Dave, without sounding rude, may I ask how much each of your crew weighs? My goodness, they must be super-sized if you are having that much trouble keeping the bow down.
They must obviously be forward of the helm, and if they are seated just aft of the cabin trunk, they cant be contributing THAT much to dragging your stern. Are you sure there isn't something really heavy in a cockpit locker or a quarter berth that is contributing to the boat being stern heavy? Does it float on its lines in the slip or on the mooring? Do you have a really heavy O/B sticking way out on a mount? (I thought you had an I/B) I think the Catalina 27s in and around Annapolis MD are probably some of the fastest on the planet. To my knowledge, I know of no one who is employing additional ballast anywhere on the boat. Chris D and Peter Z would certainly know better than me, but I would be surprised if they didnt say the same thing. I have raced on a bunch of these myself, both in Annapolis and Baltimore and Berkeley YC and no one I've ever seen has put ballast anywhere else besides the keel. But: if you still feel the need.... however you deploy that lead, it is going to need to be secured so that every time you pound into a wave it doesnt slam down on relatively lightly reinforced hull and topsides areas. My boat (hull 2286) had a decent enough layup, I felt, but it was hardly a Westsail 32 and I would never have entertained the notion of spreading lead around anywhere but directly over the keel sump. If you put 800 pounds of lead in the boat, you then would have a 7600 pound 27 foot boat on less than 22 feet of waterline. Your acceleration out of tacks will be miserably slow and your light air performance will be gawd-awful. Your SA/displacement number will be at rock bottom and the Rangers and Pearsons you race against will be eating your lunch and maybe your dinner and breakfast, too. And like Peter or Chris or somebody else said, you really ought to be balancing the boat by shifting crew weight forward...does no one aboard want to sit on the rail? tf > If I spread out 800 lbs. of lead forward of the holding tank is there an > inherent problem taxing or burdening the structure or integrety of the > hull? This is what I estimate is necessary to balance the boat with the > crew in normal position, on her lines, then. > > Dave Hoy > WYANOKEE #6295 > Camden, Maine > > >
