Race Results

[jray]

Sail her like you stole her!

I have found the boat has more then I do most times. I'm learning though and haven't yet been to the edge. Close on occasion but the Twist alwase clued me in to no go spots before we went there. Up on plane twice this season, when it happens you will know!!!

[Chad]

When rushed, stuff gets left behind. My gloves stayed dry in the truck...

I finally got out in a decent fleet last weekend, and the forecast was up to 12 and instead we had 15-18, lulls at 5 and gusts around 25 according to the RC. And 40 degree shifts. I had a good crew, so I let him drive while I did strings. After laying the boat over almost every other tack and most jibes (without the spin), we decided to leave the kite in the bag. The courses were really short w/l on a narrow arm of the lake, and we were getting pretty worked on the upwinds.

Take-aways:
--Small strings and decent breeze really require gloves!
--My main is a little too big in 15-18, and a real handful in bigger gusts. It has a reef, so I'll plan to tuck it in next time the breeze is up and see how it goes. Typical weather here is light starting in July, so I'll try to ride out the rest of the year with it and see if it can be made to work in breeze. I know it works in light stuff.
--I have a couple cleats to add risers to, and move slightly, to make it easier to bang the jib sheet in.
When I drive, I like the main controls where I can reach them. But when I crew, I can't reach them, and other drivers aren't as careful to avoid un-cleating things like the vang and forestay adjuster on the cockpit floor when crossing during a tack. Hmm.
--Nothing broke, which gives me a lot of confidence in the boat. My guest driver wasn't as careful with the tiller as I would be, and the rudder still did fine. The keel passed the 90 degree test. The chainplates and shrouds and rig all held together despite near max loading, so that's good.
--Overall, my boat is a little more complex than it needs to be. Yeah, a few have said that from the beginning, I know! I originally conceived many of these ideas while sailing primarily in So Cal with long legs and steady breezes. The short course and narrow confines and extreme wind variability of the midwest lakes puts extra emphasis on boat handling rather than boat speed.
--My boom is just a couple inches too low with P=294". Over the winter I'll raise it about 3". I've always been able to get under, but I noticed that my guest driver had to really hug the deck and couldn't watch his steering during jibes especially, and we often finished them on our side since he couldn't see to steer the boat under the sail.

So we got lots of blood on the sheets and deck, many bruises, but it was a helluva day and we learned a lot!

[Tim Ford]

Holy crap, ye of holy hands.

Do you think more crew weight might have kept the boat off her ears a little better, or did you pretty much plan on racing DH?

So this thread is "Race Results." Those blisters look pretty fierce as one of the possible results, but how did you DO? ANd what was the rest of the fleet comprised of?

hope your raw spots heal up fast!!!

[Chad]

The extra body would help upwind, except we're already crammed pretty tight- the driver would have to go behind the main on tacks, or we'd have to go AC72-style and send folks one at time to the other side (you bridle folks have a wider boulevard to use when crossing). And the lulls were down to almost nothing; we'd go from full hero hike to under-the-boom low side weight several times per tack. Just really goofy conditions. Overall I think two works well, and three lets you have a main trimmer if the driver doesn't do their own.

Our fleet was 5 C-scows that are within a point or two of an i550 on Portsmouth. Three were well-sailed, one was middling, and the other had trouble. We beat the guy that had trouble...

We were late for both starts, and our tacks and jibes were atrocious. Boat to boat our speed and point were great, though, which is pretty amazing since I just guessed at a rig tune and we drove off the back third of the main mostly. This was my first race in anything above 12, so I got some figuring to do to get a setup that works. Michael's comment above about easing the jib and putting the bow down a little is probably right- we started doing that halfway through the day and it seemed to work.

[jray]

I was wondering how the big top main would work in a good breeze. I've found that without a handful of downhaul on the boom the top doesn't work much. I do agree that two up seems to work the best at least on the Twist. Happy that you have got her out for some races, it's all good fun.

[i550sailor@aol.com]

I was wondering how the big top main would work in a good breeze. I've found that without a handful of downhaul on the boom the top doesn't work much. I do agree that two up seems to work the best at least on the Twist. Happy that you have got her out for some races, it's all good fun.

I was wondering the same thing jray, and as per my questions/comments below, you would need a winch for the vang to flatten that thing.


Some thoughts on sails/controls, I noticed you have your jib tracks side to side, VS being front to back, do you think this arrangement made it hard to de-power the jib (I was thinking of doing the same set up, but may want to reconsider).

