There’s no one magic bullet when it comes to success in PHRF racing—or any time of racing for that matter—but there are a few easy ways to ensure your boat is up to snuff and race ready for when the season finally gets underway. Here’s what’s at the top of my list, and while they may seem obvious, they’re guaranteed to make a difference.

1. Weight is slow

As is with any boat, making sure your boat is as light as possible is key. Most PHRF areas mandate what can come off versus what has to stay on. For example PHRF Southern California allows you to take V-Berth cushions out but requires you to keep factory mid ship and aft cabin cushions in. Make sure the boat is on a constant diet to remove old gear, clothing, and even food and drink that can accumulate on board our boats throughout the season.

2. Optimize lines

Unlike many one-design classes, there are no line type or size restrictions in PHRF. This is a great place to examine every piece of line on you boat and make sure it is the right choice for the specific application. One easy upgrade is with your backstay or runners. New line on the market is lighter, stronger, and has less stretch which helps keep your forestay tight when going upwind. It’s the same for Jib or Genoa halyards. Keep your headsails luff tight with a good high-end line.

3. Hardware—weight and strength rule

Also, without the restrictions of one-design rules, you’re free to use whatever hardware you want, so you might as well be weight and strength conscious and get the best parts you can when you go to replace old blocks and hardware. In multiple boats we have actually modified existing hardware to cut weight. Low friction rings can be a great way to cut weight as well.

4. Optimize sails

PHRF generally outlines how sails are measured, and working with your sailmaker to get sizes that fit your boat perfectly is very important. An example is with asymmetric spinnakers. The rules on luff lengths can vary. Having a max-length luff can be very slow at times. Another is the asymmetric vs symmetric spinnaker question. Some areas allow you to carry both with no rating penalty. If so, at least one AP asymmetric is key for reaching legs. In some cases, the asymmetric can be actually have more square feet than the symmetric. In the case of lighter boats that generally sail higher apparent wind angles, changing over to only asymmetrical could be a consideration. Some areas mainsail and jib roaches are measured differently, so be sure to check and make sure you are getting the most sail area you can.

5. A fast bottom: let it be thin

In PHRF you can sand or fair your boat bottoms. Most PHRF boats live in the water so make sure you have a slippery smooth bottom is a top priority. I always hear about people excited to be getting a new bottom paint job just before the annual championship or right before a long offshore race. This is the wrong time for that. While a fresh coat of anti-fouling paint keeps growth at bay, it adds weight and can be bumpy until it is properly cleaned a few times or sanded. Your best bet is to get a new paint job at the beginning of the season and slowly wear it down so it is thin, light, and smooth by the time the season championship comes around. The same goes for an offshore event like the Transpac. Let the paint get sanded down so it is as light and smooth as possible before the event and wait until you return to get a new bottom job.

6. Configuration changes: risk vs. reward

PHRF allows to you to modify parts of your boat and then will rate you accordingly. Often people will modify their boat only to be angered when their local PHRF board penalizes them. Most, if not all, PHRF areas will accept a letter of intent from an owner and make their best guess at what the rating change will be. For example, I would write to my local PHRF board and indicate my current configuration and then explain that I would like to add a square top mainsail and give them the proposed sizes and sail area changes. I would ask them what my rating penalty would likely be. I would then get a letter back saying what the rating change would likely be (+/-3 seconds, of course). Armed with that data, I could decide whether I was willing to take that risk. Because I made the decision beforehand about whether I wanted to take the risk, I would never complain about the rating that I received for my modification. For the boats with bigger budgets, you can employ a yacht designer to help answer some of these questions in a more scientific fashion.

The post Six Go-Fast Tips for PHRF appeared first on Sailing World.

My first experience with “beer can racing” was when I took over the boat and team management of Surfrider, a Frers 46 owned by the Ruhlman family in Cleveland, OH. I’d just finished my sophomore year in college, and up until that point in my life the majority of my experience was sailing on smaller dinghies such as Thistles, Highlanders, Lasers, 420’s, etc. A 40+ foot keelboat is a completely different animal, but being introduced to the boat during these Wednesday evening races was both educational and fun. Beer can racing is a great way to allow sailors of all skill levels a chance to experience yacht racing in a competitive yet fun environment, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be competitive and run a successful campaign.

I’ve now managed numerous club regatta campaigns over the years and here are a few tips and tricks that sailors of all levels can use to manage a successful beer can racing team and make the most of their campaign.

