Fresh water tank, cp 23

[Bill Pfanstiel]

I am the new owner of a com pac 23 (hull# 489). I was wondering how the fresh water tank(bladder) affects the trim of the boat.Full verses empty and anywhere in between. Anyone out there ever experiment?

[CaptK]

Hello, Bill!

Welcome, and Congrats on the new-to-you boat! Looking forward to seeing some pictures of her some time over in the CPYOA Gallery! <shameless plug>

I've noticed a big difference in how weight distibution/trim affects Epiphany's sailing and motoring characteristics. While I don't have a water bladder, I do carry a 5 gal jerry can of diesel up by the porta potty, and also try to keep as many of my heavier things forward as possible.

Shifting weight around to affect handling was much more necessary before I installed an IdaSailor foiled rudder.

Pre-foiled rudder, I noticed that I would have to shift weight aft to counteract high tiller forces caused by weather helm. When motoring, though, I noticed that simply by sitting far forward in the cockpit, instead of back, that I could increase my boat speed by .2 kts (SOG on my GPS).

I wanted to keep that same weight forward to increase boat speed, especially when sailing to windward, when every little bit helps. Since I have gotten the foiled rudder, it works so much better that I don't notice the weather helm near as much, and so I get the best of both worlds.

So all that is the long version of the short answer: Weight distribution will affect the trim and handling characteristics.

Epiphany is fairly heavily loaded, and has an inboard diesel engine to boot. I imagine that on a  lighter-loaded CP23 that the weight effects of the water bladder would come into play even more.

Fair winds!

Kurt