Search found 503 matches

by Bill Roberts
June 25th, 2005, 11:53 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Fastest Cat Around
Replies: 1
Views: 3820

Fastest Cat Around

Hey Guys, I'm disappointed that noone stepped into the Catsailor thread that was discussing, "there's nothing faster than the Tornado". For many years now, roughly 25, the SC20TR has been rated faster than the Tornado. Back in the 1980s the Tornado was rated at 64. The SC20 was rated at 64...
by Bill Roberts
February 23rd, 2005, 9:31 am
Forum: Technical Forum
Topic: Sailing with a GPS
Replies: 7
Views: 9860

Sailing with a GPS

Eric, The speed occurred in the midst of a sailing track on the St Lucy River. I think the equations that calculate "max speed attained" in a GPS can and do predict very erronous numbers. I have not seen the system of equations that makes this calculation but it must extrapolate the distan...
by Bill Roberts
February 21st, 2005, 10:37 am
Forum: Technical Forum
Topic: Sailing with a GPS
Replies: 7
Views: 9860

Sailing with a GPS

Went sailing with a GPS yesterday on the SC20 TR. Left it on in a chest pocket for the duration of the sail, 15 to 20 knot winds. When we got in, we checked the time sailed, the distance traveled, and max speed. The max speed was too good to be true, 52.3 miles per hour. Now I understand where all o...
by Bill Roberts
February 15th, 2005, 7:29 pm
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Did Anyone Notice???
Replies: 1
Views: 3443

Did Anyone Notice???

The Wave class: Last year the Wave National Championship Regatta was sailed in a fresh breeze. An average size adult male won the championship. Then along came their World Championship Regatta, 2004, sailed in light winds and a 12 year old male won the races. This year the Wave Nationals were sailed...
by Bill Roberts
February 9th, 2005, 10:23 am
Forum: Technical Forum
Topic: Standing Rigging question, ARC 21
Replies: 5
Views: 7044

Problems

Eric, You are really having a hard time with this particular boat. The previous owner changed many things including the sails, the standing rigging, the running rigging and the hulls are pretty beat up. It is going to take a significant amount of money to return this boat to factory specifications. ...
by Bill Roberts
February 6th, 2005, 7:59 am
Forum: Technical Forum
Topic: Standing Rigging question, ARC 21
Replies: 5
Views: 7044

Unswage??????

Eric, You and the rigger are in unknown territory unmaking a sleeve treminal and then reswaging a new fitting over that same portion of the wire. I do not know from experience the answer to your question. I do know that it is not normally done. I do know that the wire is perminately compressed under...
by Bill Roberts
February 5th, 2005, 7:51 am
Forum: Technical Forum
Topic: Standing Rigging question, ARC 21
Replies: 5
Views: 7044

ARC Shroud Rigging

You have it figured out correctly, Eric. The factory shrouds terminate with marine eye fittings at the lower end. A thimble and sleeve swage is cheaper but it is so fat that it compromises the shroud adjustment with shroud levers. It is all part of the righting system that comes on your boat.
Bill
by Bill Roberts
February 4th, 2005, 7:26 pm
Forum: Technical Forum
Topic: Rudder Question
Replies: 3
Views: 5498

Rudder Pivot Hole Wear Out

Something that causes the rudder pivot hole to see large loads, loads much greater than design loads, is high friction drag in the rudder roller follower slot. The vertical slot in the rudder head where the springs are attached to the axel with rollers which follow the shape of the top of the rudder...
by Bill Roberts
January 27th, 2005, 7:35 pm
Forum: Technical Forum
Topic: Pin Head vs Square top
Replies: 3
Views: 5863

Pin Head vs Square Top

Hi Thom, The PN adjustment factor for the square top mainsail is 0.995 from US Sailing. I know nothing good about new sail cloths. I have some CUBIN fiber sails and they shrink and shrink and shrink. They are about a foot short on the luff at this time. The cloth that I will choose in the future wil...
by Bill Roberts
January 4th, 2005, 9:29 am
Forum: Technical Forum
Topic: New Technology and its impact on beach cats
Replies: 7
Views: 9470

ARC20

Hi Sam, There was a time when 'one of a kind' 20 footers raced in the Worrell 1000. The ARC22 plug/mold was designed so that it could produce either a 22ft boat or a 20ft boat for that race. That is where the ARC20 comes from. As far as building a 20ft boat/class again, that has no appeal to Tom or ...
by Bill Roberts
January 2nd, 2005, 7:22 pm
Forum: Technical Forum
Topic: New Technology and its impact on beach cats
Replies: 7
Views: 9470

Why not a 20??

Eric, I did the 20ft thing back in 1978. There were two versions of the boat, the standard 20 and the 'tall rig'. The standard was rated with the same PN as the Tornado (64 w/o spin) for several years. The tall rig (PN = 61 w/o spin) has always been faster than the Tornado, the chinning bar for all ...
by Bill Roberts
January 1st, 2005, 8:43 pm
Forum: Technical Forum
Topic: New Technology and its impact on beach cats
Replies: 7
Views: 9470

New Technology??? Continued

Let's look at the ARC22 and see if we can find any new technology. The 22 is simply the 20TR with a new set of hulls slipped under the rig. The new hulls are 22 feet long which increases the pitchpole resistance by (22/20)**2. This 10% increase in hull length amounts to a 21% increase in forward sta...
by Bill Roberts
January 1st, 2005, 9:21 am
Forum: Technical Forum
Topic: New Technology and its impact on beach cats
Replies: 7
Views: 9470

New Technology??? Continued

OK, more on beach cat technology: Let's move on to the 18ft boats. There has been much activity here in the last few years. Is it due to new technology? Most of these 18 footers came from Europe and have a unirig with spinnaker sail plan. Why did all of this happen? A few years ago there was an effo...
by Bill Roberts
December 28th, 2004, 2:11 pm
Forum: Technical Forum
Topic: New Technology and its impact on beach cats
Replies: 7
Views: 9470

New Technology and its impact on beach cats

There is an interesting subject on the Catsailor Forum dealing with beach cat new technology. The approach there is to list the new technologies and attempt to relate them to beach cat improvements. Well, there is another way to skin that cat. Let's look at the performance of beach cats, the US Sail...
by Bill Roberts
October 30th, 2004, 8:16 am
Forum: General Discussion
Topic: Port-Starboard? Crunch....
Replies: 9
Views: 11587

Automatic Reactions

Robert, You are right in that these automatic reactions in emergency situations must be practiced. If on a boat that will drop the sailors in the water and the skipper must bear off abruptly and dump the main, the sailors, knowing what is happening, will know to swing aft pivoting on their front leg...