Old School
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8) Sail plan dimensions are as follows: J=11.75; P=31.50 feet; E=10.75; I=36.00 feet. The rig shall be masthead; the original chainplate dimension shall not be modified; the location of the points of attachment of the standing rigging to the hull and deck shall not be moved nor modified. The baby stay is not considered standing rigging. Running backstays shall not be allowed for class racing.”
Thus, the babystay is considered running rigging, and is not subject to measurement. It is only mentioned in the mast weighing section so that you may not run it up the mast in order to raise the CG of the mast.
There is NO restriction on materials of any rigging. As Bruce indicates, only minimum mast weight and lowest CG is specified.
These are what mine look like
For light air sheets, I have stripped 5/16 flightline, 4000#, 2.0#/ft covered . This stuff has a ridiculously small dyneema core. We have absolutely no problem with its size for the guy. But then again, my halyards are 1/4 and 3/16, so the 5/16 flightline with its soft cover is a luxury on my boat. We actually use these sheets until it is blowing about 20 knots or so.
For heavy sheets, we have stripped 5/16 maxibraid, 7800#, 2.9#/ft covered. We never used them at all this year. Once last year. Weirdly, they seem to stretch more than the flightline.
I have no shims or graphite…
Kind of like a blooper…gain a third of a knot when you put it up and gain another third when you take it down?
I went with 7mm Dux, 16500# breaking strength. The rigger suggested that the line should have a minimum of 300% (others say 400%) of the of the rod BS in order to minimize stretch. The rod that I took off my boat was -4, around 5600#.
Any measurement error you make (or creep that might enter) can easily be taken up in your backstay purchase. As such, I did a brummel around a stainless thimble for the masthead. At the bottom, I used another brummel through a ferrule. Pics are at http://www.olson30.org/the-boat/tips-and-tweaks/backstays
No flicker for me. I have done everything I can to get weight out of the rig, so I sure as heck am not going to add something? Granted, it can be a real pain on light wind days… On those days, I just carry the main a bit lower on the mast.
Wow Bruce, that thing hangs low! How often does your crew get hit with it?
Mine is also made of sunbrella. I made the fore opening out of a heavier nylon strapping material for better abrasion resistance.
On another boat, I had a bag made of old, work dacron. I found it too floppy and more difficult to use than sunbrella. If it were made out of new, fairly firm dacron, I am sure it would be fine. Sunbrella has better colours, though! (note…my sunbrella was a remnant that I scrounged up, so no comments on the taupe colour)
I doubt you will regret it once your foredeck figures it out. For boats that do primarily distance stuff, there would be no real advantage to using this system.
Here is a pic of my bag. Click “view” at the bottom of the page to see the whole image…for some reason the forum is not shrinking down the full size shot.
I hate to be the naysayer, and agree that Charleston would be a great venue, but how many boats could we honestly hope to see there?
For a championship event, I am strongly of the opinion that the event should be at least half way through the majority of prospective teams’ season. How else will we have a chance to test our latest hopefully-go-fast mods before a championship? Sorry, but I am not launching in March to do that. The ice will do some damage!
Regarding Kingston, CBYC would love to host the event alongside our Eastern Yachting Circuit Regatta, July 12-14 (possibly 11-14 or 12-15 to accomodate our needs). This event will be quite affordable compared to CORK, a bit more than Barrie (due to the lift in/out costs), and a lot more affordable than Charleston, albeit at a lower-key event.
LYRA would be another excellent option. Oswego, NY, August 1-5. Not sure about their hoist capabilities, but the regatta itself is affordable.
A neat idea I have been toying with presenting would be to take the event to Chicago or Sarnia. Have our event the week before one of the Mac races, then encourage the fleet to stick around for the big race. Logistically challenging, relatively expensive, but it would be a great experience!
We have never had a significant issue with the bridles, and we have old-school crimped bridles to boot. You do have to blow the topper, but we leave the foreguy. We have the foreguy lead to a block at the base of the mast, so it works. If the block is up near the hatch, then you would have to blow it foreguy.
I have never noticed my bag banging or clanking. Perhaps Chuck’s bag was larger than mine…
It should be noted that, in my opinion, the real advantages of this system can only be realized if 1) your foreguy attachement is aft of the hatch and 2) that you douse and launch from the forward hatch. If you are one of the boats that clings onto dousing into the companionway for reasons that I have never understood, you will not get the advantages.
I agree that the boom bag is an indispensable item for course racing. It is a no-brainer in my opinion…if you need to do a quick tack at the leeward mark and you have a foredeck that knows how to use the bag, you can tack within about 5 seconds of having the chute down.
I have played with different home-designs, and have settled on a closed end version. I found that open ended versions would catch when you are trying to pull the pole out. Yes, the closed end will extend past the end of the boom. When it is empty, it will lay down a bit. I have rigged a hard attachment (read-quarter inch bolt with wing nut) at the very aft end of the boom that is attached to the bag in order to minimize the issue.
Yes, you need a stiff front end. I used some old lifeline that I had. Sew it in just like a bolt rope. You do need a method for tying the front of the bag to the boom so that it does not get forced aft with each douse. I put a bolt-rope in the top of the bag to keep it in the boom. If your main is captive-footed, you will need to attach it with rivets or the like.
