Having just completed the JP Morgan RIR I note with some embarrassment that I was the last Super Seal to finish. So I’m seeking to improve by making an honest appraisal of my performance, trying to find out what others did well or finding a bit of the boat I can blame so I can spend more money.

One question is that of rating – not sure if it would have made too much difference but always best to optimise. Most other SS26’s have similar ISC ratings but Mano Amica has an ISC rating of 0.898 whilst Calypso is at 0.915. Calypso is inboard engine, fixed keel, standard rig with roller reefing. Couldn’t see the owner as a member on the site but if they or friend is lurking out there I was wondering if they could give possible reasons for the difference?

In terms of performance, around St Cats I was with Knave and Mano Amica but I think I lost time on the windward leg to Bembridge and then back to Cowes. As the wind got up I was a bit over pressed with loads of weather helm in the gusts and I couldn’t seem to flatten the main sufficiently (halyard and outhaul tight, back stay on) and the main’s leech was fluttering really badly, which was solved some of the time by tightening the leech line. In the end I rolled in a bit of the Genoa which seemed to settle things down but you could feel something wasn’t right. The main is 6 years old, is it time for a new one? (see found something to blame)would having a traveller make a difference? or did I just get the trim wrong? Did anybody else in the race had to shorten sail?.

I was also was probably was a bit cautious going up Ryde Sands which may have lost me a bit of time.

Anyway ramblings over, if any other of the other competitors or anybody would like to share their thoughts on the above or experiences of the race that would be helpful, thanks.


Jon Foreman
Calypso SS26, no.96

---

Hi Jon,

Firstly, don't beat yourself up too much, 224th out of 821 is hardly a shabby result. This was my 4th RTIR in Evangeline (SS26 No.114) and my 7th race in total.

Evangeline rates 0.911 under ISC also has an inboard, but is a lift keel version. I've raced her at club level with reasonable success, and have found that I only really need the No.3 headsail. This sail is full length in the luff, but doesn't overlap at all, so is much like a blade jib. Even in light airs she will still sail well, and as the wind strength increases I simply reef the main further. At 25 knots and above I don't bother with the main at all and simply use the No.3.

On Saturday I think I was inshore of you, and just behind you, at Ventnor. I could certainly see a SS26 that seemed to be having a tough time (quite a lot of rounding up) in the gusty conditions. By that time I had first reef in the main. We didn't quite lay Bembridge in one, but by the time we tacked we were only about 0.4 mile south according to the GPS. Going North from Bembridge we shook out the reef at Seaview and held full rig to the finish. However, the last mile or so was horrible. With the wind gusting 22knots apparent we were massivly over pressed but it wasn't worth the time it would take to reef. The poor guy on the traveller was working overtime. It paid off, and we ended up 43rd overall in ISC.

For me the following works well in terms of getting the most out of Evangeline.

Using a small headsail with big main means you can reef down without spoiling the shape of the sail(s). With a roller furling headsail performance to windward is always going to suffer if it is partly rolled. The small headsail doesn't work that well downwind, but that is what the spinnaker is for.

You mention fitting a mainsheet traveller, and I would say this is an essential piece if equipment for controlling the power in the main. Evangeline has a good quality Harken traveller running across the bridge deck. I don't suppose this is original, but it works well, and allows the main to be rapidly de-powered in the gusts to prevent rounding up, whilst still retaining the shape of the sail. Only when the traveller is at the end of the stop (fully to leeward) do I ease the mainsheet. Even then I will keep the kicker pretty hard on. (Backstay already hard on). Evangeline's sails are Dacron, and are 8 years old, albeit they were good quality when they were bought. If it were my money I'd fit a good quality traveller before replacing 6 year old sails.

For the RTIR beg, steal, borrow or buy the biggest kite you can realistically fly. The measurement form simply asks if the boat will carry a spinnaker, it doesn't ask for the size. I find this most bizarre, given that they want the mainsail width measurement at half and three quarter height. I have two spinnakers the largest of which is 10.86m tall, 5.83m wide and very green! I am pretty sure I was the first "purple" boat to the needles.

