]

You are right to add balance to your thinking. A boat cutting through the chop is much more comfortable (and fun) than one that is being buffeted by the chop. At about 12-15 I’m putting a turn or two on my headsail. At 20 I put a reef in my main and add another couple of turns to my headsail. At 25 I drop the main and put the head sail at about 50% and start thinking about dropping sail all together. Someplace between 25 and 30 I’m bare pole and I fire up the iron genny. I am seriously considering a second set of reef points in my main.