Make a Schedule

Putting together a season long schedule takes time and effort, but it’s important to set expectations as early as possible as summers fill up fast and it’s stressful for crew and owner alike to not know what’s going on. Even if some events later in the season are still in the planning stages, getting them on the radar and gauging interest is key.

There are a few options out there for managing this online, two popular (and free!) ones are Doodle (a scheduling tool that makes it easy for team members to show their availabity and comment to the group) and Google Sheets (another free service that behaves a lot like an Excel spreadsheet, but allows group editing in the cloud).

Prep the Boat

Don’t be afraid to ask for help when prepping the boat. Getting the team together to work on the boat not only expedites the process, it is also a great way to create a sense of ownership in the program. If it’s a new team or there are members who don’t know each other well, parlay prep time into a team dinner or barbeque (see more on team building below…)

Pro tip – It’s also a good idea to use these times to discuss the season’s shore crew responsibilities. Click here for a great article about how to build a great shore crew.

Engourage Team Building and Participation

Creating a sense of team and camaraderie among the crew will go a long way towards having a successful and enjoyable season. Team gear emblazoned with the boat/team name is a great way to build a strong bond. Having a steady crew participating each week is important, but don’t forget that beer can racing is also a great way to introduce new people to sailing, such as coworkers, friends and family. If you’re struggling to find crew, talk to other boat owners, your local yacht club and/or junior race team to find people eager to participate. Participation isn’t just limited to the boat — don’t forget to invite your spouse, kids and whoever else wants to join the after-race socialization at the yacht club.

Have Fun and Learn Something

Most beer can racers show up to the dock after a long day at the office. Make sure to breathe, turn up the music and relax. These races are about having fun, socializing and introducing people to new experiences. Yelling and ill-tempers should be kept to a minimum, if not completely banned from these races. Take this time to try team members in different positions on board, so everyone gets a better understanding of each other’s jobs…except the owner, who, in my experience, should never be allowed in front of the mast, or bad things happen.

Set Goals

While these races may not be as highly competitive as a championship regatta, they can still be rewarding for both the owner and team. Take some time to think about the strengths and weaknesses of the entire team and set goals that are realistic and meaningful to the team. Feel free to have some fun with these goals as well, with a mix between goals that are based on results, participation and humor.

Bring Enough Beer

This one is simple enough… Bring. Enough. Beer. (Of course, use good judgement and be responsible, but if it’s your thing, bring enough beer.)

So, back to that first night on Surfrider. Being new to the boat and team, I was able to talk briefly with the owner, some team members and a former caretaker of the boat to get a general sense of what the team’s expectations were for the season. Ultimately, they were a high-performance racing team that enjoyed the opportunity to sail together and with friends/family in a more relaxed setting each week. We went out that evening with the simple goal to have fun, drink beer and enjoy a beautiful evening on Lake Erie. I don’t remember how we ended up on the score sheet, but I do remember we had a great time, I made some lifelong friends and Wednesday evenings have become one of my favorite nights of the week.

P.S. Bring enough beer.

This tip was brought to you by Quantum Sails.

The post How to Win your Beer Can Series appeared first on Sailing World.

In the ’70s and ’80s, if you were keen to race your cruising boat, PHRF was the handicap rule of choice. For furniture-laden production boats saddled with performance compromises, PHRF was an easy gateway into competitive sailing. There were also designers and custom builders devising faster and leaner boats for owners wanting to compete at a higher level. IOR was their racing fleet. It was a technical rule, used internationally, which allowed owners to compete on the world stage. In the heydays, top IOR teams had global respect. This two-tiered rating rule hierarchy essentially remains the model in most countries today: There’s a gateway rule and a technical rule. Not so in the United States.

While PHRF serves the vast majority of local handicap racers, American owners now have a shopping list of more-­technical options — IRC, ORC and ORR — none of which are compelling enough to outwit the other. Having too many options is negatively impacting participation. Handicap fleets need tiers of competition, providing a ladder for owners and teams to climb and find their appropriate level. Local, regional, national, and international steps create inspiration and motivation. A unified rule fosters confidence with ­owners and provides direction to designers and builders, encouraging them to invest in the development of new boats and equipment. I see this in other countries where there’s a commitment to a technical rule, but not so much in the United States. Without a compelling reason to invest in racing programs, we instead see older boats with handy age allowances focused on local and regional sailing.

