anybody here race an Elan 31?

[Birdseye]

Are you of equivalent experience / ability?

I certainly dont have have any great claim to racing ability even if I have been racing for some time.

The Sadler 290 is 0.882 on the NHC system not 0.855. And yes I do mean comparing after handicap adjustments.

 

[Daydream believer]

. And yes I do mean comparing after handicap adjustments.

Then that is just helmsmans ability & not a measure of boat performance.
The NHC adjusts for that over a series of club races, hence, the biased rating. It allows for racing against some who are poor performers but gives them a chance in future races
If you entered a different set of races with different competitors, you would probably start from the original handcap number again & work from there

 

[Birdseye]

I dont think that its the skipper in this case - he seems pretty competent to me. Much more likely to be the boat, the state of sails and likely also the sort of racing we do.

The Elan 31 we have in the fleet romps away from all the rest of us, hence the interest.

 

[benjenbav]

I had a run in with the Elan dealer at a boat show in about 2012. It was shortly after the 380 had launched and I introduced myself as the helm of Elaine.
He went off on one, ranting at me having cost him “dozens of sales” because we kept beating the 380. I thought he was joking at first, but he really wasn’t. He was vey aggressive.
For context we’d offered to leave the 37 on the hard for a series if he lent us a 380 to see if we could get some results, but he wasn’t interested.
Sad thing was, I think the 380 was probably a pretty good boat, but the first owner was not an experienced sailor, and we’d been sailing the 37 for a while by that point.

Sounds like the dealer was hardly a credit to the brand.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I dont think that its the skipper in this case - he seems pretty competent to me. Much more likely to be the boat, the state of sails and likely also the sort of racing we do.

The Elan 31 we have in the fleet romps away from all the rest of us, hence the interest.

He may simply be less diligent with his antifouling regime. Our handicap is hard to sail to, every mistake is multiplied by 1.3 compared to everyone else for starters. We are merely average at the beginning of the season, but my the last few races we are untouchable. People here seem to laugh at our cleaning regime, but there’s the proof it works. Pretty sure the Elan and Hanse boats are quick normally. But if they’re trailing a green carpet, it’ll be tough for them to show it.

 

[Birdseye]

He may simply be less diligent with his antifouling regime. Our handicap is hard to sail to, every mistake is multiplied by 1.3 compared to everyone else for starters. We are merely average at the beginning of the season, but my the last few races we are untouchable. People here seem to laugh at our cleaning regime, but there’s the proof it works. Pretty sure the Elan and Hanse boats are quick normally. But if they’re trailing a green carpet, it’ll be tough for them to show it.

You could well be right. When we race laid courses and I am OD on the club boat at one end of the line, it always surprises me how many well heeled hulls show a carpet of green.

Under engine at standard revs, the difference for me between boat speed before and after lift out for a clean is usually half a knot