Racing Production Boats

“A man’s got to know his limitations”

Harry Callahan- Magnum Force circa 1973.

A large number of the new yachts that grace our waterways are production cruisers racers, this type of yacht that has become very popular and for good reason. Whilst some ranges are orientated a little more toward racing the bulk of these boats are the characteristic cruisers with excellent interiors and significant extras all designed to make the sailing experience much more convivial? The boats are an attractive proposition to the potential buyer and represent a platform that can provide a great deal of sailing scope.

A lot of these boats would typically feature a fairly full hull shape, medium to heavy displacement and a modest sail plan. Most of them sail and race with the original OEM sails; these sails usually range from medium to extremely poor in quality depending on the supplier. Some companies offer an upgrade to a more racing set but for the most part the sails are merely designed to get the boat out on the water and manufactured with price effectiveness in mind in both cloth and construction. These factors all combine to provide a yacht that does have some limitations when it comes to racing.

I have lost count of the number of new boat purchasers who have told me they have got their new boat and looking forward to Sunday afternoons on the local waterway, they may do the odd twilight race but only for the participation and are not keen to embrace the competitive aspect of sailing.

It is usually within the year that I speak to them and the situation has reversed completely, racing has become a real focus and they want to know why other boats are passing them and “do I need better sails”? The normal racing complaints of unfair handicapping and results being erroneous are vented.

The handling limits of these boat styles are something we have to be very conscious of, I always feel a lot more comfortable executing a close dip on a racing yacht rather than a cruising “beach-ball” as hardened racing sailors derogatorily refer to a production boat.

So getting back to Harry Callahan, being aware of our limitations goes a long way to sailing these boats around the race track. We simply can’t emulate what the more high performance boats practise. So let’s work through what and what we can’t achieve. Although all boats vary there are some constants we can work through.

Firstly let’s look at sailing upwind

Light Airs- The modest sail plan in concert with a large amount of wetted surface area (that lovely spacious interior has to fit somewhere) combine to make light air performance an inherent weak spot. Some of this can be attended to by the obvious. Increasing sail area with larger overlap genoas or the addition of Code 0’s and other sail extra’s would be very helpful. Going through all the lockers and cupboards and removing as much superfluous weight as we can. It can be quite easy to fill several barrow loads of weighty items. All this will make a difference, but we must also sail our boat to minimise these weaknesses. Whilst we cannot change the nature of the beast, there are few pointers we can look to

·         Keep our hull clean and scrubbed regularly, nothing slows a boat down in light airs like a bit of slime on the bottom.

·         Sail the boat fast through the water, don’t pinch or try to point as high as other more racing orientated boats. Keep the tell-tales flowing evenly?

·         Power up your sails as much as you can, have your genoa cars forward a bit and main traveller up, not over tight on halyards (even a few luff wrinkles are ok), don’t over sheet the sails, keep them nice and open and flowing. You are underpowered and need to generate as much horse-power as you can. Ease a few turns off your forestay if you know the day will be light.

Medium Airs- Probably the easiest wind range to sail all boats in and the production boat is no exception.  Sails are sheeted home and boat powered up and all is pretty good with the world. The boat will respond well. Things to look for-

·         We have a bit more power so we can let the windward tell-tales lift a little and look for a bit more height. This will trend progressively more so as the wind increases.

·         Still need to be a bit careful dipping other boats and close manoeuvring , make sure you have someone to ease the genoa as well as the mainsail, particularly on boats with big overlapping genoas where al l the power is in the headsail. Big volume beamy hulls with smallish rudders can spin out pretty quickly.

Heavy Airs- Tend to be the area where most get into trouble, the boat is overpowered and keeps rounding up with loss of control of the helm. It can be quite daunting and a little dangerous at times. The essence to success to depower successfully and the key to this is keeping the boat balanced. A balanced helm that we are not fighting is critical to able to sail in a fast and controlled manner.

·         Twist the sails off to reduce the power, ease your genoa cars aft and let your main down traveller and tension luff to the maximum through halyard and Cunningham eye.

·         Sail to your angle of heel, not your tell-tales. I see a lot of sailors struggling to still sail to their tell-tales when they are way overpowered. Let the yacht come up and level out, it will be much easier. It is ok to have a backwind bubble in the front of your headsail, you don’t need all that power, and you can afford to shed some to sail higher and flatter.

·         You are far better off when caught overpowered to have the two sails half set, so don’t be scared to get down and crack the genoa sheet a bit when it gets quite extreme. I see a lot of boats in heavy weather with the jib strapped on tight and the mainsail ragging away behind. They are heeling over and unable to control the boat, it is steering the helmsman. Just a quick ease on the jib and the mainsail will regain some control and the whole boat will feel much lighter on the helm. If conditions keep persistently strong then look at reducing sail area by reefing or changing to a smaller jib.

·         Sail the boat flat, a lot of production cruisers have a moderate or even shallow draft. It is even more important to sail them upright, concern yourself with making less leeway rather than pointing super high.

So there we have a few pointers on racing your production sailboat to better effect, next edition we will look at the trials and tribulation encountered downwind and reaching.