Impressions on sailing 381

[ryderp]

I really enjoyed sailing the i550 this past week on our vacation on a lake in Maine. The boat was very easy to trailer (almost 1,000 miles each way) although it took some getting used to the width. Most of my sailing in the past 15 years has been on our e-scow so effects some of my opinions.

The first couple of days there the wind was blowing pretty hard (>15), and I really didn't want to go out for an initial sail with that much wind. By the third day the wind was 5-10kts so we went out for a try. I really like the way boat sails. It tracks well and the rudder is very effective compared to what I'm used to. (That's not saying too much however, as e-scows have almost no rudder authority and you have to use sail trim to keep the boat going the right direction.) At no time did I feel like the rudder was running out of room. I had a temporary vang that I borrowed from another boat that was undersized, however with the traveler I really didn't need it except when sailing off the wind. For the most part, I used the traveler instead of the main sheet for letting off pressure on the rudder. There has been a discussion about the boat being stern-heavy, but as long as I was up by the traveler, we really didn't have too much dragging. Of course, I really don't know how we did relative to the capabilities of the boat. I'd love to go sailing sometime with someone who has more experience on the boat, or maybe a bit of informal racing sometime.

On the third day of sailing, we decided to try out the (49 M sq) spinnaker. As others have said, a spinnaker this size is really huge compared to the boat. We were doing well until i decided that I wanted a picture of the spinnaker and gave the tiller to my wife. We had a gust of wind and she panicked a bit and allowed the boat to round up and then overreacted and we went into a classic slam-dunk broaching jibe. Off the boat she went and I ended hanging off the gunnels for a bit. Fortunately my son stayed on-board. The good news is that I now know that the boat is self-righting. As soon as we released the spin sheet and and allowed it to jibe, the boat popped right up. Two things occurred to me afterward; 1) that I could have given the camera to my wife, and 2) maybe M20-like lifelines wouldn't be a bad idea. Fortunately, the water was nice and warm and there was no problem with my wife swimming with a life-jacket for a bit until my son and I went back to pick her up. I guess it would be a good idea to look at getting a smaller spinnaker as well.

In any case, I'm very happy with how the boat came out. I got complements on the boat while we were on the road - a few thought that the boat was molded. I still have a fair amount of tasks to finish up on the boat this fall. I'm also hoping to get out with friends here in the Cleveland area before the end of the season.

No name on the boat yet - hopefully by the time it goes in the water again.

Phil

[micah202]

....... good times,,congrats!
...don't worry about the lifelines,,it sounds like everyone gained some useful knowledge!