E27 went fast this year!
We have had a great season racing Thursday nights this year.
We usually place 2nd or 3rd out of 8-12 boats. We actually won the last series! We were even first over the finish line on two of the races (in one case beating an S-2 7.9 by just a few feet)
We have a newer main and jib (both are dacron) the jib is a 155% (largest allowed without a penalty) and we have roller furling which sacrfices a small amount of sail area at the foot, but gave us a 6 second cruising allowance.
We have fixed 2 blade prop. There are marks on the shaft coupler that indicate if the prop is lined up straight up an down. We keep it in gear, and use the hand crank on the A4 to line it up. (wish we could find a different prop, but folding wont fit without hitting rudder, and nobody seems to make a feathering prop small enough, or affordable enough)
Of course all extra weight is out of the boat, and with the fuel tank in the back, we recently installed a fuel gauge that allows us to run with only a few gallons of fuel in there. Weight in the back of an E27 is bad, so we try to crew with only two people in the cocpit (maybe a third if needed during tacks, jibes, etc.). The rest of the crew go up to the shrouds, and in light air we even have one or two in front of the mast.
Any unused items brought on board (clothing, sleeping bags, etc) go in the v-berth. Our cooler stays forward in the cabin.
This year I have been trying to wash the bottom often. Just before a race is optimal, but about twice a month does make a big difference. Last time I washed it it was over a month. On the way to cleaning the boat did 4.6-4.7 knots at 2000 rpm. on the way back it was doing 4.9-5.0!!! Thats a no-brainer!
Bottom paint is not perfect, but ok. Just using West Bottomsheild, but want to take it down to gelcoat and use VC17. Much better for Lake Erie in my opinion.
Biggest mistake I see all the other slow boats do is over-trim sails. Second biggest is under-trimming. You need to have telltales, and attentive crew!
I will be pulling the boat soon for the winter. I need to go through some extra effort to carefully measure my rigging settings so I can repeat it next season!
Anybody interested - let me know.