[C38] History of the longer boom

[David Epstein]

Hi Phil,

You are correct, when SuperStar was originally ordered by my late 
boat partner, Sid Blinder, he specified a boom that was about 40" 
longer than stock.  When he first looked at the plans for the boat, 
he felt that the aspect ratio was way too high, and that the overall 
design would warrant the longer boom.  He ordered the boom with a 
secondary sleeve inside the stock extrusion, as with the main being 
sheeted in the middle of the boom, he thought it would otherwise likely break.

We could not participate in the Nationals with the larger main, so 
Sid borrowed a stock mainsail and we marked the boom at the standard 
limit so the boat would qualify as "stock".  After SuperStar was 
delivered with the longer boom, several others followed suit.  As far 
as I can know, the only one that might still have the longer boom is 
either Snooky Po Free (now Shalako) or Grape Shot (in Mexico, last I 
heard), but I can't remember for sure.

As the 40" was over the 10% that PHRF had specific guidelines for at 
the time, the local board had to make a determination as to our 
penalty.  They decided that three seconds a mile would be fair to 
start.  We won a few races, so they dinged us another three seconds a 
mile.  After a few more wins, they increased our penalty to nine 
seconds a mile, making it much tougher to win races.   Sid had the 
boom cut to stock length and ordered a new mainsail with a fuller 
roach, supported by two full-length battens at the top (he was the 
first that I know of to do this on a C38).  The larger roach and full 
battens recovered much of the lost sail area and were not penalized 
by PHRF.  We got our nine seconds back, and started being competitive again.

I clearly remember what is was like to sail the boat with the longer 
boom, and I miss the extra power it provided.  It was extremely well 
balanced with the 130 genoa, and was very good even with the larger 
headsails.  Our main had a flattner plus two full reefing points, so 
we could always shorten sail as needed.  I have always thought that 
the boat should have a boom that is at least 40" longer, and that the 
traveller should be located right before the helm, which would be 
better in all ways in terms of sail trim and control (but not cockpit 
space and openness).

Keep in mind that my experience was with a main that had a fairly 
straight leech, not the full roach/full batten versions that we all 
use now.  Also, the larger headsails really helps power through chop, 
which otherwise can be tough in these boats.  I would suggest that 
someone considering such a change should consult their sailmaker 
and/or a navel architect before making the mod and ordering a new sail.

Thanks for the opportunity to go down memory lane...

Regards,

David
  .

PS - "baby boomer", nice one...




At 09:23 PM 4/21/2008, you wrote:


>Mr David Epstein,
>
>I addressed this to the list-serve, but my question is directed to 
>you, David.  I was told that Superstar or another C38 tried a longer 
>boom and mainsail foot back in the 80s at the C38 
>Nationals.  Apparently, the larger main didn't perform well enough 
>to compensate for the rating handicap.
>
>Most production boats these days are going with a larger main and a 
>smaller jib to ease handling.  From a cruising perspective, how did 
>the longer mainsail foot affect the balance of the boat?  Would 
>enlarging the main and going with a smaller headsail make the boat 
>easier to handle for a baby boomer?
>
>Phil Gay
>C38 049 Que Linda
>Everett, WA
>_______________________________________________
>Listserve mailing list
>Listserve at catalina38.org
>http://catalina38.org/mailman/listinfo/listserve_catalina38.org

David Epstein
President, Sound Solutions
Chairman, CEA TechHome Division
Member of the CEA Division Executive Board
Tel 310.398.0032
Fax 310.398.0036
www.soundsolutions.com
www.ce.org