Lacking high-level big-boat handicap racing, many of these same people have joined smaller keelboat one-design fleets, bringing their grand-prix budgets into the Corinthian realm. My dad had boats in the 25-foot range, contending he could race at a high level without being outspent. Today, he says, that wouldn’t be the case. With fleet numbers in decline since the 1980s, PHRF has become the catch-all. “We have seen some drop at the top end but a significant drop in participation in recent years of the midlevel racers,” says Bruce Bingham, chair of the U.S. PHRF Committee. “We know boats are still out there because owners dutifully get certificates each year, but maybe race one or two of their favorite regattas instead of all season long.” Bingham says the lack of a uniformly accepted high-level measurement rule is negative impacting PHRF. “It is too much to ask of PHRF to support a mixed fleet across all skill levels in the same class,” says Bingham. “PHRF was never intended to rate the top end of the fleet where thousands of dollars (or more) are spent to gain a few seconds per mile.”

To help bridge the rating rules, the idea was born for a universal measurement system, which would allow a boat to be measured once. A boat’s measurement data could be applied across all technical rating rules. Implementation of the UMS took some doing, as IRC, ORC and ORR each have unique measurement protocols. The advantage of UMS, however, is that a boat measured in England, where IRC is most prevalent, could now readily compete in the Mediterranean, where ORC is prominent. I’m not convinced UMS is progress for the United States. Each rating rule is complicated, and people like familiarity. As long as all three rules remain on the table, owners will advocate for what is better for their boat. UMS is a good solution for an international problem, but I fear it will only hasten the headway we really need, which is toward a unified national rule.

Dual scoring is another attempt to encourage participation, offering multiple options for entry so owners enjoy their preferred rule. The practice of entering a race under more than one rule, however, often leads to inconsistent results. Winners under one rule often find themselves down the ranks in another, scattering the spotlight and turning trophies into participation awards. Is there a sensible reason for the existence of three technical rules?

“That is a tough question,” says Bjorn R. Johnson, executive director of Offshore Racing Association, which owns and manages ORR. “It all depends from where you sit in the grand scheme of things. Having raced and campaigned many of my own boats, I have seen the diversity of the rating systems firsthand. In the States, we have a capitalist economy and that allows us to have choices and make our own decisions.”

James Dadd, director of the RORC Rating Office for IRC, is succinct: “No one needs lots of rating rules. Racing should be about getting out there, enjoying yourself and chatting at the bar about what you got right or wrong, and not about the rule.” ORC, the latest rule to the menu, arrived in the United States by invitation, says Dobbs Davis, Communications Director for ORC. “There are fleets dissatisfied with other options for many reasons, whether it’s being too subjective, not responsive enough to measurement and certification, not transparent in process or development, not confident of the accuracy of the ratings, too expensive, et cetera.”

Each rule makes a compelling case. IRC, which is managed by British and French authorities, is the widest geographically spread rating rule recognized by World Sailing. “Looking at the results we see around the world, I would suggest it works well as both an inshore rule and an offshore rule,” says Dadd. “Notably, it’s the principle system used in every offshore race around the world outside the United States.”

ORC, headquartered in Italy, has had the benefit of being the designated rule with a world championship. “ORC championship events such as the Worlds, Europeans and Sportboat ­Europeans continue to attract record entries,” says Davis, noting the rule’s usage in more than 40 countries. “There were 131 at the Worlds, 78 at the Europeans, and 40 at the Sportboats. Bids for these events extend out as far as 2020, demonstrating a strong demand.”

What IRC and ORC have are numbers. Participation ensures these rules are self-sustaining and able to invest in the technical tools needed to effectively rate boats. As international rules, U.S. boats can readily compete abroad, but perhaps more important, they allow foreign teams to compete in the States. Quantum Key West Race Week, for example, sees its use of ORC as a means to encourage international entrants.

ORR, on the other hand, has yet to cast its net beyond North American waters. This has limited overall participation, and while the sale of their products and agreements represents the major parts of the business model and provides general financial support, the rule does look for interested donors or sponsors to fund research and development and for educational projects.

ORR’s strength stems from its founding clubs — the Chicago YC, the Cruising Club of America and the Transpacific YC — which joined forces in an effort that led to the development and administration of the rule. These clubs use ORR in their signature events — ­Chicago Mackinac Race, Newport Bermuda Race and Transpac Race — which have fostered growth in those regions.

