Stiffest Boat?

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Suijin

As for that Morgan, looks like a sweet ride. Hell, the new engine is half the value of the boat with only 140 hours.

So are you saying that a Morgan 323 with only a 4' draft would be a good all around coastal cruising boat as compared to the Cal 31 or Niagara 31?

MORGAN 32 SD sailboat specifications and details on sailboatdata.com

[roverhi]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Thanks. I'll play around with it some.

The sails are practically new, but the boat doesn't have a proper traveller. See picture. The goose neck isn't fixed though so I can downhaul it hard and I can also jury rig the boom down and more to center I guess.

I have a 100% jib also that I could use but I've been lazy and just use the 130.

The boat is fine I'd just like to have a newer, faster one but keep holding back because of slip fees on two boats etc. And I'd hate to sell this one.

Maybe I'll actually do some work on it this winter rather than just sail it.

You'll need at least one more reef point in the main. Mains seem to give the most heeling moment to a boat so you need to be able to downsize it to get the boat to stand up better. I like three reef points so the main can be reduced to near trisail dimensions for really strong winds. Assume the boom has been rigged to slab reef, add the additional reefing hardware for the added reef points. As you probably know, the design of the boat means best performance when the rail is down. These old wine glass designs like to heel over to 20 degrees or so and take advantage of the increased water line length. They don't require a ton of rail meat to sail to their potential like most of the ultralights.

Pin the boom at the black band by threading a bolt under the goose neck car. Have the sailmaker add a Cunningham cringle to the luff of the sail. Control luff tension with a light tackle using the cunningham.

Rig a four part tackle from the base of the mast to the boom to act as a vang. Keep the angle of the tackle at the boom to something less than 60 degrees. The less the angle the less compression load on the gooseneck and the more the down force controlling sail shape. That will give you better mainsail shape, flattening the main and reducing heeling moment to windward and projecting more sail area off the wind. The vang will take the place of a traveller as you won't need as much downforce from the sheet. Start looking for a real hard vang for your boat on Craig's List, Ebay, and Consignment Stores. A hard vang will do a much better job of maintaining sail shape than a tackle one and will support the boom when the main is flaked.

You've got roller furling on the headsail so no need to switch to a 100% unless you are expecting to sail for long distances/times in heavy winds. The reefed 130% will work just fine for most sensible sailing conditions.

Only a few mono hulls will give you the sailing thrill of a lightweight catamaran. But then they won't bury the bow and pitchpole either. An ultralight, flat bottomed, blade keeled mono will get you some pretty impressive speed numbers but forget small niceties like a head, galley, and any furniture below. Boats like the Hobie 33, Moore 24, Olson 30 are fun sailors and raceboats but I wouldn't take one on an overnight cruise unless I was suddenly into self flagellation. Your current boat won't surf with the ultralights but will go to weather better given a bit of wind and be way more comfortable on any point of sail in any conditions. With the full keel, she'll not be a light air flyer but will sail. Given decent wind, she'll hold her own with boats with a similar water line length and may even embarrass the racier boats if the wind picks up more.