Leeway in Compac Boats

[pmworldwide]

Hello Everyone,
I am looking for another small sailboat (again).  I enjoyed my CP 16 and sailed her in very rough conditions mostly in Lake Erie years ago.  She couldn't keep a 6.75 knot average like my sea pearl 21, but she had a cabin to make tea in and sleep out of the rain.  There were two things I disliked about my Com Pac.  Her lack of rounding up (due to an oversized jib perhaps) and the amount of leeway she would make.  There were some days where she would only go sideways for fifty yards before getting the momentum to sail in the correct direction.  Do other Com Pacs do this?  I have been sailing for over thirty years, but it could just be the loose nut on the tiller, if you catch my drift.  I am looking at Com Pac 19s and 23s as a trailer sailor as my Sea Pearl was towed and sailed in on the Pacific Coast of OR, Puget Sound in WA and BC, The Gulf Coast in TX, LA, and FL, and the East Coast of FL and the Keys.  I just want to compare the leeway habits of the three older smaller Com Pacs and any comments will be valued.
-Pete and Kingston the Wonderdog

[Skip_956]

I am not familar with the CP16, however I do have a Com-Pac Eclipse and have not found side slipping to be a problem.  Keep in mind it is a shoal draft boat with a center board.  With no board down I do experience slipping but that is to be expected.  I have found the Eclipse to be well balanced but it will head up when needed, all in all a nice sailing boat.

Skip

[Craig Weis]

Well Pete
you are correct! My C-P 19 will do the 'side ways step' usually toward something hard, before gathering up enough speed to go and fly right. Sometimes I have to sail with the flow and push the tiller over to miss that floating 'green nun' getting in my way at an alarmingly fast rate of speed. But it's all fun. Give Wonderdog a pat on the head. skip.

[mikeg]

Hi Pete,
I echo Skip's wording: "But it's all fun"!

I find that my Compac 19 side-steps sometimes before she has way-on
--right after raising sail or sometimes after tacking. But this behavior sometimes strikes me as a nice "safety feature". I was sailing full sail in 20mph winds (the VHF/wx said gusts to 25) last Saturday and started thinking of reefing, but everytime I'd start getting a little nervous (yes, my last boat was a dinghy and I'd have been all wet at this point), I'd pinch to windward ever so slightly and the boat would slide ever so slightly, drop back onto her feet and carry on.

IMO, other brands of 19 footers would have been overwhelmed in these conditions, heeling way too far off their feet to make efficient way--- and requiring reefing first and foremost.

It's been said ad nauseum: Every boat is a compromise...and I'll take the short keel, and very heavily ballasted security (more secure against running aground in the occasionally slim FL waters, easier relative launching and greater stability) with some sideslide over being overwhelmed, any day. The CP19 is a great small sailboat to consider.

Fair winds, and good luck on your 'another' boat search.
Mike G.
s/v Freebird- Alachua, FL

[Craig Weis]

Hey Mike,
Did you know that the 'wet bottom' of the Com-Pac 19 was designed, tank tested, and modified by the super computers of NASA in conjunction with designer [Rob?] Bob Johnson? Way cool.
Could be why my C-P 19 won't slowdown when docking. LOL skip

[mikeg]

You got that right, Skip. Our 19 drifts a long way as we approach the dock. When I put here into neutral and then reverse-- it takes a good few seconds for the outboard to actually 'grab' and slow the boat along the dock- and that's coming off of only idle forward speed, naturally.

I took ASA sailing courses 101 and 103 last spring and our Compac behaves around the dock much like the larger 25 foot keelboat we used during the class did...takes a long time to stop at the dock.

Mike
s/v Freebird

[multimedia_smith]

Sounds to me like you are stalling the sails immediately after tacking.  You might try slacking and letting some air flow through to get some forward motion going before trimming in and heading up.
Just my two cents...
There have been times when sailing with waves on the beam that I have been glad to have the shallow keel that would allow me to slide a bit sideways rather than gripping too much and going over.
These boats do go better with a little more wind.
Enjoy
Dale

[Gerry Williams]

-1979-CP-16 with motor  & trailer for sale. $3000.00

Contact , RCWilly@aol.com, or call 260-637-5811, ask for Gerry

[pelican]

Hello Everyone,
I am looking for another small sailboat (again).  I enjoyed my CP 16 and sailed her in very rough conditions mostly in Lake Erie years ago.  She couldn't keep a 6.75 knot average like my sea pearl 21, but she had a cabin to make tea in and sleep out of the rain.  There were two things I disliked about my Com Pac.  Her lack of rounding up (due to an oversized jib perhaps) and the amount of leeway she would make.  There were some days where she would only go sideways for fifty yards before getting the momentum to sail in the correct direction.  Do other Com Pacs do this?  I have been sailing for over thirty years, but it could just be the loose nut on the tiller, if you catch my drift.  I am looking at Com Pac 19s and 23s as a trailer sailor as my Sea Pearl was towed and sailed in on the Pacific Coast of OR, Puget Sound in WA and BC, The Gulf Coast in TX, LA, and FL, and the East Coast of FL and the Keys.  I just want to compare the leeway habits of the three older smaller Com Pacs and any comments will be valued.
-Pete and Kingston the Wonderdog

I have owned a c16 and 19.. ... give them plenty of room and don't try to pinch them tight. The sea pearl is a totally different animal. I get up to Tarpon Springs often and have observed parts of their construction. Like the Compac, they are a beautifully constructed boat. The locals like them because you can launch off the beach.... You have good taste in boats!

Regards
Terry

[mgoller]

Sails! 

You are describing the demeanor of a sailboat with worn out sails.  The Com-Pac 16 with good sails will roundup in a hurry with some wind, but not if the sail is mis-shaped.  And if the sail is blown out you wont be able to point much at all.

Typically, the faster you go the less leeway is a problem.  Takes some forward motion to get the flow rolling round that wing like keel.  This is pretty much the same for any sailboat. 

I would suspect the culprit is a pair of worn out - blown out sails.
Sails that are well past new will have a belly about in the middle.  If this is the point of greatest lift then the sail will pull the boat that direction - sideways.
You want the belly or thickest part of the shape near the leading edge like a wing.  This will pull you forward.
This only applies to pointing as on a broad reach or run you are sailing in large part by being pushed.

What a huge difference it made on my CP19 getting new sails!
I could see how someone could blame the boat if they didn't suspect the sail.  Sails are the engine of the sailboat.  Bad sails can't be trimmed enough to work well.

My CP19 can sail a tight rectangle around a course and sideslip is maybe 3-4 degrees.  Also as far as speed I can hold my own with any boat in the 22 and under category, and can usually beat Cats because they aren't experienced in tacking.

Sorry, a little Com-Pac pride is showing.