Tactically for RTIT there are a number of areas where big gains can be made. If you don't yet own a copy of "Winning Tides" then it is highly recommended. It tells you where you need to be for any given state of the tide, and where there are favourable back eddies around the Island.

Ryde Sands is always a bit of a white knuckle situation, although this year at least it wasn't a hard beat up the edge of the bank (unlike last year). Evangeline goes aground with 1.4m on the sounder, and I got down to 2.0m for quite a long way at one point. The crew were all primed for a sudden "crash tack" should the need arise! i.e if the depth got down to 1.7m. At one point we were about 50 feet away from a Sunsail 37'laying right over and very much aground. This strategy calls for an accurate sounder and steady nerves, but the gains are huge. On previous races I have downloaded my GPS tracks and overlaid them on Garmin's Bluechart charts of the Solent. It really brought home you how important it is to stay in as shallow water as you can. You could actually see our track bending round (due to the tide) as we moved away from the bank into deeper water.


John Guess
SS26 Evangeline

---

John

Thanks for the detailed response, very useful and informative. In reality I’m not too unhappy about the result; I love the race more for the spectacle but once you’re on the water something takes hold. The disappointment stems from last year when we finished 75 places higher but due to engine problems started about 50 minutes late! However I take some consolation in that we were part of the winning ISC team for the Arun Trophy.

It probably was us you saw struggling around Ventnor; I did see other SS26s close by but didn’t spot a reef in any. It took us 3 good tacks to get to Bembridge, I thought this was probably the area we lost out the most. Is your Jib the standard No3?

A new Kite is on the list as the one I have is the original and is looking a bit thread bare, but we had a great run down to the Needles. May not have been first but there weren’t many ‘purple’ boats around.

I have been thinking about fitting a traveller for a while, the previous owner removed one that was fitted in the cockpit just forward of the port locker. Currently there is a single padeye in the centre of the cockpit sole. I used to have an ETAP which had a removable traveller which seemed to be a good idea and have been looking to replicate that. What do you call the ‘bridge deck’ and would it be possible to post a pic of your set up?

I already have winning tides but I have just fitted a new sounder and haven’t checked the calibration yet so that’s why a little nervous around Ryde and saw at least one boat go aground close by, which certainly didn’t help my nerves.


Jon Foreman
Calypso SS26, no.96

---

Jon,

I was out last night so took a couple of cockpit photos on my phone. I've also uploaded a couple of pictures of Evangeline under sail which give a better idea of the sail plan. The fact that there are additional genoa tracks fitted makes me think that the No3 headsail I use is not "standard" SS26 size (if such a thing exists). As you can see from the photos it is long in both luff and leech so sits quite close to the deck. I'm not sure of the actual area but the critical dimensions are

Luff 10.27m
Perpendicular 2.775m

The main has quite a lot of roach and according to the sail maker's details is 16.6 Sqm

Having such a high aspect jib does make it incredibly sensitive to sheet position and tension. Easing the sheet 2-3 inches, when hard on the wind, causes the top part to twist off and the set is hopeless. Have it in too tight and you choke the slot at the top. However get it right and she goes like a dream.

When I first decided to adopt this sail plan most people said "all well and good, but you'll be stuffed in light airs". Subsequently I have shown this not to be the case (see RTIR 2006 Div7 dayglow green), but you do have to pay constant attention to sail trim. On a long race such as the RTIR it can be pretty tough maintaining the concentration for 8+ hours.

As regards cockpit layout, it works for me. If it is really gusty (as per last Saturday) I usually get one of the crew to sit astride the windward genoa winch (for security, so they don't need a hand to hold on) and play the traveller for me. In terms of sail trim kit that I have (and wouldn't be without)
No.1 Main traveller, to depower the main in the gusts, and also allow the boom to kick up whilst remaining on the centerline (traveller pulled to windward) to induce twist in the main in light airs.
No.2 Harken 32 primary winches. It is never a struggle to wind the jib home, even for the lighter weight crew members.
No.3 Rapid mainsheet system. The mainsheet has two ends. Pulling on both ends gives 3:1 advantage, which allows the main to be pulled in fast. Pulling on just 1 end gives 6:1 giving lots of power to tension the leech.
No.4 Selden rod kicker. lifts the boom to induce twist if desired in light airs.

