Hunter 376 9.2 Knots! And over 8 steady

[Andrew Mylander]

This is a beam reach in 15 knots of wind, sea state about 1-2’, standard shoal draft keel at 5’, with new bottom paint, stock jib and main, and about 15° of heel. Just hit 9.2, 9.1knots for a second, so don’t know if I believe that, but held mid-8 knots steadily after that. I have done this more than once holding well over 8 for A long time. This is GPS SOG. So I don’t buy the 376’s hull speed is 7.6 Knots. I have this on video, with crew yelling “9.2!”, but I couldn’t post even 5 seconds of it here, so I went for this screen grab.

 

[danstanford]

Well done and such a great feeling for the crew!

 

[Andrew Mylander]

Well done and such a great feeling for the crew!

Yes! Have gotten new sails since the first time, and now it happens more often. I should also mention that my rig has in-mast furling, so a 376 with a full-roach, battened main would probably do even better! But I single-hand a lot, so in-mast furling increases my convenience and safety so much that I’ll take the performance hit. Been sailing SunCatcher since ’03, and she’s a super boat. Looking hard at motorizing my main winch next.

 

[Windpilot]

Thats great! My record, downwind at 25 to 30 knots true wind going to Hawaii, surfing big ocean swells, i was singlehanding, at night while I was resting below, windvane steering w 3 reefs in main, jib and inner cutter sail po

led out wing on wing. I still dream about that trip in '23.

 

[dlochner]

Not to burst your bubble, SOG is the speed over ground, not speed through water. Hull speed predicts speed through water and can be exceeded in modern boats. The formula was developed centuries ago to predict the speed of blunt nosed cargo carrying sailing ships.* Nonetheless sailing at 8+ knots is pretty good for a 37' boat.

Here's an example of SOG and STW and the difference. We were traveling at 12.4 knots SOG but only 5.9 knots through the water. Helping us was a 6.5 knot current. This is on the St Lawrence River just outside of Quebec City.

* An important factor that is not considered in the commonly used hull speed equation is the water or wave splitting ability of the hull form. Boats with a fine entry will move more easily than blunt bows, this serves to lengthen the bow wave which increases hull speed. There is a lot fairly recent research into this as Naval Architects work to make boats more efficient to consume less energy.

 

[jssailem]

Speeds like that are magical, and Gravity, playing together.

 

[Andrew Mylander]

Thats great! My record, downwind at 25 to 30 knots true wind going to Hawaii, surfing big ocean swells, i was singlehanding, at night while I was resting below, windvane steering w 3 reefs in main, jib and inner cutter sail poView attachment 236075View attachment 236075led out wing on wing. I still dream about that trip in '23.

Awesome! I have hit speeds like that surfing down some big waves as well, but I was too busy holding on for dear life (following sea) and trying not to broach to note the actual speed!

 

[Andrew Mylander]

Not to burst your bubble, SOG is the speed over ground, not speed through water. Hull speed predicts speed through water and can be exceeded in modern boats. The formula was developed centuries ago to predict the speed of blunt nosed cargo carrying sailing ships.* Nonetheless sailing at 8+ knots is pretty good for a 37' boat.

Here's an example of SOG and STW and the difference. We were traveling at 12.4 knots SOG but only 5.9 knots through the water. Helping us was a 6.5 knot current. This is on the St Lawrence River just outside of Quebec City.


View attachment 236076

* An important factor that is not considered in the commonly used hull speed equation is the water or wave splitting ability of the hull form. Boats with a fine entry will move more easily than blunt bows, this serves to lengthen the bow wave which increases hull speed. There is a lot fairly recent research into this as Naval Architects work to make boats more efficient to consume less energy.

Yes, very familiar with SOG vs. STW. Obviously being in a river with 6.4 knots of current pushing you from behind will add roughly that same amount to your SOG (under sail or motoring). I was in the Pamlico Sound, a wide estuary with negligible current and a very moderate sea state (that day!) so my SOG was minimally impacted by current or waves, and about as ‘pure’ a representation of what the hull could do with that wind, on that point of sail, and that sail trim as could be hoped for. My SOG and STW would have been nearly the same. Correct me if I’m wrong, but hull speed doesn’t allow for surfing, or a current “pushing“ the boat.Therefore a hull speed of 7.6 knots for the design is a pretty inaccurate figure. This goes to your point about entry not being considered in the hull speed calculation.

