I raced my H21SE in the Twelfth Annual Hiram's Haul endurance race a few weeks back. What a blast! We were the fastest of the non-spinnaker boats(a SC17 and a pair of H18M). But the new boats I couldn't compete with in light air. One thing that I observed on day two of the race, as the "Wolfpack" approached, they looked like leaning telephone poles from a distance. As they got closer you could see that the sails had a constant airfoil from top to bottom. Not like the old style sails with a squashed "D" shape from the front. The wind picked up and I was able to hold them off for a while matching their speed knot for knot. Finally the wind dropped and switched directions in favor of their spins. It looked like a massive flower bloom as they popped their spinnakers out. All I could do is watch helplessly as one by one they scooted past. Congratulations to Carbon Cruising in their awsome M20. They were lightyears ahead of the rest. And many thanks to Scott and his wife at Performance Sail and Sport for a great event. The Halloween Party at Captain Hiram's was incredible!!!
I would like to reshape the airfoil on my sail so that it resembles the newer sails. So the question is...has anybody tapered their stock Hobie battens? Any thought or ideas? Will this make the sail more efficient in light air? Or is it determined by the sail cut?
Note: They started the non-spin boats one hour ahead of the spin boats.
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Flightlead Bimare F18 HT SpaceCoast
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Tapered Battens?
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Posted: Nov 17, 2009 - 06:06 PM
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Posted: Nov 18, 2009 - 10:35 AM
i am not an expert in this area but my feelings are tapering the battens will ONLY move the draft of your sail (forward). If that is not the desired effect, dont do it.
Also, unless your racing in a class event, its very unfair to compare your cat with others. Your gonna get hammered by ligher, newer design, spin cats... this is not always the case (as the skipper has more to do with the outcome than the platform) but in general. now i LOVE to beat other boats to around the pond, and try to beat everyone from island to island but... it really doesnt mean much unless i beat another mystere 5.5 -
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Posted: Nov 18, 2009 - 12:25 PM
Tapering battens is essential. Maximum draft should be about 35% aft. Tip the boat on side & rest mast on barrel (level)& sheet in main. Drop a marble on each batten & mark where it stops rolling. Then use belt sander on each batten to get draft evenly spread on sail. In 1980 P-16 nationals we were 19th of 19 boats in trial/tuneup race with a brand new factory charter boat. Went to renter center & rented a belt sander & attacked battens---got a third overall. Pete -
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Posted: Nov 18, 2009 - 01:16 PM
Andrew,
I wasn't making fun of the other boats, I just found it interesting how each boat performed in various wind conditions. I fully expected that the H21SE would be faster than the H18M's. But in 0 -5 kt winds the H18's held their own or were slightly faster. 5 - 8 kts, we began to walk away. Above that....bye bye! The SC17, I had no clue. We were pretty much evenly matched in light air. Heavier air we were pulling away( I don't think they had their sails trimmed properly). Downwind I think they had the advantage. I was surprised by the amount of air necessarily to get this big heavy boat powered up. The spi boats were double trapped and flying a hull in a 10 kt wind, meanwhile we were schlogging along with one crew on the wing and me in the center of the boat, without the upwind hull even a little light in the water....
Pete,
I appreciate the info. The online Hobie catalog has tapered battens for the H21SE for battens 6,7,and 8( if I remember correctly) with 27 in. taper. No taper on the rest. I think I will be doing some experimentation with a belt sander this weekend....
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Flightlead Bimare F18 HT SpaceCoast
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Posted: Nov 18, 2009 - 03:28 PM
Hi JS, i didnt think you were makin fun of others.. i just said its not really apples to apples... so its hard to compair.
As per tapering,.. if your NEED to move the draft then go for it (assuming you will be keeping that sail for a while)
I am sure you have tried outhaul and downhaul, but have you checked your pre-bend, diamond wire tension and batten tensions as well?
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Posted: Nov 18, 2009 - 04:10 PM
As much as I enjoy sailing this big old boat I can't justify buying a new square top sail at this time. For the amount that I would need to invest, moving to an old Hobie 20(or something comparable) and selling the H21 may be more practicable. If I can get more bang by tapering the battens, then thats what I will do for now. But you are correct in needing to check the mast for soundness. I don't need any problems during the upcoming Key Largo race. I just put 12.5" aluminum luff track at the top of comp tip to prevent the sail from pulling out of the track and jamming. One the H18s in the race didn't have the fix and had to tip the boat on its side to unhook the sail to lower it. Been there done that, got the torn muscle to prove it. But I will definitely check diamond wire tension. As for the Batten tension, they are loose for storage and adjustated accordingly for wind conditions before each sail.
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Flightlead Bimare F18 HT SpaceCoast
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Posted: Nov 19, 2009 - 09:04 PM
Hirams Haul race results @performancesailandsport.com
edited by: rote, Nov 19, 2009 - 10:32 PM -
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Posted: Nov 20, 2009 - 11:45 AM
Thanks Rote. I looked at the results...they made a mistake on the finish time of the first H18M. I think they corrected it. Day one we were the 4th boat to cross the finish line...I don't seem to remember the H18 being there when we arrived...but the again, we only had two beers left.
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Flightlead Bimare F18 HT SpaceCoast
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