See Gerard Corbino's F235
Gerard has does have a nice clean F235 sans the vinyl cabin stripes, something I have elected to do as well. See his boat here on home page with a full view link within: http://www.beneteau235.com/ Gerard, did you see some of the comments on the "Comments" page? Here are a few basics from some posters: They are not the easiest boats to race. While they are really quite fast for a trailerable boat, they quite a bit of skill to keep them at speed. Also, in most areas they are rated close to even with boats like the J-24 and Kirby 25 which is a tough rating range for the boat to sail competitively. ...and I race a First 235, finishing my 2nd season. Here in the Chesapeake Bay the wing-keel 235s rate 198 or so. While I still feel that I haven't done the boat justice with my performance, here are a few thoughts: Watch the weight distribution fore and aft: She will drag her stern if everybody sits back in the cockpit. I stopped racing with empty water tank after seeing a picture of her with the bow out of the water! Don't pinch! Winged keel boats won't point with fin keels, so foot off and go fast. Downwind: when you find out how to go fast, tell me! Again, I think it's a matter of weight distribution and being steady at the helm. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I think a lot of importance should be put on sail trim as well as the weight distribution and the DONT PINCH, especially if you own the wing keel. I think that most people over trim the sails in the F235. This boat REALLY stalls big time if you bring that main in too far, something that is easy to do if not careful. Seems simple right? It's a mistake done all the time. Make sure those MAIN LEECH TAILS are flowing STRAIGHT BACK from the main. And when sailing alone, keep you weight balanced - which means forward using a good extension. Also, I think a lot has to do with tuning the rig. An improperly tuned rig seems to render the F235 a blow. Take a look at the US SPARS mast tuning guide via my site as well as the comments from Beneteau (also available from the Quick Links in the index). I cant remember if you told me or not; do you have the wing or the fin keel? kh