From the cockpit photos you can also see that the boat is pretty well instrumented. Some of it came with the boat, but I have added and improved it over the 6 years we've owned the boat. It is a bit of an indulgence on my part, but at a glance I always know exactly what's going on in terms of depth, boat speed, COG, SOG, and apparent wind speed and angle.

I am fortunate in having a wife who doesn't begrudge looking after the boat properly, and her recent comment of "I think we should save up and buy some of those nice gold coloured sails" was music to my ears.

http://picasaweb.google....252942196833/Evangeline# 

Regards



John Guess
SS26 Evangeline

---

Having raced in the ISC RIOW race in the past I am interested too in the rating discrepancies. I find it puzzling that Evangeline with spinnaker and hanked no3 jib had a better rating (0.911) than Knave (0.914) which I believe was racing with standard roller furling genny but no spinnaker or chute at all. It would seem that it pays (rating wise) to sport a smaller headsail than not to carry a kite! As far as I could see the boats were otherwise identical.
However I do remember that a registered load cell weight can alter the handicap enormously. May I ask for future reference if anyone did this (or left it as manufacturer's weight) and if so what weight did they come up with?
Was this the reason for Mano Amica's much better rating (0.898)?
Most boats are severely heavier after 10 years or so in the water.
I remember Ard Righ had an official load cell weighing many years ago and came up with a more than a quater of a ton overweight. (Confirm Walter?)
Chris Turner. Elsa SS #103

John, amazing post again loads of really useful information, thanks for taking the time and effort to compile it and for taking the photos.- really appreciate it. Evangeline looks a very smart boat and you have certainly provided my Birthday and Christmas present list for a while

Jon Foreman
Calypso SS26, no.96

---

John,

I fitted the old traveller last weekend (think it’s an older model Harken one, but still quite serviceable) and it made an incredible difference to the shape and control of the Main, so thanks again for the advice.

I would be interested to know who made your sails and if you think that part of the success of the smaller jib is also down to having a larger main?

In response to Chris’s comment re the weight I just used the brochure displacement of 2273 kg as the ‘Sailing Displacement’ on the rating form.


Jon Foreman
Calypso SS26, no.96

---

Hi Jon,

Not checked back here for a while. Glad the Traveller is having the desired effect.

The sails were made by Osen Sails of Plymouth, but I think they have now been incororated into Westaway sails. My main has a full length top batten and a reasonable (but not stupid) amount of roach. There are two other SuperSeal 26s in our club, and the height and foot measurment are similar for all the boats. Evangelines main is Luff 8.85m, foot 3.15m

The other two boats are 8.78m luff, 3.04m foot and 8.8m luff, 3.06m foot.

On that basis I have probably got 1-2 sq metres extra, but cerainly no more. However, having a "blade" jib makes the main work efficiently (assuming the jib is set up correctly) whilst helping towards lowering the boats handicap as a result of having less overall area. However, as mentioned previously, you really do have to pay attenmtion to getting it trimmed correctly.

As regards weight, I'd be interested to hear what other people put down on their RTIR applications. For this years race I (rightly or wrongly) had empty weight as 2386kg, and sailing displacement as 2767kg.

Evangeline was originally an outboard version, but now has a Beta inboard, and the sailing displacement came from the load cell on the crane when she was lifted in at the beginning of the season. When she was lifted in she had a full diesel tank (40 litres), empty fresh water tank, and pretty much nothing in the way of added cruising kit.

regards



John Guess
SS26 Evangeline

---

John,

Have been swamped at work etc. so apologise for the late reply. As always thanks for the information. I think a blade jib is my winter project.


Jon Foreman
Calypso SS26, no.96

---