Rival 34

[luke1000123]

How fast is the rival in light airs say f3- 4?
Please

 

[Saraband]

Light winds are not their best conditions, although Force 4 is 11-16 knots so not exactly light.......some racier boats thinking about reducing sail at the top end of that range.

If you are Force 2 then a Rival can be quite sticky, but then again once moving there is a lot of momentum that can be quite useful if the wind is both light and patchy! Important to remember that there are shallow and deep keel versions and also a taller rig option so not all Rival 34 are equal.

I often sailed against one in North Wales and the old skipper's comment in lighter winds was that "the Rival would never drown you but she might starve you".........unfair in the round but funny on the appropriate light wind day!

 

[luke1000123]

thanks for the info yeah i meant 2 to 3 really, we have a sabre 27 now and was just wondering if a rival would be faster in light airs

 

[Saraband]

With decent sails you might not find that much difference in light air speed........however on the longer trips I thimk you will see a big difference between 27 foot and 34 foot, both in average passage times but more obviously in comfort, particularly if there are any waves about!

 

[jwilson]

With decent sails you might not find that much difference in light air speed........however on the longer trips I thimk you will see a big difference between 27 foot and 34 foot, both in average passage times but more obviously in comfort, particularly if there are any waves about!

I'd agree: probably not much in it in light winds, but the Rival getting substantially faster as wind and sea increases. The deep keel Rivals were obviously better to windward but the shallow keeled ones were quite good too if sailed properly: ie a tiny trace free-er and faster to minimise leeway. One of the most reassuring boats I've ever been in in heavy weather.

 

[luke1000123]

very interesting, thanks for the input both

 

[sailorman]

How fast is the rival in light airs say f3- 4?
Please

Slo

 

[sailaboutvic]

Luke a bit more info how you going to use the boat might get you a better answer , if you want it for say long distance and ocean crossing I wouldn't worry too many about speed , if you want it as a weekend boat to potter down the next river and back , I think you find there better boats out there for that .
We have a heavy boat that don't do light winds , but over a long distance we mostly avg 5 to 5.5 and we do keep her going as long as we can get 2 kt out of her .

 

[luke1000123]

We are not really sure as when we bought our sabre 27 we had no idea we were going to spend 5 months sailing around the UK so we would like a boat that's a bit of everything really

 

[Deleted member 36384]

Well, that depends. If you are prepared to use a large lightweight 'ghoster' they will shift along at a few kts. If you stick with a standard furling genoa, less speed. They were designed to be used with 'ghosters'. One plan would be to have a ghoster and then change to the furling sail as the wind piped up.

My Rival 41C, with a furling sail and standard main will sail in F2 at 3kts on a fine reach.

 

[Tranona]

We are not really sure as when we bought our sabre 27 we had no idea we were going to spend 5 months sailing around the UK so we would like a boat that's a bit of everything really

Are you planning to go and buying a different boat to do the trip? If so, any reasonable sized (30-35 is a good size range) cruising boat will do the job so it comes down to what sort of boat appeals to you, your preferred style of sailing your budget and what is available at the time you are buying.

For example, if you want to sail long legs and in most weathers then a Rival might be a good choice, if you want to only sail in daylight and stop off regularly in marinas then something more orientated to marina life might be better, orv if you want to explore shallow harbours and estuaries living on the hook a bilge keel or centreboard boat is probably better.

All boats have their pros and cons, but just about any of the mainstream cruising boats will be safe and seaworthy (if properly prepared). After all that is what they are designed to do!

 

[luke1000123]

thanks, very interesting indeed.

 

[Kelpie]

Neither of the boats have a particularly high sail area to displacement ratio- if the figures on sailboatdata.com are accurate, the Sabre is 14.31 and the Rival actually a little worse at 13.89.
These figures need to be taken with a pinch of salt as you'd have to find out whether the sail areas used for the calculations reflect how the boats are actually equipped.
A folding prop can make a big difference in light winds, by reducing drag and more cynically by making your engine less effective and therefore less tempting to motor in light winds

 

[Tranona]

A folding prop can make a big difference in light winds, by reducing drag and more cynically by making your engine less effective and therefore less tempting to motor in light winds

The first half of this sentence is correct but the second is definitely not. I have had folding props on two boats and a feathering one on a third and all gave equal or better motoring performance than the fixed they replaced. This is normal now - but may not have been in the past with some of the earlier designs.

 

[Kelpie]

The first half of this sentence is correct but the second is definitely not. I have had folding props on two boats and a feathering one on a third and all gave equal or better motoring performance than the fixed they replaced. This is normal now - but may not have been in the past with some of the earlier designs.

I was joking- I love my folding prop. The only real downside of it is my particular one is a bit feeble in astern (and feathering props give you the best of all worlds).

 

[RivalRedwing]

A good set of sails will help as will a folding or feathering prop (Featherstream is what we have). Tbh we move just as quickly as other boats our size in a F2 to 3 and I would expect to overtake a 27' boat reasonably quickly. Variables like a clean bottom and not towing a dinghy also need to be considered. I still remember a review of a R34 from some years ago 'surprisingly quick in light airs' ...... Holds true relative to expectations. In a F3-4 it will be flying along.

 

[macd]

The only real downside of it is my particular one is a bit feeble in astern (and feathering props give you the best of all worlds).

You had an astern gear? The box on my Rival 32 (which is almost the same hull) was just neutral, forward, sideways.

Not spritely in light airs, but OK. F4 is perfect for them. In heavier conditions, they just keep going. Can be bloody wet on a beat, though.

 

[Quandary]

Back in about 78, I did the Scottish series on a Rival 32, we did the feeder race from Bangor, the round Arran and all the inshores, she can not have been too slow because while we did not win anything we finished all the races.

 

[luke1000123]

Thanks for your comments and positive feedback, it is greatly appreciated and I'm pretty confident now that she will be fine in F3 upwards, and to be honest if they were forecasting F2 I wouldn't bother going out

 

[PeteCooper]

I have a scan of a Rival 34 test I can email to you if you want. It's from YM a long time ago.