I have an 84 Mk I with a fin keel. 135% genoa (not new but in good shape) and 4 year old fully battened Doyle mainsail. I have "tuned" the rig with a Loos guage so I know the tension on the stays is even and when sighting up the mast it appears straight. However, the boat just does not point that well on a port tack. I have no problems holding my own when racing other boats on a starboard tack but it appears I have to fall off more than the other boats when on a port tack.
Ideas? Suggestions? :confused:
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Bill
s/v Lucky
1984 MK I Hull #266
San Antonio, Texas
Quick thought, have you measured the distance between the top of the mast and the deck on both sides of the boat to ensure the mast is centered? I have seen boats that although the rigging is tensioned the mast is not centered. We do an annual check of our local boats and sometimes we find the alignment off by inches. Hope this helps.
Jonn Meyer Hilbre-2135
John Meyer
Hilbre
C36 MKll, Hull 2135
Cabrillo Marina, San Pedro, CA
Good point. The previous owner used Spartite between the mast and partner. When we had the boat decommissioned and moved to our lake, the rigger just removed the screws of the partner and had the mast pulled out by a crane. When the mast was restepped we just lined up the holes in the partner and screwed everything down tight. I bet there is some "wiggle" room here that we can play with. I would think that if the mast is plumb, then it should be pretty close though.
Bill
s/v Lucky
1984 MK I Hull #266
San Antonio, Texas
I do have a question for you.
Why did you remove the partners, I have had spartite for the three past seasons. Every year when she comes out of the water we drop the rig, Simply the crane pickup tension the standing rigging comes off and the mast is pulled, when this happens the spartite slides a bit down the mast. But when the rig is restepped it simply slids into the correct position.
I am curouis as to why you removed the partners?
FAIR WINDS & FOLLOWING SEAS
Jeff Costa
S/V KAIROS Hull #0235
Jeff
I called Spartite and they told me that if the install was done according to the directions, the mast would slip out just as you described above. We tried for 2 hours to pull the mast out of the partner with no luck. We were worried about damaging the deck with all the pulling from the crane so we decided to remove partner and all.
Bill
s/v Lucky
1984 MK I Hull #266
San Antonio, Texas
FUnny you should say that. I was racing with a guy I know who has a Whitby 42.
Spartite was installed in his boat, I think they did not grease the partners like they were supposed to do. In the end the spartite had to be drilled out, and then all removed. What happened next is the worst.
As the rigger was drilling out the spartite they damaged the spar, drillng into the spar at the partners there were over 16 drill marks into the wall of the spar.
That cost the rigger over $28,000.00 to replace the spar. Man what a bad day for the rigger
That is why you have to follow directions.
FAIR WINDS & FOLLOWING SEAS
Jeff Costa
S/V KAIROS Hull #0235
Is your boat level athwartships sitting at the dock?
A weight imbalance causing a few degrees of list to starboard could explain some measure (not sure how much) of difference in pointing on tacks.
If you had not mentioned other boats, I would have also suggested that some sailors use the windvane as their guide, but you need to be sure the windvane is symmetrically aligned. That doesn't sound like your issue.
Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/
Duane
Good point. It appears level but damn we have a lot of crap in the boat. I have a race tomorrow evening. (Moonlight Regatta). I will experiment by moving the crew around more to see if that makes a difference.
One of these days I will put the boat on a diet too.
Bill
s/v Lucky
1984 MK I Hull #266
San Antonio, Texas
Duane
We moved people around and the point of sail is still off. I am going to start over and take the measurments and retune the rig and see if that corrects it. The boat sails great, I just see others heading on a point of sail that I just can't match.
Bill
s/v Lucky
1984 MK I Hull #266
San Antonio, Texas
Thanks for the update, Bill.
The thing is, '[U]something[/U]' must be asymmetrical about your boat if it points well with the fleet on one tack and poorly on another. If you keep eliminating things, you will eventually find it.
Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/
I am fortunate to have the current Chief Measurer and former Catalina 25 National Champion as a member of our yacht club. Over drinks after the race on Saturday he thought that there may be a 'hook' at the top of my mast to blame.
Like you said, eventually I will find it.....
Bill
s/v Lucky
1984 MK I Hull #266
San Antonio, Texas
Somebody was telling me about a boat that always tended to get growth on one side - maybe the side exposed to the Sun. Could this have anything to do with different performance on one tack vs. another?
SF Bay
1998 C36
If the growth was significantly different from one side to another, I think the answer is yes, but still only a small amount of speed difference. That's MHO, anyway.
Duane Ising - Past Commodore (2011-2012)
s/v Diva Di
1999 Catalina 36 Hull #1777
Std rig; wing keel, M35B, Delta (45#)
Punta Gorda, FL
http://www.sailblogs.com/member/diva-di/
Hi. We have an early model also, and have the same issue. I have since looked hard when she is out of the water, and the [I]keel has a noticeable cant to port[/I]. The result is she always sits a little off plumb. I imagine this is why she points better on the port tack.
S.V. Wind Star
Rob & Margie Kyles: Auckland ,New Zealand
Mk I Hull #105 1983 Std Rig, Std Keel
Have you checked your keel from one side to the other? Try making a plywood template of three different elevations on one side, check the template on the opposite side and fare if neccessary,so the keel is simetrical from one side to the other. I saw this on one of the "racing" videos and it referenced a similar problem on tacking
Here is a good link about the importance about a symmetrical keel and what you can do about it.
[URL="http://www.computerkeels.com/"]http://www.computerkeels.com/[/URL]
Dave
Ballena 1995 Mk II #1445