“ORR now extends far beyond the events of its founders with its use in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Bermuda,” says ­Johnson. “The events are as varied and diverse as the competitors themselves, and while ORR is known for being used primarily in offshore events, it works equally well for inshore racing.”

US Sailing is neutral, thus the health of the sport now teeters within the self-­interest of the respective rule proponents. Each rule operates differently, which contributes to the chasm. While they each assemble dissimilar boats for competition, they cannot continue to coexist without ­deteriorating U.S. fleets.

For increased participation, we need a clean model. PHRF must be exclusive to racer-cruisers — the big kids have to get out of their sandbox. A consensus technical rule provides the necessary division to promote growth, and this accord will occur only when prominent clubs and event hosts look beyond themselves and work together for the good of the sport.

The post The Handicap Racing Question appeared first on Sailing World.

It’s the ultimate bummer. The starting gun sounds, you’re in the front row and looking good. Just like they draw it up on the wipe board. Then there’s another horn, the X flag, and, after an excruciating wait, you hear your sail number on the VHF. You’re OCS and you can kiss a good result good-bye.

Don’t give up so quickly. An OCS is a hurdle for sure, one of the bigger ones you’ll ever face in your quest for a good result. But on the plus side, you’ve still got the whole race in front of you—not to mention whatever’s left of the regatta. Take a few deep breaths, and keep these tips in mind.

1. Stick to the game plan. So many times the frustration of being OCS causes teams to completely abandon the pre-start game plan. Here’s a perfect example, you’re OCS at the leeward end of the line, you clear yourself by jibing around the pin, and then you head off on port tack and go hard right only to see the left side come in strong, just like you’d predicted. It’s the ultimate double whammy! Don’t abandon all your pre-start research.

2. Work to get a clear lane. Sticking with the example above, your best opportunity to get to the left might be to clear yourself around the pin and tack back to starboard. You’ll be second row—or worse—but the separation from the boats that started properly may allow for you to execute the plan. However, this may also be a little bit of wishful thinking, especially in a big fleet. So instead of tacking right back to starboard and sailing in bad air, sail on port tack to take advantage of the lifts off of the backside of the fleet on starboard and choose a cleaner lane for your tack toward the left side of the race course.

3. Get out of phase (with the fleet). If neither side is strongly favored, look to find clean air by going against the grain: sailing on port when most of the fleet is on starboard, and vice versa. Sailing out of phase with the fleet will create separation and allow you to sail your boat at optimum speed. Groups of boats always tend to slow each other down. I am always amazed how long people will sail in a pack when tacking away would afford them much cleaner air.

4. Minimize tacks. Hitting a corner is one way to reduce the number of tacks. But it’s a risky call. If you decide to be more conservative, make sure to limit your tacks to the bare minimum. Double check your lanes and try to anticipate where boats ahead of you will tack.

5. Boat speed. This may seem obvious. Boat speed is always important. But it’s easy to get discouraged or distracted when looking at so many transoms. Redouble your efforts and focus. Every ounce of energy needs to go into sailing the boat fast.

6. Focus on short-term goals. Turn your OCS into a positive. Establishing short-term goals, for example, by only looking one mark ahead, helps the motivation on the boat. It can be difficult for everybody to put everything they have into hiking when it may all be for naught. A quick acknowledgment of the mistake is key. Identifying boats that can be picked off, or closed on, and then maintaining a constant dialogue of your progress will keep the team’s frame of mind as positive as possible.

The post Terry’s Tips: Recovering from an OCS appeared first on Sailing World.

dave reed headshot

During a recent meeting of owners, designers, and builders of grand-prix raceboats I wrote in my notepad, “. . .first time ever to have a certificate from one worldwide authority.” I underlined “ever.” This was “big, breaking news,” the emcee proclaimed, news that bodes well for the future of handicap racing—especially at the top of the pyramid. The implications of the announcement are still unclear, but I did get a sense that afternoon that there was cooperation between once disparate rule administrators, and a new openness among design firms willing to share data in the interest of developing faster, more exciting boats.

I struggle to get my head around handicap rules: the international fiefdoms, the acronyms, the design speak, and measurement systems that require advanced degrees to decipher. It doesn’t help that our rating systems are always changing behind closed doors. So hopefully the announcement is progress toward a truly transparent, single-authority system that can provide stability for owners and regatta organizers.

