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A
Alan
Are you racing...
...or cruising! If you are serious about racing, I would not set my boat up the same as a cruiser.
...or cruising! If you are serious about racing, I would not set my boat up the same as a cruiser.
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Charles McCormick
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Alan
;D I just had to smile!!
I take it your just gettin' started racing!! First thing to do is set up your rig with as much rake as you can safely handle. More rake, more point, more VMG, WIN. When racing, take EVERY OUNCE of weight OFF the boat. Empty your pockets of change. Leave the cushions home. Empty the water tanks...etc. Make sure the bottom is VERY smooth and VERY clean. Your sails are your horse power. Good sails, good speed. Old sails, no speed, no wins. Now go out and practice tacks and jibes. Make it your goal to not loose any more than one knot of boat speed thru a tack. Most skippers tack their boats way too fast and loose all the boats speed. But just go practice, it will all come with time on the water, good luck
I take it your just gettin' started racing!! First thing to do is set up your rig with as much rake as you can safely handle. More rake, more point, more VMG, WIN. When racing, take EVERY OUNCE of weight OFF the boat. Empty your pockets of change. Leave the cushions home. Empty the water tanks...etc. Make sure the bottom is VERY smooth and VERY clean. Your sails are your horse power. Good sails, good speed. Old sails, no speed, no wins. Now go out and practice tacks and jibes. Make it your goal to not loose any more than one knot of boat speed thru a tack. Most skippers tack their boats way too fast and loose all the boats speed. But just go practice, it will all come with time on the water, good luck
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Cliff Ruckstuhl
And Then
Your 26.5 is pretty much the same as my 23. Same rig just bigger. I also set up my friends rig for his 26.5 was a big mistake for me I made him to fast. I had about 6 inches of rake with out 1.5 inches of bend. You will need to find out the amount of bend the sail was cut for. Your sailmaker can help with this. Get the rig centered in the boat and then add the rake and start tuning from ther. This boat loves a good flat 135 head sail but only when the wind pipes up to about 12 knots and above. With a good 155 and a good 135 this boat is a killer. Playing the traveler going to windward is a must. Keeping the boat on it's feet will make it fly. Too much rake in the mast and she becomes unbalanced and want's to round up. It has a good rudder to help stop this but the keel is the bulb wing. I really think if this boat had a fin keel it could have been one of the best and fastest 26 foot boats on the planet. I often think about going back to a 26.5 so we could trailer it to other lakes. But if I did a fin keel would be on the list of mods I would do and I am still giving it some serious thought. Like Alan said fast bottom and fast sail's and this boat will be tough to beat. Cliff H 28.5 Red Dog
Your 26.5 is pretty much the same as my 23. Same rig just bigger. I also set up my friends rig for his 26.5 was a big mistake for me I made him to fast. I had about 6 inches of rake with out 1.5 inches of bend. You will need to find out the amount of bend the sail was cut for. Your sailmaker can help with this. Get the rig centered in the boat and then add the rake and start tuning from ther. This boat loves a good flat 135 head sail but only when the wind pipes up to about 12 knots and above. With a good 155 and a good 135 this boat is a killer. Playing the traveler going to windward is a must. Keeping the boat on it's feet will make it fly. Too much rake in the mast and she becomes unbalanced and want's to round up. It has a good rudder to help stop this but the keel is the bulb wing. I really think if this boat had a fin keel it could have been one of the best and fastest 26 foot boats on the planet. I often think about going back to a 26.5 so we could trailer it to other lakes. But if I did a fin keel would be on the list of mods I would do and I am still giving it some serious thought. Like Alan said fast bottom and fast sail's and this boat will be tough to beat. Cliff H 28.5 Red Dog
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Charles McCormick
So far so good
the boat just returned from the bottom shop(vc offshore to 400 grit). I have a 135 and a 155 mylar. Thanks for the help and any additional input. Would I have to customize a fin keel or would the keel from another boat fit?
the boat just returned from the bottom shop(vc offshore to 400 grit). I have a 135 and a 155 mylar. Thanks for the help and any additional input. Would I have to customize a fin keel or would the keel from another boat fit?
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Cliff Ruckstuhl
Custom
If you were to change the keel you would get a rating change on your PHRF # for sure. You would also have a nice chunk of $$ in it for sure. Might be more then the boat is worth. Out come would be a faster boat and and allot of silver. Alan did this with his 35.5 and it has been what the boat needed all along. You can only answer this Mar's Metal is the place to start. I would be very interested in what they have to say after you talk with them. I think a nice deep fin with a bulb on the bottom would be just the ticket. For me the reason's to change are simple. We are lake locked on Lake Erie and after having a boat we could trailer we miss the oppertunites to sail other places. We are lake locked by time and distance. When we had the 25.5 we could leave the house in the we hours of the morning and splash the boat 350 miles north the same day. Just writeing this makes me miss what we did. I love my 28.5 and we love the room and and seems like allot to give up for a 2 week vaction every year when we would be on the 28.5 the rest of the summer. Cliff H 28.5
If you were to change the keel you would get a rating change on your PHRF # for sure. You would also have a nice chunk of $$ in it for sure. Might be more then the boat is worth. Out come would be a faster boat and and allot of silver. Alan did this with his 35.5 and it has been what the boat needed all along. You can only answer this Mar's Metal is the place to start. I would be very interested in what they have to say after you talk with them. I think a nice deep fin with a bulb on the bottom would be just the ticket. For me the reason's to change are simple. We are lake locked on Lake Erie and after having a boat we could trailer we miss the oppertunites to sail other places. We are lake locked by time and distance. When we had the 25.5 we could leave the house in the we hours of the morning and splash the boat 350 miles north the same day. Just writeing this makes me miss what we did. I love my 28.5 and we love the room and and seems like allot to give up for a 2 week vaction every year when we would be on the 28.5 the rest of the summer. Cliff H 28.5
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glenn shaw
rig tensioners come with instructions for fractional rigs with spreaders that sweep aft. any marine store can help you with that. cost is under 50$
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Charles McCormick
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