a 10m boat suitable for single handed inshore racing?

[Birdseye]

In the past I have only ever hove to in open water whilst having lunch - my response to arriving early at the start line has usually been to do a 360 if there is room. As I have posted to Flaming, I am off to the boat tomorrow and heaving to will be one of the practises that I will be trying. Going to be an interesting day.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

In the past I have only ever hove to in open water whilst having lunch - my response to arriving early at the start line has usually been to do a 360 if there is room. As I have posted to Flaming, I am off to the boat tomorrow and heaving to will be one of the practises that I will be trying. Going to be an interesting day.

The easiest way to achieve it is to come in on port, jib sheeted hard, and tack in the spot you want, leaving the jib alone.

 

[Daydream believer]

The easiest way to achieve it is to come in on port, jib sheeted hard, and tack in the spot you want, leaving the jib alone.

Then somebody comes up below you on stbd & immediately protests you if you do not head up, which you cannot if stationary.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Then somebody comes up below you on stbd & immediately protests you if you do not head up, which you cannot if stationary.

We are far from stationary hove to. And obviously you pick your spot according to what others are doing. We even do it in the X though not so near the start. Though that is principally cos it takes a wet week to get up to speed. It’s actually rare for someone to interfere with us, why would they unless we’re in their way? No point in deviating from your start plan just to spoil someone elses picnic.

 

[Birdseye]

Then somebody comes up below you on stbd & immediately protests you if you do not head up, which you cannot if stationary.

But as Chiara describes it you would be on starboard and the other guy would be overtaking and whats more to windward of you.

Anyway, in our racing protests are discouraged quite severely.

 

[Daydream believer]

Anyway, in our racing protests are discouraged quite severely.

Upsetting the oposition is half the fun. Just make sure that they do the turns.
It is a competition.

 

[oldbloke]

A boat not overlapped with you has no rights over you. Only when an overlap starts do you have to keep clear. If you are doing 1/2 a knot hove to and the overtaking boat is doing 4 knots he is going to have trouble giving you time and space. Sensible people just sail round you, less sensible people start shouting when they are behind you. I usually find informing them of the rules and inviting them to ask again once the overlap is established works.
It's actually quite difficult co.ing up from leeward as the backed jib +/- a pulled in main makes a big hole in the wind

 

[Daydream believer]

But as Chiara describes it you would be on starboard and the other guy would be overtaking and whats more to windward of you.

At the pre start, once an overlap is established one can luff up, but not right through the wind. So if a boat positioned itself to leaward of Chiara when hove too then luffed ,Chariara would be obliged to luff as well to give the leaward boat room. If Chiara was too close to the line he could be pushed over the line, or just forced to tack onto port in a slightly stalled position & caught on port by other stbd boats approaching the line. The strategy is a very poor one- In my view- because he needs to be moving to maintain manouverability. Alternatively, he has to be so far from the line as to be a very poor position for starting.

 

[dunedin]

Am getting frustrated with my new to me boat because the "margin of control" whilst single handed is so tight that any surprise event ( a sheet snagging for example) usually results in the boat rounding up / tacking etc. I'm talking short courses with just 10 mins or so between marks and I am not as quick reacting as I was 30 years ago.

If the course legs are really as short as 10 minutes (ie course leg upwind less than 1,500m) then probably sailing the wrong type of boat. Why not buy a cheap Squib - or whatever other dayboats are raced locally - and use that for the short races, and keep the existing bigger boat for passage racing and cruising.
Adding a dayboat to your fleet would probably be cheaper than a new autopilot system, and more fun for that sort of inshore round the cans racing.

 

[B27]

But as Chiara describes it you would be on starboard and the other guy would be overtaking and whats more to windward of you.

Anyway, in our racing protests are discouraged quite severely.

It's boats coming up below you who are the problem.
You are windward boat, you must keep clear as soon as they have an overlap.
It's concerning that you mention 'overtaking'.....

Relying on other people being discouraged from protesting is pretty close to cheating in my book.
Either respect the rules or keep off the race course.
There are limits, there is a bit of give and take in club racing, but without the rules of the game, there is no game.

 

[B27]

If the course legs are really as short as 10 minutes (ie course leg upwind less than 1,500m) then probably sailing the wrong type of boat. Why not buy a cheap Squib - or whatever other dayboats are raced locally - and use that for the short races, and keep the existing bigger boat for passage racing and cruising.
Adding a dayboat to your fleet would probably be cheaper than a new autopilot system, and more fun for that sort of inshore round the cans racing.

If the courses are that short, the boats are kind of close together for any of them to be on autopilot?

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Upsetting the oposition is half the fun. Just make sure that they do the turns.
It is a competition.

If you did it to me for fun, my fun would consist of being at every mark waiting fr you, and blanketing you with my 14 m rig. You’d only do it the once.

 

[dunedin]

If the courses are that short, the boats are kind of close together for any of them to be on autopilot?

But I think several threads & posts back the OP started with an issue that he couldn’t hold course whilst winching in the genoa after a tack - and his tiller pilot “auto-tack” function had failed in one direction
But that was before we heard about the courses with legs of 10 minutes - hence suggesting a smaller dayboat would be better

 

[B27]

I think the last few contributions remind me of why I don't bother racing my yacht.
Club cruiser racing seems to be:
Small fleets of oddly assorted boats
Dubious yardstick systems
Short courses better suited to dinghies
People who don't respect the rules
People who can't handle their boats.

Dayboats and dinghies offer better racing at much lower cost.
There's quite few people in our dinghy racing fleet who also have cruisers, and more who could certainly afford one, but the racing is not an attractive proposition.

 

[Tranona]

That is true, but many people who have cruising boats like to race as well which is why such fleets exist in most clubs that have access to reasonable water. What this thread shows is that it is a challenge to find a boat of this size that will be suitable in that role if you want to singlehand. The compromises are too great. However as I suggested originally there are some boats such as the Hanses that are a reasonable compromise with their self tacking jibs and well laid out cockpits.

 

[B27]

If you've ever gone into irons on an RS800, you will suspect that a self tacking jib is not always your best friend.

 

[TSB240]

Agreed. That Hanse 291/301 is a good performer and rates well.

Great boat for inshore single handed racing especially if deeper keel, folding prop and self tacking jib.
The wing keelers were mainly fitted with a two blade fixed prop on a 10hp donk making them a little harder to be competitive.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

We have an XOD as well as the Dragonfly. Yhe DF is not truly welcome at the club, we play it carefully. Pursuit races are good, and a few of the longer races.

 

[Tranona]

If you've ever gone into irons on an RS800, you will suspect that a self tacking jib is not always your best friend.

No such thing as a free lunch. You can find fault with any set-up, although I am not sure an RS800 is comparable with the smaller Hanses that are being suggested!

 

[ridgy]

Non irc cruiser racing is just an excuse to go sailing and have a drink with fellow sailors afterwards. Anyone treating the results more seriously is bound for disappointment.