Vang,,,, I race regularly on a boat with a big roach, and no backstay, we use the the vang (allot in heavy air) to de-power when the breeze is up, as the vang is used in place of a backstay with our configuration (nearly identical to the i550).

Sails,,,

I really want to get out on someones i550 before I order mine, but I am seeing a trend here that it saying less may be more, (Chad, you were on Ben’s i550 if I remember right,,, how would you compare the two boats, sails?)

Boom height,,,, It would almost seem that any loss in sail area by raising the boom height, would be gained by being able to tack more efficiently ?.

[slowpoke]

How did your articulating sprit work for you? Or was it too much work to adjust?

[ryderp]

I went with the old i550class standard of (as I recall) 285" P. I didn't feel like ducking under the boom and from what I can see, if you're healed at all, the bottom of the sail is in the wind shadow of the hull.

[micah202]

.
...ouch!...sorry you forgot the gloves!--bet -that- won't happen again!

....I'm really seeing a trend as I get to know and sail these boats--there's many instances where less IS more!...
......sail area,,,boom height,,,complexity of controls,,,etc Even in light winds there's such a thing as too much sail area for efficiency.

..........personally I'd like to encourage the rules to open-up more,,,,,it'll be so much easier to pass boats

[Chad]

How did your articulating sprit work for you? Or was it too much work to adjust?

We didn't use the spin on this day, Rocky. I've used it previously, and the sprit articulates pretty well. I have some adjusting to do to get the articulation as far aft as I planned, but that's just tuning.

[Chad]

I was wondering how the big top main would work in a good breeze. I've found that without a handful of downhaul on the boom the top doesn't work much. I do agree that two up seems to work the best at least on the Twist. Happy that you have got her out for some races, it's all good fun.

I was wondering the same thing jray, and as per my questions/comments below, you would need a winch for the vang to flatten that thing.


Some thoughts on sails/controls, I noticed you have your jib tracks side to side, VS being front to back, do you think this arrangement made it hard to de-power the jib (I was thinking of doing the same set up, but may want to reconsider).

Vang,,,, I race regularly on a boat with a big roach, and no backstay, we use the the vang (allot in heavy air) to de-power when the breeze is up, as the vang is used in place of a backstay with our configuration (nearly identical to the i550).

Sails,,,

I really want to get out on someones i550 before I order mine, but I am seeing a trend here that it saying less may be more, (Chad, you were on Ben’s i550 if I remember right,,, how would you compare the two boats, sails?)

Boom height,,,, It would almost seem that any loss in sail area by raising the boom height, would be gained by being able to tack more efficiently ?.

I spent one short afternoon with Ben on a millpond kind of day- not much to use for comparison. I think his M20 sails are great, and certainly the price can't be beat. They need a little haircut to fit an i550, but Michael is showing that good results can still result.

The boom height is just free area versus ease of tacking. A lower boom is also more efficient because the area is down low and it makes a better end-plate seal. But if you can't get under, it's too low. The guy I had for crew was a good sailor, pretty fit, but he was a bit older than me and had trouble getting under. So it's a little too low.

My jib tracks go side-side, but there is still a height adjustment that is equivalent to the adjustment you get with longitudinal tracks. So both side to side and up and down clew placement is possible.

I've got 12:1 on the vang now, and I think it's enough.

On complexity, I'm probably a little bit of a geek for it so my boat is in that corner of the box. On the lakes I sail now, a max-simple boat would work just fine (but I'd keep an articulating prod so you have the option of running deep when the lakes are narrow).

[micah202]

My jib tracks go side-side, but there is still a height adjustment that is equivalent to the adjustment you get with longitudinal tracks. So both side to side and up and down clew placement is possible.

On complexity, I'm probably a little bit of a geek for it so my boat is in that corner of the box. On the lakes I sail now, a max-simple boat would work just fine (but I'd keep an articulating prod so you have the option of running deep when the lakes are narrow).

...one way to simplify the jib system is to have a tack adjustment for the jib--this is a good way to adjust relative angle,keeping 'hardware' to a minimum.

...articulating prods are a benefit for sure--easy to use if skipper plays sheets while steering,,crew rotates the pole

[i550sailor@aol.com]

.
...ouch!...sorry you forgot the gloves!--bet -that- won't happen again!

....I'm really seeing a trend as I get to know and sail these boats--there's many instances where less IS more!...
......sail area,,,boom height,,,complexity of controls,,,etc Even in light winds there's such a thing as too much sail area for efficiency.

