Hunter 30T "pointing"

[Bruce Z]

Hello out there,I'm looking for general experiences from other sailors on this. Seems I can only get my '92 30T to tack no closer than about 100+ degrees. I can see it on the GPS track and it drives me nuts! (Guess that's what I get for being an old racer going to slower boats?) It's painful to watch (even other Hunters) doing 5 to 10 degrees closer. Is it the outside jib leads, the stubby keel, a design flaw? I've tried fiddling with mast bend and the jib leads but it doesn't seem to do much?Anybody got some advice?

 

[David11054]

Shoal keel, Sheets outside the stays

I have the same results on our shoal draft '77 h27.The shoal draft keel definitely allows substantial sideslip when close hauled. You need to sheet the jib closer to 11% off the centerline - that's somewhere on the cabin roof and inside the stays - to point the best. That, in turn means running with a 100% or smaller jib.I can get Lady Lillie to point her sail plan quite close to the wind using a barber hauler to pull in the sheeting angle. But we are probably making 10% leeway trimmed like that.So I now ease off, keep the sheets outside the stays, enjoy the good boat speed on what is really a close reach, and avoid long cruising legs into the wind.Oh yeah, I avoid club racing. The windward leg simply puts us out of contention every time.I'll be interested in the responses from owners of your model.DavidLady Lillie

 

[Mike Jaeger]

Use Your Traveler To Point

We raced our 30T last summer and did very well.We took fourth in our division out of twelve boats. The 30T is a tall main sail driven boat with a fractional jib. To make your boat pointhigher try adjusting the traveler not the mainsheet. You can do the same when your boat givesyou to much weather helm. It works both ways.It only took us half the race season to get themechanics of the rig down pat. Now we have a 155 head sail on order and a new Martek markIV geared foulding prop to put on her. If youplan to race your boat a 30T has a very goodPHRF. Good luck.