How fast is too fast?

David Grimm said:

While at the helm I tend to enjoy racing the boat. I've seen gps speeds of 9 and a max of 11. At the helm all seems wonderful. However when I set the autopilot and go below deck it sounds like a freight train! Often at night I visualize myself waking up floating in a pile of fiberglass splinters because I just beat her too hard.

Also up in the V-Birth is sounds like bombs going off when the water smashes against the hull. I wonder if some boats are insulated to reduce this noise or am I nuts pushing this vessel this fast across the atlantic? What is your speed limit?

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WOW!!! …Fast approaching
50 years of sailing our ‘73 E32-II now. She’s sailed Florida’s East & West coasts and out to the Dry Tortugas as well.

In all that time, we’ve never had any doubts about her hull integrity - and that includes multiple extensive trips throughout the Bahamas including Gulf Stream crossings in up to 10 - 12’ seas.

Now residing in Michigan since ‘91, we’ve crossed Lake Erie end to end in multiple races pushing her hard in extremely short choppy nasty waves that made those Gulf Stream waves seem like an easy comfortable sleigh ride!

Never once in all that time and still today have we once worried about hull integrity.

That being said, we have also been very prudent with rigging and chain plate inspections/replacements along with the interior bulkheads with regards to inevitable deck leaks and water damage.

Bottom line, Ericson hulls are indeed SOLID, especially those early 70 models before prices exploded on the costs of resin in the mid 70’s. (Just cut a hole in the bottom for a transducer or speed indicator and be amazed at the hull thickness!)

Can't talk to the 27 but our Club's '72 29 did not have a liner.

David, pushing the boat hard is a personal decision, and racers do it every minute. Some of us have racer personalities, and many offshore sailors are intensely competitive -- with themselves, when it comes to singlehanders--and treat every day's run like a number to be beaten.

But I do want to mention that our boats are 35 years old, and In each of five Bermuda races in near-new boats we broke stuff driving hard, expensive stuff, and once it took two weeks on the hard in Hamilton to repair the damage. It's a matter of perspective (and for me, probably age). Solo sailors have a particular challenge when it comes to even the inevitable damage.

In airplanes, the first thing we're taught when encountering turbulence is to slow down. The new maneuvering speed (VA) is adjusted for weight and gives a target much less than cruise, to protect against increased G forces on the airframe. On the ocean, turbulence has the same effect on a boat. When it feels like your fillings are being knocked out, the boat's fillings are, too.

Fast is good, but you still want to get there.

Hey guys. water is NOISY. When I lived in Texas, I remember the rain hitting the roof so hard, you couldn't hear yourself think inside the house. We Westerners tend to be wusses about rain, but we get to shake, rattle and roll instead.

@LameBMX someone recommended this book to me and I just finished it. It has a lot of good info on trim and boat speed and a lot that went over my head but I hope to put to good use after re-reading in a year. Pretty funny at points as well.


Also just remembered that someone once told me to think of the rudder as another trim control rather than a steering wheel.

I agree completely with Christian.

I tend to be anal about sail trim. First, I like the boat to be going the best it can but more importantly the boat that is strapped in tight with the rail buried and the tiller sucked into the helmsman's chest the boat is under a horrendous amount of stress. Might as well be over pressed while wildly racing. It pays to learn to care about trim.

southofvictor said:

@LameBMX someone recommended this book to me and I just finished it. It has a lot of good info on trim and boat speed and a lot that went over my head but I hope to put to good use after re-reading in a year. Pretty funny at points as well.

North U Performance Trim

<i>by Bill Gladstone</i> Every recreational sailor has a few holes in his understanding of sail trim and maximizing boat speed. This is the book to fill the holes, even if you never get near a starting line. Performance Trim gives complete coverage to upw

www.landfallnavigation.com

Also just remembered that someone once told me to think of the rudder as another trim control rather than a steering wheel.

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Rudder, I barely even knew 'er

I just try to keep the wheel slightly downwind, use the sails for direction. I feel a little safer if there is a hint of weather helm.