..........personally I'd like to encourage the rules to open-up more,,,,,it'll be so much easier to pass boats

If I am reading the rules right, then raising the boom is allowed - "5.3.7 The upper edge of the boom at the mast shall be no more than 294" (7468mm) below
the lower edge of Band 1".

Also the sail measurements are listed as maximums, I think it would really benefit the class to spend the time to optimize our sails even if it means making them smaller (its all about making the boat go fast in the right direction? and,,, I like to pass boats too) I have been thinking of going with the cut down M20 sails, and all of your impute is much appreciated on deciding on the size to have them cut to.

[micah202]

.
...ouch!...sorry you forgot the gloves!--bet -that- won't happen again!

....I'm really seeing a trend as I get to know and sail these boats--there's many instances where less IS more!...
......sail area,,,boom height,,,complexity of controls,,,etc Even in light winds there's such a thing as too much sail area for efficiency.

..........personally I'd like to encourage the rules to open-up more,,,,,it'll be so much easier to pass boats

If I am reading the rules right, then raising the boom is allowed - "5.3.7 The upper edge of the boom at the mast shall be no more than 294" (7468mm) below
the lower edge of Band 1".

Also the sail measurements are listed as maximums, I think it would really benefit the class to spend the time to optimize our sails even if it means making them smaller (its all about making the boat go fast in the right direction? and,,, I like to pass boats too) I have been thinking of going with the cut down M20 sails, and all of your impute is much appreciated on deciding on the size to have them cut to.

...yes,,both rules allow for a higher boom...personally I'd prefer a height that let's me -barely- 'scoot' when the boats flat,,easier when it's got any heel.

....heh,,you'll never get the rules to standardize any smaller sails now that bigger have been made ...unless you start another class! ......there'll definitely be times someone will be just-right for the conditions with something larger,,but methinks those will prove to be anomalies. An example is the larger chute I have,,,the only benefit is in a really narrow band of breeze IF you are sailing DDW and don't have to avoid anything--a smaller chute handles end maneuvers much easier.

[i550sailor@aol.com]

.
...ouch!...sorry you forgot the gloves!--bet -that- won't happen again!

....I'm really seeing a trend as I get to know and sail these boats--there's many instances where less IS more!...
......sail area,,,boom height,,,complexity of controls,,,etc Even in light winds there's such a thing as too much sail area for efficiency.

..........personally I'd like to encourage the rules to open-up more,,,,,it'll be so much easier to pass boats

If I am reading the rules right, then raising the boom is allowed - "5.3.7 The upper edge of the boom at the mast shall be no more than 294" (7468mm) below
the lower edge of Band 1".

Also the sail measurements are listed as maximums, I think it would really benefit the class to spend the time to optimize our sails even if it means making them smaller (its all about making the boat go fast in the right direction? and,,, I like to pass boats too) I have been thinking of going with the cut down M20 sails, and all of your impute is much appreciated on deciding on the size to have them cut to.

...yes,,both rules allow for a higher boom...personally I'd prefer a height that let's me -barely- 'scoot' when the boats flat,,easier when it's got any heel.

....heh,,you'll never get the rules to standardize any smaller sails now that bigger have been made ...unless you start another class! ......there'll definitely be times someone will be just-right for the conditions with something larger,,but methinks those will prove to be anomalies. An example is the larger chute I have,,,the only benefit is in a really narrow band of breeze IF you are sailing DDW and don't have to avoid anything--a smaller chute handles end maneuvers much easier.

Nope,,, not looking to start a new class,,,, I have my own headaches,,,,, I am just trying to get my mind wrapped around the sails I will need in my area, several people who crew for me are 6'+, so the boom will be raised, how much?,,,, having not sailed the boat (I am actively looking for a ride, in the Portland area for September, hopefully see a few i550's) but not having been on one, I wonder if the little bit I lose from raising the boom, and maybe a little less roach (not talking big increments) may be better for the conditions I sail in. like you said "someone will be just right for the conditions" I am really just looking for a happy medium for my starter set.

[micah202]

..........maybe a little less roach (not talking big increments) may be better for the conditions I sail in.

...I thought you colorado guys are -big- on roaches!

[slowpoke]

Good luck this weekend, all you racers! Don't forget to post your blow by blow details here, so those of us that are still building can read them for motivation!

[i550sailor@aol.com]

So, how are all the racers who are sailing their i550's in the PHRF fleets doing this season?, would like to see results/boats raced against and lessons learned.

[jray]

On the road right now, I will try to post up on the races this season when I get home.

