Bruce Hubble
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The answer to the distance is how much prebend was designed in for your main.
Im now near 25″ and getting near an inch of prebend. I’m using 27 on the rod loos guage.
Next spring, im going back another 1/2 inch to get a full 1″ or better of bend.
I have just a bit too much bubble in th luff of the main.
So, move it aft to flatten your main. Use anti sieze to get your shrouds tight.
I measurement is 36.5, so the mast is near 41 feet.
You don’t have to undo the Velcro. It slides off the end when you remove the sail.
Don’t forget the beer holders……sheesh!
Any deviation from a class rule and you are out. RRS.
That being said, a class can give a written ‘pass’ on any class rule. I’m an inboard, I’m sure they would let that pass. My modified cockpit should pass, but would take a huge amount of discussion.
Because I’m an inboard and race offshore/PHRF..not a worry for me or my boat. ;)
The racers will tell you to get the weight off the top of the mast, but since you will be offshore, I’d stay with the masthead light. The freeboard is low, so lights won’t show if there is any sort of sea. I put in a LED 25W equivalent bulb for low power usage. Radio antenna should be up there too.
Instruments…wow. Huge subject, but the answer will lie in how much $$$ you are setting aside. Network is best..get it over with. I have a bit of hodge podge myself, but am slowly getting the network together.
Having true wind calculations on your wind indicator is great for racing. I have the 531 Garmin GPS feeding speed to a Tack Tick network. I only have the tack tick wind, not the racemaster version. Tack tick is nice because it is wireless; except power at the unit, (not the masthead). You need to link your GPS to your VHF, don’t forget.
For a speedo..mounting it in a good position is best. Forward of the keel is not the best. I vary almost a knot from port to starboard, yet on a run it is accurate. It is mounted just to starboard under the V berth. Aft would be better is my guess. I’ve got ST40 speed and separate depth.
For racing: A pro start on the mast. GPS line fix; head/lift; countdown; gps direction; speed. Downfall is 3 AA batteries and no backlight but they last.
I have a compass on each side of the cabin bulkhead.
Garhaurer adjustable genoa car setup is the best bargain around. Strong and nice looking. Price is less than half the others. Uses the stock Schaefer track.
Winches: we went cabin top only for a while. Keep them and the primaries. A spare winch is nice and really helps for buoy racing while under spinnaker. In light air, you can always cross jib sheet to the cabin.
Spin Pole: downhaul..double ended to the base of the mast and up to spin pole. Make a spin pole sock for the boom. It allows you to keep the pole connected and is a good storage place. I have a carbon pole, so I don’t have to use a bridle system, just D rings.
Boom Kicker: A must.
Marine Stereo..yeah, you’ll want it. Bluetooth to your phone.12V cigarette outlet at nav station. For recharging stuff. I run an invertor for my laptop to charge that uses the cig 12v. Has USB charge ports too. Are you an inboard? How do you keep a battery up? LED red/white light at nav. Doesn’t need to be big.
Jib tracks on cabin top. Short. 2 feet or so for the #3.
Crewed: spin halyards on the mast, crossed to opposite side. Eye fairlead to cam cleat. Fast and never slips. Spin pole car that is adjusted with line/cleats.
Light crewed: All halyards back to clutches. I recommend cam cleats behind the clutches for Jib and Main halyards. You don’t want slippage. Spin is easy to draw back up.
All through deck holes should be oversize drilled and filled with epoxy/filler, then drill to actual. No core leaks that way and mount is stronger.
You don’t need a baby stay.
Change the colors to Spartan Green
Some bungee cord is better than others. Good cover is the clue; less rubber, more cloth type.
I use regular shackles for long distance races in case of the need for a peel.
for buoy racing..nothing lighter than a bowline.
I use endurabraid and strip off the cover on about 20 feet or so. So light you don’t need light air sheets.
Spar Wars is Velcro. 3 layers is plenty. It doesn’t go out to the taper, that is in the paint where the clew can’t go under full outhaul.
We use a boom bag. BUT, we have a carbon pole with center D rings for the lift and downhaul (no bridle). We use twings that are just aft of the chain plates on the toe rail.
3/16 or 5mm. Amsteel Blue seems to be a good buy. It doesn’t deteriorate.
PM reply done.
I have 6 stainless steel 20″ above deck available. Used, 3 100% straight and 3 with very minor deflection due to tight lifelines. Garhauers with smooth top.
Personally, I would never go back to the aluminum ones. Brittle and break at the wrong time.
