GT35 versus Rustler37

JumbleDuck said:
In a recent posting - I think in the "David Thomas RIP" thread - someone said that Sigma 38 racers would keep full sail on in very windy conditions, which leads me to wonder whether the boats in question could have used more sail in light conditions.
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Couldn't we all.

Actually ALL racers tend to keep a full main in pretty windy conditions, because they can be flattened and depowered with a backstay and outhaul and the traveller played constantly. The headsail would be down to a number 3 before a reef went in. When cruising you'd tuck a reef in much earlier - no weight on the rail and why make life difficult. Top end of a force 6 though, I think eyelids would be batted and the Sigma 38 has a fairly modest sail plan for a cruiser-racer.
 
Nico said:
Couldn't we all.

Actually ALL racers tend to keep a full main in pretty windy conditions, because they can be flattened and depowered with a backstay and outhaul and the traveller played constantly. The headsail would be down to a number 3 before a reef went in. When cruising you'd tuck a reef in much earlier - no weight on the rail and why make life difficult. Top end of a force 6 though, I think eyelids would be batted and the Sigma 38 has a fairly modest sail plan for a cruiser-racer.
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Thanks - that explains it. It still comes as a suprise to me just how much faster my boat goes in F4 when reefed ... but if I could keep her reasonably upright with full mainsail she'd go even faster.

dom said:
Can you imagine the faces in Dover Coastguard if their Radar/AIS signals started to spontaneously split in half?
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Take a sharp knife to the crossbeam lashings of a Wharram and away you go. Memo to self: watch the DVD of Malcolm I bought a month back.
 
Nico said:
Couldn't we all.

Actually ALL racers tend to keep a full main in pretty windy conditions, because they can be flattened and depowered with a backstay and outhaul and the traveller played constantly. The headsail would be down to a number 3 before a reef went in. When cruising you'd tuck a reef in much earlier - no weight on the rail and why make life difficult. Top end of a force 6 though, I think eyelids would be batted and the Sigma 38 has a fairly modest sail plan for a cruiser-racer.
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Also most racers who carry a full main higher up the wind range have much better mainsails than the average cruiser, hence they are able to seriously flatten them for the uphill bits and use all the power going downhill.
My cruising main has to be reefed much earlier than the laminate racing sail cos I cannot get the Dacron sail flat enough.

Need to compare apples with apples and not with pears.
 
doris said:
Also most racers who carry a full main higher up the wind range have much better mainsails than the average cruiser, hence they are able to seriously flatten them for the uphill bits and use all the power going downhill.
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That's the key - it's usually faster to sail upwind in heavy weather with a reefed main whose shape can be tuned to the sea as opposed to heavily flattened to de-power. But anyone choosing this option would be hammered on the downwind leg.

Also a good point re flattening; I often notice boats carrying excessive mast-bend in an attempt to flatten mainsails cut like "pregnant elephants".
 
snooks said:
"Behind you Frank!"

I was wondering what a radio controlled heist had in common with a GT35. Then I remembered the convertible scene.

Soundtrack by Penguin Cafe Orchestra who I saw at Cambridge a few years ago
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Fantastic film ... not least because it's a remarkably sympathetic portrayal of someone with Asperger's Syndrome.
 
dom said:
That's the key - it's usually faster to sail upwind in heavy weather with a reefed main whose shape can be tuned to the sea as opposed to heavily flattened to de-power. But anyone choosing this option would be hammered on the downwind leg.
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Depends how slick the crew can take out a reef and drop it back in again around the cans. Quite doable on our boat with separate leech and luff reefing pennants.
 
JumbleDuck said:
With that huge coachroof it ought to be. It's probably one of the reasons they gave the demonstrator such a spartan interior, too.
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I have to say, Mr Quack, that I have just dug out the respective reports with Snooks' smashing snaps and the side decks of the R37 would appear to be narrower than the GT. Ergo the coach roof must be more huge on the R than the GT but the reverse applies to the interior. This was confirmed in the reality at SIBS.

Ahhhh, the mystery of the vanishing interior. Must be the scatter cushions.
 
BlueSkyNick said:
Depends how slick the crew can take out a reef and drop it back in again around the cans. Quite doable on our boat with separate leech and luff reefing pennants.
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Good point, and dropping a reef in at the leeward mark is usually a straightforward affair, though one tends to create a very disturbed (and slow) airflow when the kicker comes off and the mainsheet loosened right off for a moment or so.

The problem however comes at the windward mark - backstay off, kicker and outhaul tweaked, and boom out possibly to the point the mainsail is resting on the spreaders. The next leg might be a F6 broad reach with heavy weather kite where one might expect a speed of 8 to 20kts depending on the boat; broaching will be an ever present risk. It would be a braver man than me to open the kicker and try to somehow get the main back up the mast!!! ...there would also be a big risk of ripping the main.

You could of course shake the reef at the top of the windward leg, but a boat messing around like this at such a busy point on the course would find itself at a significant tactical disadvantage
 
doris said:
I have to say, Mr Quack, that I have just dug out the respective reports with Snooks' smashing snaps and the side decks of the R37 would appear to be narrower than the GT. Ergo the coach roof must be more huge on the R than the GT but the reverse applies to the interior. This was confirmed in the reality at SIBS.
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And did they sell many? Any?

Incidentally, I wasn't just, or particularly, referring to the width of the coachroof.
 
JumbleDuck said:
I'd also be interested to know if the demonstrator is off the market (as reported) because it has been sold or because they feel that they still need a demonstrator.
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I think it is rather than unlikely that Snooks, as a contractor, is going to know the sales figures for the GT35 or if he does, he is going to be professional by not divulging them.
 
Ex-SolentBoy said:
Looks like Yachting World liked the R37.

http://www.yachtingworld.com/video/rustler-37-video/
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v good photography, but a film spoilt by the use of irrelevant music.

Have a look at 7.09 minutes in and see the precarious position adopted by the guy winding the winch. This is a common winching position on many boats, including mine. Later you see him with his knees braced against the cockpit coaming. I have to do this also.

When is someone going to design a boat where the winches can be wound comfortably and safely when the boat is well heeled?
 
oldvarnish said:
v good photography, but a film spoilt by the use of irrelevant music.

Have a look at 7.09 minutes in and see the precarious position adopted by the guy winding the winch. This is a common winching position on many boats, including mine. Later you see him with his knees braced against the cockpit coaming. I have to do this also.

When is someone going to design a boat where the winches can be wound comfortably and safely when the boat is well heeled?
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Westerly Storm,UFO 31,34 & as it happens Oyster 37
IMG_1780.jpg
 
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