The meeting also confirmed that a subset of the handicap-racing community has been restless for a rule that encourages no-compromise planing boats, the result of which is the latest offering, the High Performance Rule. The HPR movement has been quietly organizing its house for two years, and makes its official debut this year. Development was spearheaded by stakeholders at the New York YC, but now encompasses a cadre of designers and technical wizards working in collaboration to develop “modern, high-performance racing yachts.”

Under HPR there will be no “credits” for slow features, for which IRC has long been criticized. Modern is defined as wide, ultra-light boats with bowsprits, robust asymmetric spinnakers, fractional rigs, and square-top mainsails. It’s the return of “Fast Is Fun,” and yes, Bill Lee, the designer who coined the famous phrase, is involved, too.

With three 40-foot HPR boats launched and racing last year, interest in the “performance-oriented, type-forming, continuum box rule” is on the rise—albeit slowly. The rule’s greatest strength, say its founders, is that its algorithm is fixed until 2017 and published at the Offshore Racing Congress’s website, www.orc.org, allowing yacht designers, sailmakers, and owners to run trials as they wish. There are no secret components, and at the heart of it (this is where the single worldwide authority comes in) is what’s called the Universal Measurement Form. All the major players sitting at the table—US Sailing, the Royal Ocean Racing Club, and the ORC—are jointly developing the form, which includes all measurements currently required by IRC, ORR, ORC, HPR, and PHRF. So, yes, a boat must still be physically measured, but once done so, its rating can be calculated under any participating rule.

The stated goal of the HPR is to get more exciting and modern boats out racing. The intent is not to replace PHRF or IRC, for example, which happily accommodate dual-purpose boats, but rather to jump-start custom boatbuilding. The trickle-down faucet the America’s Cup no longer feeds would, theoretically, be turned on once again. The HPR boats now sailing are turning heads, but as it is with any planing design, the beat is always longer than the run. Let’s hope that’s not the case with this latest rule.

Click here to read more from editor Dave Reed.

The post Editor’s Letter: Here We Go Again appeared first on Sailing World.

Ken Read golf

Handicap racing needs a jolt. We’ve got systems like ORR and IRC and even the new High Performance Rule, which rate the boats, but when boats are rated by complex formulas that can be exploited by clever designers, an arms race is unavoidable. New sails, pro crew, and constant tweaking of the boats will always serve as a way to gain an advantage. It can be fun for those with deep pockets and the people they employ, but frustrating for those who can’t afford to play such a high level. And then we have PHRF, which tries to equalize all shapes and sizes of boats, allowing them to race against each other fairly in all sorts of conditions.

It’s time to take handicapping a step forward, and PHRF is the perfect rule to tweak and revolutionize. It’s time to consider handicapping the sailors. Where I sail on Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay there’s a lot of racing happening at the local level, but I’m amazed to see the overall numbers are down quite a bit, and that many of the teams doing the racing are the same programs I saw 25 years ago. There’s little growth and even fewer new faces. It’s great to see the longevity of sailors and their passion for local events, but there’s cronyism in the clubs. The same people routinely win the trophies.

Hence my epiphany—and it didn’t even happen on the water. It happened on the golf course. The handicap system in golf is simple. Every time you play a legitimate round of golf you put your score into golf’s national handicapping system, called Golf Handicap and Information Network, which is a part of the United States Golf Association (golf’s equivalent to US Sailing). The score is placed in your list of the last 20 rounds played, and not only is the score saved, but each golf course has a rating as well. For example, an 80 on a difficult course carries more weight than an 80 on an easy course. Each round helps determine your overall “handicap,” and that handicap is an average amount of shots “over par,” based on the top-10 scores you’ve had from the last 20 rounds played.

In August, I played in a three-day tournament. It was match play with twosomes, including handicap, which in layman’s terms means that my friend and I were a team, and we played in a ladder format against the next pair that we met in the ladder, either in the winner’s bracket or the loser’s bracket, all including our “handicaps.”

In this particular tournament, there were golfers of all ages and skills levels. The beauty of the handicap system is that it puts everyone on the same level. My friend and I played our first round against a twosome with an average age of about 70. With a handicap spread between us of 10 to 18, we gave them quite a few strokes. If it were a straight up score, we probably would’ve run away with the match, but the handicap system prevented that from happening. Next up was a twosome with a very good 35-year-old (3 handicap) and an average 50-year-old (14 handicap). They guy with the 14 handicap inflicted the most damage. He was on fire, and consequently, they trounced us. We went into the loser’s bracket against a team that had very similar age and handicaps to us, so we essentially played them just about level.

