[C320-list] Club Racing the C320

[Orlando.Duran at AveryDennison.com]

Karl,

No matter what you do with number of crew, weight of crew and eqpt, etc., unless you put on a folding prop, it will not matter relative to boat speed. As long as you have a fixed prop, you will have a brake underwater.

Now, how to mitigate--:

Crew of 3 is best I've found.

No need to empty water tanks but don't top them off before the race either.

Biggest weight distribution problem or tip on the 320 is keep crew weight forward. DO NOT let folks sit on the cat-bird seat during a race. Once you're downwind (wing-on-wing), bring your crew forward, have a couple of folks sit forward of the mast--you want the bow down on a run.

Dodger--not a big issue, bimini--never had one so I can't comment but I'm sure it doesn't help

Oh yea, one more thing....get a folding prop!  :)

Last tip--for better speed on all points of sail, get a prop that folds..

----------------------------------
Regards,
OD

Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld


----- Original Message -----
From: "Karl Mielenhausen  _/) " [kmielen at iwon.com]
Sent: 08/19/2007 08:40 AM
To: C320-List at catalina320.com
Subject: [C320-list] Club Racing the C320


For those of us that are cruisers primarily, with an occasional club race (PHRF, non-spinnaker) thrown in, can you offer some suggestions on how to configue the boat? 

For example:

1/ Is there an optimum # and/or weight of crew?

2/ Should water and holding tanks be emptied?

3/ Is it worth removing excess gear (weight) from the boat (ie. 2nd anchor, BBQ, toolboxs, microwave, etc)?

4/ I'm assuming that taking the dodger and bimini down can make a big difference, as well as a clean bottom.

5/ Regarding the fixed blade prop, my data was inconclusive on whether a spinning prop (ie.neutral) or stopped prop (ie.reverse) yielded the least resistance. The answer may well vary based on the particular boat speed.

6/ Any other suggestions (short of a folding prop and spinnaker)?



Karl Mielenhausen

2000 C320 Hull#690 "Silver Lining"

New Bern, NC

http://pages.suddenlink.net/kmielen/

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