Judith - really glad you are still tracking the list. You are really
knowledgeable in this
boat business. We can all learn from you.
Clyde Thorington
ex C27 now C30
ILEAN2
San Jose, CA
"Judith Blumhorst, DC" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Here's my take having an OB and an A4. I've got an A4 and an OB for
backup. I've sailed with both.
Don't worry about the stern squatting when you're under power -- it's no big
deal.
But if the bow is lifting up while you're sailing, the boat won't go upwind
very well.
Then you're beating upwind, the bow will blow downwind in waves. So you
gotta fix that somehow.
Move all the gear in the boat to positions forward of the keel, and/or
on/under the v-berth, to get her back on her lines. Putting extra weight in
the ends of the boat may cause a little "hobby-horsing", but hobby-horsing is
"the lesser of two evils" compared to not going upwind well.
Also, if the stern is down compared to the bow, she might not have enough
weather helm, and she'll have much too much too much leeway. She won't track
right. You need to "balance the helm" by tuning the rig and balancing the
hull. Below are some basic instructions for balancing the helm that I wrote
a long time ago. The instructions are for a different boat (Potter 19), but
the principles are the same for the C27.
Judy B
Bijou, 1977 C27 Tall rig, #3459
San francisco Bay Area, CA
http://www.blumhorst.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpted from http://www.blumhorst.com/potterpages/Potter-19-Tuning-Notes.htm
<<notes on tuning at the dock are included in the original>>
...On the water, check that the boat is approximately level in the fore and
aft plane, like you did on land. Move gear and crew until she's level. Most
folks put way too much weight in the back end. The boat will slip excessively
to leeward if the bow is too high and you will have trouble making it through a
tack because the wind blows the bow around too much. It's best to concentrate
the weight close to the keel, so she doesn't "hobby horse" alot.
For the on the water tuning, you'll need enough wind and enough sail area to
heel about 10-15 degrees while on a close reach.
First we will check the amount of weatherhelm ...
...The term "weatherhelm" is often used to mean the tendency of the boat to
turn her bow into the wind when you let go of the tiller, or to describe the
amount of "pull" you feel in the tiller when you're holding her on a straight
course while sailing above a reach. But we're going to measure it in terms of
the angle of the tiller.
What we want is about 2-3 degrees of tiller deflection from the centerline at
about 10-15 degrees of heel and travelling in a straight line. That means that
your boat is angled about 2-3 degrees above your course. That will give you the
best lift to windward from your keel,
You should make a mark on the cockpit floor with tape, showing the centerline
and also 3 degrees off centerline, underneath the tiller.
For the on-the-water tune, sail on a close reach (with your sails properly
trimmed -- let's not go into that right now....) with the boat heeling about
10-15 degrees, and on a straight course.
Look down at the tiller. You should be holding it about 2-3 degrees to
windward, above the centerline. If you let go of the tiller, the boat should
start to round up, bow into the wind within a second or two at the most. That's
the right amount of weatherhelm.
If you're holding it higher than 2-3 degrees above the center in order to
keep her on a straight course, that's too much weatherhelm.
If you are holding it below the centerline, you don't have enough
weatherhelm.
If the weatherhelm isn't right, go back to the dock and change the mast rake
after you check the side shroud tension.
Later, when you go back to the dock: To increase weatherhelm -- increase mast
rake and/or move more weight forward. To decrease weatherhelm, decrease mast
rake and/or move weight aft.
((Note: Here's another way to estimate weather helm by looking at the rudder.
A tiller that is x feet long will be x inches off centerline when it's
deflected 5 degrees.
Example 1: A 3 foot long tiller, with the end 3" off the center line, is
deflected 5 degrees. 1.5 inches off centerline = 2.5 degrees. Example 2: A
four foot long tiller, with the end 4" off center line is deflected 5 degrees.
2" off centerline = 2.5 degrees))
.... <<more followings>>...
----- Original Message ----
From: Lynn Colgan Cohen <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Friday, June 27, 2008 9:21:18 AM
Subject: catalina27-talk: Our butt is dragging
Hello Everyone,
We have a Catalina 27 (1975). We're using a Yamaha outboard, although
the original (non-working) Atomic 4 inboard is still in the boat . We
hope to get it out and sell it for parts over the winter. The rear end
of the boat sags a bit, as you might expect. Not a lot, though - the
bottom of the thru-hull for the engine exhaust is at waterline. We
plugged this hole with a wooden bung to prevent her taking on water
there.
Do any of you have this situation? Can anyone suggest ways to
counteract the sagging stern? Is it advisable to put a counterweight
of some sort in the V-berth storage space?
We assume that the boat is sailable in this condition. and we have
taken her out like this.
Any suggestions would be appreciated....
Henry & Lynn