So how does all this golf talk relate to sailing and handicap racing? In golf, the person who plays three times a week can compete against someone who plays once a month, with both having a good chance of winning. Tournaments and normal matches amongst friends, strangers, or business acquaintances flourish year after year because everyone comes into any given match feeling as though they have a chance. Handicaps equalize the playing field, and if you’re on your game that day, life is good. If there were no handicaps applied, only the best golfers would show up. This is where PHRF can go to encourage new blood into the grassroots side of the sport, as well as increase participation, and as result, spread the trophies around more equitably.

Let’s take an average PHRF program from Narragansett Bay. They probably do an evening beer can series at their local club, as well as a few major events during the year. What if you had to put in your score after each race in order to get your handicap? The boat still has a base rating in seconds-per-mile, but the crew’s skill for that particular boat would create an additional seconds-per-mile correction to the boat’s base rating. And, the actual event you sail in would serve as a multiplier for that “personnel-rating factor.”

A weeknight race could hold less weight than the PHRF New England Championship, for example, or Key West Race Week. Maybe the boat’s personal-rating factor would simply be a seasonal or bi-seasonal correction. There could be a number of ways to accomplish this.

It would have to be fairly self-policing. If you want to stack the deck by putting a bunch of pros on board, no sweat, but when you win you will be hurting your handicap after collecting that trophy. If you decide not to get that new jib and want to sail with all your family or newcomers to sailing, then that’s fine as well. Your personnel-handicap factor will reflect the relative skill of the team over time.

A few individuals in the marine industry will see this as a terrible idea because it doesn’t really give an advantage to a new sail, a new spar, or the smoothness of the bottom paint. In reality, however, it does present an advantage because everyone would see what the posted personal-rating factor is, and a lower number means you’re a better sailor or team. The marine industry would also gain long term because hopefully this would be a way to increase participation, which in turn helps everyone. Plus, every golfer wants a single-digit handicap: It tells everyone you’re a player. And I’ll still buy new clubs and equipment to help me get better, even if my handicap is going to go down as a result (hopefully). We all want to get better—that is sport at its core.

I realize this is a broad way of talking about handicapping people or crews, and I’m not the first person to think of it, but the fact remains that we have the infrastructure in place (US Sailing) and smart people who can write software and create websites to make it happen. The rest should be easy. Find an equitable way to handicap sailors and more people will come and play the game. The proof is on the green.

Click here to read more of Ken Read’s column Gaining Bearing.

The post Getting Handicap Racing On Par appeared first on Sailing World.

Sparkman & Stephens 30

Purpose: daysailing/PHRF racing
Recommended race crew: 3 to 4
Best attributes: overall look, high-volume
interior, easy handling
Price as sailed: $169,000
www.bluenoseyachts.com

Record labels re-master classic albums for good reason: Great music is always great music, and with modern digital tools, great songs can be improved. The same is true of the Sparkman & Stephens 30, said to be one of the late, great Olin Stephens‘ favorite designs. In the 1930s, Babe (Design No. 97) had a notable ocean-racing career, and in his final years, says the design firm, Stephens revisited the design with intentions of building an updated version. With his passing, the firm carried on, but instead of the wooden version Stephens envisioned, they introduced a fiberglass production model that superbly connects the past with the present.

The judges had three other classic-styled daysailers to test this year, but in many respects, the Sparkman & Stephens 30 was untouchable. “The first thing I thought when I saw it was how much better it looked than it does on the drawing,” said Stewart. “The sheer comes up nicely from the bow, it’s got that narrow look, and the traditional stern gives it a nice touch.”

“It looked good sitting there at the dock, but when we sailed it, it had a great feel,” he added. “All the control lines worked really well. There’s not a lot of extra stuff anywhere on the boat, so it feels very clean and open.”

It’s billed as a daysailer, but it’s much more than that, said the judges. The interior is minimalist, with no galley or refrigeration, but with a lot of volume, long setees, and a proper enclosed head (with frosted Lexan folding doors). It’s more of a weekender and beer can racer [estimated 100 PHRF] than anything else. “The interior volume is amazing,” said Stewart. “The extra-long companionway and dodger setup allows you to stand inside the boat and look out. You can happily sit in the settees [while sailing], which puts the weight where you want it to be.”