[jray]

Here is the sheet updated for Saturday races, (beer can races) we have several larger distance races during the summer which are not on this.

Sometimes I can finish in front of the SJ 7.7 and the Catalina 27, occasionaly the Cal 31. All of my racing has been one up this year except one race. Getting better and more comfortable flying the spin by myself which helps. Windward leeward races expect to be passed by more then one boat. The only triangle course set this year, the wind didn't show so no fun there! Advice? Sail, Have fun! and dont let the big boats roll over you at the windward mark, it's kind of like putting a emergancy break on. I let that happen twice this season and won't make that mistake again. Better to over stand the mark then be caught under and have to tack twice to round.

[slowpoke]

No one racing lately? Chad, I'm curious how it's going out there in lakeland, did you solve the issues with your main?

[i550sailor@aol.com]

Racing report from Bellingham Washington. I flew to Washington to finally get my eyes on an i550 in person before I head into paint on my boat. The internet photos truly don’t give these boats justice.

I was excited to see the boats sitting in the parking lot on their trailers, the PDX boats were very clean, well thought out boats with carbon rigs and new North sails. I was sailing on Michael France’s aluminum masted boat that he readily describes as “cobbled together” with older used Melges 20 sails.

Here are some things I took away from the weekend.

1- The i550 owners and crew were very welcoming and the camaraderie/hospitality was awesome.
2- As several people have said on here, the boats are very evenly matched and spars, sails, bulb shape/weight, really didn’t seem to make a difference,, tactics and sail handling did, (you make a mistake, the other boats are going to capitalize on it).
3- Upwind was a little slower due to the short waterline, I am happy to report, that even in moderate chop, the boat was surprisingly dry (dryer then a U20 in the same conditions). Being as I have sailed bigger boats all these years (20'-50’) hiking was a new experience for me, the next thing I am making for the boat, is a hiking bench for my office.
4- Downwind is where you will fall in love with these boats, spinnaker up, pole articulated to windward and like Tokyo Trash likes to say “drive her deep she loves it”…When the wind was up the bow wanted to dig in, and you have to get your weight to the back of the boat and hike, and the boat pops onto a quick plane,,,, great fun indeed.
5- If you are building, or thinking of building a boat you owe it to yourself to make the trip and visit the North West fleet, I came away from the weekend with several new ideas on how I want to rig my boat and a pretty clear vision of how I want to finish it.

Thanks again to Michael France for inviting me to sail with him, I appreciated the hospitality/knowledge/experience he was happy to share with another i550 owner. Giving me the trophy at the end of the regatta was a huge bonus, and will always make my first i550 regatta a great experience.

Race results

1st Brian Lockwood
2nd Michael France
3rd Stephen Moran

Photo of the infamous Couchsurfer!

[Tim Ford]

Great write up!

Very inspiring. It's almost Oct and I haven't splashed, too many races to do on OPBs, unfortunately. But reports like that are a kick in the ass that say: GET THAT BOAT WET (and not from the predictable october monsoons we get in the mid-Atlantic)

Thanks for the inspiration, --TF

[Chad]

No one racing lately? Chad, I'm curious how it's going out there in lakeland, did you solve the issues with your main?

I'm struggling a little in lakeland, for sure. Breeze is either 20+ or 2-, and comes from all over. And the lakes are narrow, with tall trees on the sides. You sail the lake more than your opponents. Last race we spent about 20 minutes in a hole, while a C-scow 20 yards away sailed the entire windward leg on one finger of breeze, rounded the ww mark, and sailed almost the entire downwind leg before the same breeze inched over to us. It's almost comical to sail this way, but the guys that know this lake consistently find these magic puffs, and I'm not there yet...

I can tell you that in no wind, big square top sails are a pain to tack and get the top battens un-inverted. I can also tell you that going downwind in 1 knot of breeze with 180 degree shifts really challenges your concentration- we noticed it was generally better on the short course we had to keep the spin in the bag and preserve our flexibility to react to the changes. Heading back to the ww mark under spin isn't fast.

I'm having fun though. I'm getting a couple of regular crew who are both good sailors and interested in getting the most out of this quirky boat. It's also been a lot of fun just getting on the water regularly again, and getting plugged back into a sailing scene.

Here's a main pic, Rocky:

[slowpoke]

Thanks for the updates, guys. It keeps me motivated!
What do you think of a main like yours for San Diego harbor? Winds here seem to average 5 to 12 knots, and in the south bay 10 to 15, gusting to 20.