On Lake Michigan the Soverel is 90+.
Sounds like someone is abusing the handicap appeal process. HOWEVER..don’t compare one area to another. Look at relativity to similar boats if you are comparing areas.
Ratings of a competitor can be made, however there is usually a lot of scrutiny on the protesting boat first to not award them for poor performance. If race results in a fleet are being used and rewarding others, that rating should be left alone if the competitors are not sailing up to par.
LO does seem to have lower ratings in general, so the number is not as important as the differences in seconds between boats.
Remember that PHRF is a comparison of equal or near equal boats. It is not a ‘penalty box’ for alterations as some believe. If the alteration does not make the boat faster, it does not affect handicap.
With that said, the PHRF committee is correct in requiring alterations to ‘stock’ be subject to analysis. This is to keep fairness to competitors.
Just keep that in mind as you steer conversation in the PHRF review.
I’m a Lake Michigan PHRF area handicapper and on the technical committee.
The correct way to address this is:
1. It does not enhance the performance/speed of the boat, just structure.
2. It is allowed by the class and provide those rules.
3. Even if it did help performance, it would not be 3 seconds per mile.#3 is the real issue. PHRF is adjusted in increments of 3. If it doesn’t meet 3, usually no change is made.
Try lifting the rudder via the tiller straight up.
I bet you have something stuck in there. spin the rudder 360 a few times.
Bearings won’t swell, they are delrin.
How much up and down movement do you have? Should be less than a 1/4″.
Did you hit anything? Is your rudder shaft fiberglass or stainless?
Probably should pull the boat and look.
I hope you didn’t crush anything. I just assembled an engine and with aluminum heads, the torque was 65.
I don’t remember, were you having any issues with cracks?
40 sounded like plenty to me.
I use my standard 1/2 drive from Sears/Craftsman. Long extensions and go at it. Again, we don’t want to crush the washers into the FG! I’m guessing 50-60 lbs is max! (I just did aluminum heads on an engine I’m building and they were 70lbs. They are large nuts and washers for a reason: surface area to not crush into the glass.
On the subject of the aft nut..YES..it is larger and your ordinary BIG, EXPENSIVE socket will not fit. I found the solution: Go to the ACE Hardware or equivalent and get a wrench kit for hot water heaters that fit the nut that holds the sacrificial rods. It fits! You will need to devise a way to tighten, but that is the easy part.
I had my keel off last year. No torque wrench, just use a 1/2 drive and tighten all you have. No more. No breaker bar. Remember, it is the leverage of the threads as you tighten. They are finer thread too. You are squeezing, not bolting down a head on an engine.
I did. I get one of these about every three years, not as big. Minor fix. Have one to take care of this spring before launch. No biggie.
I probably looked at the wrong pictures.
G Flex is a West System brand of epoxy..I consider it household and not marine. Haven’t looked that up yet…just something that rings a bell.
If the bolts are loose, you will get the crack like in the second pic. It is bad enough to drop the keel..clean it up and glass/fair again. You could try just grinding it out, tightening and re-fair..but you have done more than half the work already and done it ‘half assed’. Dropping the keel is not difficult.
Second look…that is at the keel joint on the starboard side. I would drop the keel, re-seat, fill/fair/barrier.
G-Flex underwater? Hmmmmmm, didn’t think that was an okay application. I’ll do some checking.
Jim is right…grind it out. Dry? Epoxy/filler/fair/barrier.
Tighten the bolts..movement could rack the sump. Who knows?
Fill the holes/pox with epoxy filler and fair. Then barrier.
the keel is a HUGE job! The original keels used bondo for filler. The polyester filler is not suitable for continued water exposure. Dry sailing..fine. Be prepared to strip the keen entirely.
Someone in the last two years has done a keel. Search on this site.
If you have crew…always roll the sail and put it below. Start just above the lower numbers.
By yourself….large flakes as it comes down. Hope it isn’t windy. I would still tie it up and take below.
I mounted one of these blocks on the side of the mast (watch for boomkicker swing). It goes up to a single block that has a becket to attach a lead line to a hook for the main hole for Cunningham. Back down to becket or tied to base. Two to one is plenty. Could just use a cam cleat instead.
Survey: Did your front hole mast develop cracks? What did you do about it? Single or double spreader? Factory double spreader or modified? If you have side holes, any crack issues? Ballenger mast or ????
(My mast on Spar Wars is a Ballenger replacement with stock double spreaders. It has side holes and has no crack issues)