Its high-aspect sailplan compliments the boat’s slender hull, and under full sail the boat leans on its waterlines, gracefully climbing upwind. A spinnaker on an optional top-down furler, and tacked to the stem, did wonders for the boat’s downwind performance. “Having the screecher out there is the way to go,” said Rich. “With that setup, even if you’re singlehanding it, you won’t be afraid to use it. This makes the boat much more user-friendly, and keeps wet sails out of the interior.”

The finish quality and overall construction were very good, noted the judges (it’s built by C&C Fiberglass Components, which also builds the J/70). With a simplistic, but efficient, layout inside and out, it’s the sort of boat you’d want to take out for a sunset sail or race, and then keep on sailing well past nightfall.

For more images of the Sparkman & Stephens 30, click here.
To read more about Sparkman & Stephens, click here.
To see the rest of 2013’s winners, click here.

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Dufour 36 Performance

Purpose: competitive club racing, weekend cruising
Recommended race crew: 7 to 8
Best attributes: stability, cockpit design, and interior volume
Price: $225,000
www.dufour-yachts.com

“We hit a couple of puffs, and the boat just took off.” When a Boat of the Year judge describes the performance of a boat in such a way, the subject of the conversation is typically about one of our sportier boats. Not this time. Allen’s praise was directed at the year’s best crossover, a surprisingly quick 36-foot performance cruiser from the French boatbuilder, Dufour Yachts. Production builders are pretty loose with the use of the term “performance” these days, but as far as the judges were concerned, the Dufour 36 Performance can rightfully claim it.

Credit is due to the design team and management at Dufour, which launched the 36-footer as the first in its new line of modern boats with far better racing potential. What they’ve brought to market is a more aggressive-looking and efficient hull shape with generous bow volume for upwind performance, a hard chine aft, and a deep rudder and T-bulb keel package for good all-around stability. On deck, the set up is definitely more for racing than cruising, with the twin wheel pedestals pushed out to the side, a split mainsheet system, six winches, a retractable carbon sprit, and easy-to-adjust sail controls everywhere on the boat.

“I rated this one really high because of how well it sailed,” said Stewart after testing the boat in 15 knots of wind. “It was really fun to drive. The boat is set up right; it’s got a good in-hauler system on the jib, and all the lines are the right sizes. Without the big, cumbersome steering pedestals you find on similar boats, it was easy to move around the cockpit.”

Its removable cockpit seats also help address the challenge of trimming on a boat with seating and high cockpit coamings, added Stewart: “With the seats removed, the jib trimmer has much better access to the primaries. Downwind, the spinnaker leads were good. With the beveled cabin top edge you could take the sheet to the cabin-top winch and trim from there, if you wanted to.”

High praise was also given to the boat’s construction and interior layout. The V-berth has double bulkhead doors (making moving sails below much easier), outboard settees are long and comfortable, and there’s everything you could possibly need to cruise it properly for a week. “It was amazing—none of us could find a single thing to complain about,” said Allen. “The craftsmanship you get for the price is unbelievable. This isn’t just the best crossover. I think it’s best value of the year, too. It sailed extremely well, and if you really intended to race it beyond the club level, you could lighten it up with a carbon rig, but as it is, it’s the best crossover we’ve sailed in a while.”

See more from Dufour Yachts here.
For more images of the Dufour 36 Performance, click here.
To see the rest of 2013’s winners, click here.

The post Dufour 36 Performance: Best Crossover appeared first on Sailing World.

caseofadvancingfurther

“Coming down the second reach in the fifth race at the Soling Worlds in Medemblik, Netherlands, we were moving fast in the passing lane. The Russian, Tonu Tootsi, was just ahead and to leeward. If we rolled him I knew he wouldn’t be happy, but I was tempted by a group of boats farther to leeward, all of which we might catch. Also unwilling to lose that leeward group, Tootsi let us go by. As we approached the leeward mark, he feinted at our windward quarter from a leeward position, inducing us to sail higher and higher. Then, as we jibed to get down to the mark in the light air, he passed across our stern, jibed, and shot his bow into a three-foot inside overlap.”

Read the full article from 1991 here.

The post From the Archives: A Case of Advancing Further appeared first on Sailing World.

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

New York Yacht Club Race Week at Newport presented by Rolex 2012

The post New York Yacht Club Race Week: Part III appeared first on Sailing World.