Of note, my bag ends about 12 inches aft of the mast, and is around 6-8 inches in diameter. The aft end must allow the forward end of the pole to stay behind the mast, or you will end up binding and having trouble if you need to set on port (yes, my pole is carried on starboard).
I have a few issues with Charleston. Sure, it would be an amazing experience, but there are some severe drawbacks:
1) LONG haul for the majority of participants. There is only one boat in Charleston that I know of. Only one Chesapeake boat has a trailer.
2) Too early in the season to have a good championship, in my opinion. The majority of potential boats race April – October.
3) It is pretty expensive. $400 entry, $25 non-USSailing, $60 per crew for shoreside, $260/ night / room at the event hotel.
For the bottom bearing, there is a surface that the top of the bearing rests against, preventing it from rising upwards. With my bearings, there is about 1/8 inch of bearing protruding below the hull surface because of this surface. It is in a pretty turbulent area, so I am not too worried about that.
Yes…once the pin is pulled it will drop pretty quickly if your bearings are loose… Have a buddy ready.
Geez…I think I paid more than that picked up!
You will need to take a bit off the inside circumference to get it onto your post. Took me about half an hour of careful sanding to get it right. I also had to take a bit off the outside.
Your existing bearing might be tough to get out. You may have to fashion a puller tool to grab the top edge. I used a 10″ carriage bolt, ground down on the head so it would grab the bearing lip.
If you remove the rudder for transport, be sure you take the lower bearing out too…new ones have a tendancy to drop out on the road.
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I changed computers to one that has the latest IE, and the new topic is working. The other machine uses an ancient version, and it did not work. What brower are you using?
crap…I deactivated the file uploading, and it did not fix the posting issue. This might take some work. Check back tonight.
I am aware of the “new topic” issue…just came across it an hour ago. I can’t look into it right now, but will tonight. I think that issue and the file attachment issue are related, because I can’t attach an file either…
My post has worn at the lower bearing spot. To the point that even though the bearing is tight enough that it needs a a bit of lube to get it down the shaft, there is play at the bottom end. My solution for this was to wrap a few layers of teflon plumbing tape around the post at the worn area when ever I have the rudder out. It does not last the entire season, but it definitely helps!
Curious…did you actually measure the stanchion angle? I suspect that if someone wanted to be really picky, they are probably more than 10 degrees from vertical. Hopefully people are not that picky on a 30 year old boat…
Regarding the bilge pumps, the LO300 does not have the “combined system” qualifier. How the heck does CYC quantify “sufficient capacity?”
I am not trying to be devils advocate here, but attempting to arm myself with answers should LO300 people make a stink.
This list is why I asked for an interpretation last year (or was it two years ago?) As I indicated, I never did receive a response. I will try again.
The document http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_documents/434/LO300%20Equipment%20&%20Safety%20Regulations%20June%2010-2011.pdf indicates that participants “shall meet the requirements” of Cat 3.
The “standard inspection card” http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_documents/434/LO300%20Standard%20Inspection%20Card%20%2823%20June%202011%29.pdf does not go into much detail.
I have heard from previous competitors that, if this card is signed by a flag officer of your club, there are no further inspections at the event. In fact, previous competitors have indicated that they were pretty underwhelmed by the safety aspect of race management.
All this being said, here are my comments to the individual topics:
Mast step – easy retrofit
Stanchions – yes, going to run some dyneema between lower lifeline hole and toe rail. Remove as soon as race is done…I like having the ability to pop my stanchions out. We will not mention the fact that stanchions are supposed to be vertical…
Stanchion base – I interpret “working deck” to be as wide as the gunwhale, so we are good there.
Toe Rail- stock one should be fine.
Water Tanks – Old School has a 2 gallon poly tank “plumbed” into a hand pump on the port cabinet. The tank is usually removed, leaving just the pump. Looks goofy, but it is very handy for hanging our trash bag from!
3.09.6 is what I read in the LO300 safety requirements. I requested, but did not receive an interpretation request.
@ Bill – I believe they did it once on the 30 (I wasn’t invited…jerks!) and at least once on the 40, along with both the macs, the super mac, and the Trans-Superior.
If you go by the letter of the safety requirements, some modifications have to be made to the boat for the LO300. Particularly having the bilge pump emptying into the cockpit drains. There were a few other smaller things as well, like securing the stanchions.
That being said, I am playing around with the idea of doing it next year. Kind of torn between it and one of the Mac’s.
@ Peter – You would have a great time up here if you did come! From early July through mid Auguast there are great regattas or races every weekend! Only issue is picking which ones to do.
@ Dale – When is it? Give us some details about how many boats are within say, 500 miles.
There is a pretty good discussion about sails burried on the second page:
http://www.olson30.org/groups/friends/forum/topic/sail-lofts/
Here are the pics Al put into his album
I would suggest that the shape of the curves should be different for outboard boats. Different weights, waterlines, drag, etc. If you look at the two curves we currently have, you will notice a difference between the two inboard boats (one “folding prop” and another “folding tractor prop” whatever that is):
http://www.olson30.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/o30polar4.pdf
http://www.olson30.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/POLAR_DIAGRAM.pdfMind you, there are not huge differences, probably not enough of a difference for us mortal helmsmen, but there are differences none-the-less. It would be interesting to see if an outboard curve would be enough different for a helming change.
BTW, I have another set of polars I have just uploaded. This set is for another boat with an inboard. It has the true diagram as well as the apparent diagram.
I would love to see a set for an outboard.
