First sail

[CaptRon28]

OK, 3rd sail went very well. Lubed mast track (also used a portable dremel tool to smooth out some burrs on the track), adjusted lazy jacks. About 12 to 15 knots out of the NW today. Boat sails extremely well for a 2500 pound 20 footer and it's fairly stiff - probably due to the near 8 1/2 foot beam. I don't think heel went over about 25 degrees. Points better than I thought it would too. Got it up to around 6.7 knots at one point, which is probably more than hull speed for a 20 footer. Started experimenting too - I think weatherhelm can be significantly reduced by pulling the center board back about 6 inches to 1 foot on the line. The CLR (center of lateral resistance) moves back to counter the twisting effect of the CE (center of effort).

I've got to tune the rig. The leeward shroud seems to get a little too loose on both tacks. Anyone have any specs? I'll shoot for around 15 percent of the wires breaking strength if there are no published specs.

I think I'd feel comfortable at 20+ knots in this boat with no reef. But with no women aboard. Very happy so far - it's a good boat.

[Steve Ullrich]

Hi Ron,

12 to 15 is about as ideal as it gets.  You might try easing your sheets a bit to try to keep her on her feet a bit more.  15 degrees is about where you want to be.  Easing the sheets will reduce weather helm as well.  As for the shrouds - tight enough that they aren't slack on the leeward side of the mast.  You don't need them any tighter than that.

Enjoy

OK, 3rd sail went very well. Lubed mast track (also used a portable dremel tool to smooth out some burrs on the track), adjusted lazy jacks. About 12 to 15 knots out of the NW today. Boat sails extremely well for a 2500 pound 20 footer and it's fairly stiff - probably due to the near 8 1/2 foot beam. I don't think heel went over about 25 degrees. Points better than I thought it would too. Got it up to around 6.7 knots at one point, which is probably more than hull speed for a 20 footer. Started experimenting too - I think weatherhelm can be significantly reduced by pulling the center board back about 6 inches to 1 foot on the line. The CLR (center of lateral resistance) moves back to counter the twisting effect of the CE (center of effort).

I've got to tune the rig. The leeward shroud seems to get a little too loose on both tacks. Anyone have any specs? I'll shoot for around 15 percent of the wires breaking strength if there are no published specs.

I think I'd feel comfortable at 20+ knots in this boat with no reef. But with no women aboard. Very happy so far - it's a good boat.

[newt]

First sail of the season last Saturday- Cold (45) but excellent as she ran her paces. Today an inland hurricane. I went to check the lines at the dock- consistent 30-40 with gusts past 50.  She is great but covered from head to foot in salt. Man- the lake is going crazy!

[CaptRon28]

Hi Ron,

12 to 15 is about as ideal as it gets.  You might try easing your sheets a bit to try to keep her on her feet a bit more.  15 degrees is about where you want to be.  Easing the sheets will reduce weather helm as well.  As for the shrouds - tight enough that they aren't slack on the leeward side of the mast.  You don't need them any tighter than that.

Enjoy

The 20 to 25 degrees of heel was in gusts over 15 knots, otherwise it was in the 15 to 20 degree range. No wind meter, but there were numerous whitecaps on the water (a large bay) - I figure it was maybe 18 or 19 knots. Boat came back rather quickly after gust or correction. Boat felt very solid and totally in control regardless of wind velocity.  The leeward shrouds were definitely too loose. They were almost flapping in the wind.

[Craig Weis]

I still have ice in the cut and the docks on the hard...maybe April 20th?

skip.

[brackish]

Mike -

Any metal (and especially cast iron) will suffer in salt water long term. It will probably be OK for a couple of years, but the corrosion will take its toll in the end. Heavy rust, clogged coolant passages, and eventually total deterioration of the metal itself.

You better believe it.  It's hard to imagine how much cast iron can scale off from the block and exhaust riser.  My last boat started to have water come back down into the head and rear cylinder from the riser when we shut it down.  Had the head of the A4 off three times before we figured it out.  Turned out that there was so much scale that had passed into the canister water muffler that it displaced the water that was supposed to drain down into it at shut down.  With no place else to go, it drained back to the engine.  When we finally figured it out and took it out, it was chock full of cast iron scale.  The water was passing through the exhaust valve.  This was after about twelve years of use.

[CaptRon28]

I might launch the Horizon for 2 or 3 days late next week. Trimaran will be out of the water by then and sitting in a local storage yard, and we'll be leaving for NJ the following week. The Horizon is a lot easier to launch and rig.

I've been thinking about using the long pin to hold the lowered boom and gaf above the mast hinge when the boat is in the water and I don't expect to lower the mast. The boom seems to wind up there anyway when the gaf and sail are up, it would give a little more height to the lowered boom for visibility when motoring, and save ducking down as much when going below. Manual mentions using the long pin to keep the boom and gaf below the hinge to avoid problems when lowering the mast, but there's nothing about pinning it above the hinge when you are not going to lower the stick. It makes sense to me. Any comments?

[kobo]

Ron,

I had mentioned in a previous post that I have always keep my boom above the pin. It seems to be the perfect position when the sail and gaff are raised. I just came back from four days of sailing in Perdido Bay, Perdido sound, Wolf Bay and the Intercoastal Water way along the Gulf Coast. We had beautiful weather. The sailing was great. No matter what restaurant or marina we docked at everybody comminted on the Horizon Cat and what a great looking boat she was. We kept the boat @ Bear Point Marina. The transient slip rent was $1.00 a foot a day. This included shore power, water, showers a restaurant, ships store and great parking. I would recommend this marina and sailing ground to anyone with a  trailerable boat. I am glad you are getting to know and sail your Horizon Cat.

[CaptRon28]

It's interesting that the manual (just bought one from Com-Pac) mentions nothing about the long pin holding up the boom. Only reason for the pin is to keep the gaf and boom down so you can't break the mast. I'd be tempted to build a slide in teak block that mounts on the cradle to keep the aft end of the boom up too. Getting tired of bending over.

I hope to get it back into the water down here for a day or two before we leave in about 10 to 12 days.

[jamato323]

In speaking with Rich Hutchins a couple of weeks ago, he said the pin was intended to hold the boom and gaff down when motoring and when lowering the mast. He did agree that it also served to heighten the boom and give more head/bimini room while at anchor. He did not think sailing with the pin in place holding the boom up was their intention when they designed the rig. FWIW

[sun17cat]

On my SunCat I put the pin in as soon as the mast is raised. It lifts the boom and keeps it at a more reasonable height, it is also necessary if you want the bimimi up when docked or at anchor. As long as the mast is up there is no reason to let the boom down past the pin. A note of caution: don't try to lower the mast until the boom is pushed down and pinned or you will break something.

Jim