Single Handed Farallones

[Prince of Whales]

Nice! Who was in your pack as you rounded the rock pile?

[Nick S.]

Nice! Who was in your pack as you rounded the rock pile?

Whirlwind was just leeward of me, you can see him in the beginning of the vid... The boat ahead of us is either Freedom or Xpression. Nancy was right behind us.

[Charlie Tuna]

How is the E-37 to single hand?

[Idiotwind]

Nick, when we last had a most civil discussion, my headsail argument had nothing whatsoever to do with "Look like crap" (your misquote). It was about physical juxtaposition of the 115% headsail and lifelines. But wait, there's more!! If you can't hike out by sitting butt-out on the rail, which is not possible with ISAF 18" lifelines, you give up 20% of upwind VMG. It's just how it is. But, Nick, I'm inviting you to roll on the Can for a CYC Friday Night Beer-Can, so you can explain yourself, or enlighten yourself, as you see fit. I'll buy the beer, and the Club has a major food spread for members and guests. Any Friday in June is open.

[BobJ]

How is the E-37 to single hand?

I was going to ask the same thing. There are a couple of nice ones on the local market right now.

[Idiotwind]

Yo Idiot,

I can tell from your tone that I'm getting to you - this pleases me.

My boat is rated for full crew but I race it single-handed. Your boat is rated for two girls, which is who I usually see sailing Cal 20's. If you ever step up to a real boat, look me up.

Women sailors are a major improvement in the Bay Area sailing scene. Kick-ass women sailors are even better! They're welcome on the Can anytime.

You seem to be upset that someone sailing a low-budget, 50-year-old boat is consistently competent. That goes more to your sense of identity than mine.

[BobJ]

You missed the point, as usual. I'm not upset at all - I'm not the one watching from the sidelines.

Still waiting to hear from Nick about single-handing the Express 37.

[Nick S.]

How is the E-37 to single hand?

I was going to ask the same thing. There are a couple of nice ones on the local market right now.

Not as bad as many people assume. The biggest issue is not having anyone to play the traveler upwind. You really need to have someone actively trimming to get the best point/speed in breeze while staying in control. Breeze-on singlehanded means lots of backstay & trav down. In decent waves it’s not so bad because you’re footing anyway. In this configuration you can sail effectively with a #3 & no reef into the low 30kt range (TWS).

Downwind, the trick is to overtrim the kite/twing-on while playing the vang for power. (You’ll want all controls run aft. ) A double pole setup will help with jibes, but IMO is not necessary. I personally don’t like socks, (letterbox!) but know several people who swear by them. The boat is a joy to sail downwind, shorthanded or otherwise.

A nice autopilot helps a lot. I know that “Bullet” (which is for sale) has a really slick below decks NKE setup that’ll effectively steer the boat DW in gnarly stuff.

Most of the boats ended up around 10.5K lbs, so loads are actually pretty light/manageable, (relatively) but it is a physical boat.

If your primary mission is singlehanded sailing, there are certainly a number of better suited boats out there. I'm not good enough to sail the boat anywhere near its potential singlehanded. With a crew, the boats live up to their reputation. You can actually sail fairly close to their rating doublehanded.

[BobJ]

Very helpful - thanks. I'm pretty happy with my J but I hope to own one of Carl's boats someday, and standing headroom would sure be nice! It would be hard to give up the assymetric/sprit though.

A former SSS'er with a Santa Cruz 40 only used a sock offshore, mostly for controlling his gybes. He would pull it down part way, jibe the pole and then pull it back up.

Great video too!

[Nick S.]

Very helpful - thanks. I'm pretty happy with my J but I hope to own one of Carl's boats someday, and standing headroom would sure be nice! It would be hard to give up the assymetric/sprit though.

A former SSS'er with a Santa Cruz 40 only used a sock offshore, mostly for controlling his gybes. He would pull it down part way, jibe the pole and then pull it back up.

Great video too!

Thanks Bob. I’ve always liked the J92. There’s an E-37 floating around somewhere that’s had a sprit installed on it… I’ve seen photos and they’re drool inducing. (If a tad sacrilegious…) I’ve wrestled with dreams of a Synergy 1000 for awhile, but with the 37 being so damn practical as a do anything boat, it’s hard to get serious.

I believe that an E-34 would be a lot closer to a (multi-purpose) Schumacher platform that could be sailed to its numbers shorthanded.

[BobJ]

You'd need water ballast to shorthand a Synergy 1000.

The E-37 OD fleet on LIS started to do sprits. Mort Weintraub's "TROUBADOR" and (I think) Rich DeMoulin's "LORA ANN" come to mind and these were two of the best - I'll bet the sprits were done well.

When I had my J/33 (also formerly one of Mort's TROUBADORs) I raced against the E-34's some (Ditch Run, etc.). They didn't seem that competitive but they are very nice boats. Maybe shorthanded is their niche?

[Nick S.]

You'd need water ballast to shorthand a Synergy 1000.

The E-37 OD fleet on LIS started to do sprits. Mort Weintraub's "TROUBADOR" and (I think) Rich DeMoulin's "LORA ANN" come to mind and these were two of the best - I'll bet the sprits were done well.

When I had my J/33 (also formerly one of Mort's TROUBADORs) I raced against the E-34's some (Ditch Run, etc.). They didn't seem that competitive but they are very nice boats. Maybe shorthanded is their niche?

You’re right about the Synergy. I’d guess the mantra would be “reef early, reef often…” Still have of case of the wants though. There’s something about that ~ 34 SA/Disp ratio that elicits a raised eyebrow and primal thirst.

It’d be nice to see someone come out and play with an E-34 shorthanded/offshore. I think they’d have potential.