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GILow · 15-10-2015, 13:01

Savoir, your post actually clarified something that had been niggling at me a bit.

I never ease the main on the Swanson, because I never feel the boat is over pressed. Perhaps it is the very conservative sail plan, or the wide beam, or the significant ballast, or a combination of all three, but gusts just don't seem to matter. I put a reef in at around 25 knots apparent, but other than that the normal range of wind speeds for a given situation never seem to warrant easing the main.

Lots of experienced sailors here have referred to easing the main in a gust, and it has only occurred to me now that I no longer do that. Used to do it, on every boat I have sailed till now, but I no longer feel the need. Weird.

I still see the merit of adjusting the traveller for better sail shape, and Snowpetrel's point about not losing a finger between the traveller car and stopper is perhaps the most significant point of all. But easing the traveller in gusts, I wonder if I will ever feel the need to do so?

Matt

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Snowpetrel · 15-10-2015, 13:31

^^ Adelaide is pretty flat country, wait till you get down Hobart way, then you might see more of the types of gusts that make dumping the main useful.

But on a well balanced long keeler like yours you are right, it's not so critical to keep her on her feet.

Another option that might work for your boat is a preventer tackle that can be shifted aft on the boom, and used to windward sheet the main, or vang it to leeward.

This would solve the sail trim issues, But is slower to adjust. It however does give very good control over the boom in a seaway without the nuisance factor of permanent twin main sheets in light airs.

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savoir · 15-10-2015, 17:37

The boat will tell you when it is time to ease the traveler . . . . it will try to round up but that won't happen too often.

Do you realize that the 42 is deliberately underpowered? It is a 1960's version of a motor sailor as was the 28. Like BB King, they were built for comfort not for speed. The Carmen series is an example of a Swanson racer.

GILow · 15-10-2015, 17:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by savoir

The boat will tell you when it is time to ease the traveler . . . . it will try to round up but that won't happen too often.

Do you realize that the 42 is deliberately underpowered? It is a 1960's version of a motor sailor as was the 28. Like BB King, they were built for comfort not for speed. The Carmen series is an example of a Swanson racer.

Err.... Really? First I have heard of motor sailor roots. Bloody strange shape for a motor sailor. I'd love to know more, can you point me in the direction of some info on this?

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GILow · 15-10-2015, 17:50

No, sorry, not buyin' it. The 28, 38 and 42 were all built as cruising boats. That's a very different kettle of fish to a motor sailor. Hell, the original 42s mostly had piddly little 50hp donks or less. Maybe you are thinking of some other design? Roberts perhaps?

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savoir · 15-10-2015, 18:31

Oh well, all I can do is tell you.

The 31 was typically fitted with a 15hp motor while the 28 was typically fitted with a 20hp. The 28 usually had a 3 blade propeller and the 31 a two blade or a folder.

In the 1960's 50hp was a BIG motor.

GILow · 15-10-2015, 20:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by savoir

Oh well, all I can do is tell you.

The 31 was typically fitted with a 15hp motor while the 28 was typically fitted with a 20hp. The 28 usually had a 3 blade propeller and the 31 a two blade or a folder.

In the 1960's 50hp was a BIG motor.

Yes, and I could tell you the moon is made of green cheese. Wouldn't make me correct.

They were built as cruising boats, they came out later than the other models, so engines were bigger by then, plus a cruiser is much happier to haul around a bigger engine and propellor than a racer.

The S42 is nothing like any contemporary motor sailor I have seen, but below the water line it is a lot like a number of its contemporary cruisers.

Anyway, each to their own opinion, I just thought you might have read something about them that I missed in my studies.

Matt

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savoir · 15-10-2015, 20:28

Read? No, I just sailed them - 28 30 31 and 36.

GILow · 15-10-2015, 21:25

Cool. That gives some perspective. Did you sail on any of the bigger cruisers?

Sent from my iPhone so apologies for weird autocorrect typos.

savoir · 16-10-2015, 13:19

Nothing bigger than the 36. That was Swanson's version of the type of thing that S&S were drawing around 1970 as was the 32.

GILow · 16-10-2015, 14:29

Yes, the 36 turns out to be very similar to a Duncanson 36 which I am told is modelled on the s&s of a similar size.

Well, the 38 and the 42 are very different boats. You are entitled to your opinion of them as some kind of motor sailor, but of the half dozen or more owners who I have either met or corresponded with first hand, none of them would agree. All of those owners have put up serious miles in their Swansons. 42,000 in the case of the original owner of our boat, plus a couple of circumnavigations between the others. One CF member contacted me about our boat because he had crewed on it up the East Coast of Oz back in the 80s. In his words, they were the first boat to every anchorage and the fastest thing out there. Of course that was 30 years ago, that would no longer be remotely the case.

In my opinion, as an owner and regular sailor of a 42, they are anything but a motor sailor. They are a gracefully aged sailboat design with a surprising powerful rig, very pleasant manners and an utter dislike of short choppy seas.

We will never know what the Swanson brothers set out to design when they built the bigger cruising range, but given their prior history I would be very surprised if they set out to design a motor sailor.

Matt

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Cheechako · 16-10-2015, 14:59

If your traveler is good, just add double blocks on either end and adjust it that way rather than the sliding stops. That's essentially what you are going to do with the new traveler anyway.

GILow · 16-10-2015, 16:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cheechako

If your traveler is good, just add double blocks on either end and adjust it that way rather than the sliding stops. That's essentially what you are going to do with the new traveler anyway.

Absolutely the plan. I am hoping the local chandlery has some decent secondhand stuff. I'll find out today. Fingers crossed.

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Snowpetrel · 16-10-2015, 17:43

I wonder if those new low friction rings would work? Probably too much friction for playing the traveller, But maybe ok for the occasional adjustment, specially if you can run the line to a winch at a pinch.

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Snowpetrel · 16-10-2015, 17:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by savoir

...Do you realize that the 42 is deliberately underpowered? It is a 1960's version of a motor sailor as was the 28. Like BB King, they were built for comfort not for speed. The Carmen series is an example of a Swanson racer.

Ohh, that is a low blow Savior, very nasty, kind of like saying to someone that their wife is fat...

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