 

[Andrew Mylander]

Speeds like that are magical, and Gravity, playing together.

Aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, the touch on the helm, oneness with the boat - magical for sure!

 

[dlochner]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but hull speed doesn’t allow for surfing, or a current “pushing“ the boat.Therefore a hull speed of 7.6 knots for the design is a pretty inaccurate figure. This goes to your point about entry not being considered in the hull speed calculation.

The "standard" equation based the waterline length assumes the boat is upright and is very similar to the equation for wavelength and frequency. It does not account for hull shape or other factors that might affect speed, like surfing or a surge from a passing wave, or vertical lift from a spinnaker.

None the less, it is great fun when the boat is dialed in and making trees.

 

[David in Sandusky]

Hull speed is not an absolute limit. Because the hull is generating one wave at that speed, the boat needs a big power boost to climb the bow wave from the trough it is in. In the right wind conditions, the right sails can provide that power. For short bursts (your 9.5 knots) running down the front of a sea wave can give a brief boost. But your 8 knot sustained speed is very believable. Riding up on the bow wave is called "planing" by the way.

Our hull speed is 6.2 knots, and we sustained 8.2 knots on a broad reach with our asymetric spinnaker in 20-25 knot winds on Lake Erie.

You have to subtract any favorable current from the SOG provided by a GPS. In our case, the max current could be 0.5 knots. So we were making 7.7 to 8.2 knots through the water. Still a real thrill in any case.

Smaller sailboats often have planing hulls. I sailed my Sunfish well over 15 knots in a 40 knot wind off Key West long ago!

 

[Andrew Mylander]

Hull speed is not an absolute limit. Because the hull is generating one wave at that speed, the boat needs a big power boost to climb the bow wave from the trough it is in. In the right wind conditions, the right sails can provide that power. For short bursts (your 9.5 knots) running down the front of a sea wave can give a brief boost. But your 8 knot sustained speed is very believable. Riding up on the bow wave is called "planing" by the way.

Our hull speed is 6.2 knots, and we sustained 8.2 knots on a broad reach with our asymetric spinnaker in 20-25 knot winds on Lake Erie.

You have to subtract any favorable current from the SOG provided by a GPS. In our case, the max current could be 0.5 knots. So we were making 7.7 to 8.2 knots through the water. Still a real thrill in any case.

Smaller sailboats often have planing hulls. I sailed my Sunfish well over 15 knots in a 40 knot wind off Key West long ago!

HA! Around Y2K, I lived on a small freshwater lake in Utah, and had a Sunfish. We’d get these derecho winds of 50-60knots+ with some regularity in the summer, and of course I had to see what the old girl would do with that. Sailed her dead downwind, (would have gone backwards upwind) Probably the same experience you had, planing, shaking the hell out of the rig, and 15+ knots! Rounded up and beached her on the Lee shore, walked home, and retrieved her the next day when the wind was done. Good times!

Not so good times: My maternal grandfather died sailing on Lake Erie in 1977 when a rogue wave rolled and sank his ketch Left Handed Yeoman off of Selkirk, ON. He sailed out of Dunkirk, OH bound for Buffalo. A combination of a terrible storm, and an inexperienced captain proved deadly. I have a lot of family connections on the south shore of Lake Erie in Sandusky, Oak Harbor. Grandpa and his boat are always in the back of my mind, and one of my reasons to sail.

 

[Timm R Oday25]

Impressive indeed . The only time we hit that number is when our boat is on the trailer and we are headed home !
Our 25 Oday has a theoretical hull speed of 5.6 knots or so . Once in a great while we can hit 5.9 or 6 knots !

 

[Andrew Mylander]

My Uncle used to sail an O’Day on the Hoover Dam Reservoir in Columbus, OH. Not sure of the length/model. But he got my interest in sailing started originally.