[C38] Stiletto 27s are rock stars where the wind is light

Wed Jun 8 11:39:37 EDT 2011

I had seen the Stiletto 27 before in boat shows but the first time I got to see one up close was on a trip from Miami to the Keys and we had a lot of wind on our backs as we ran wing on wing around Biscayne Bay.  We noticed a boat about  a mile off of our stern but we were too busy keeping our boat from broaching as we enjoyed the hull speed run.

It wasn't long before that boat on our stern was passing us like we were sitting still.  It looked like a Stiletto 27 but it was flying like a ski boat.

We didn't feel so fast after that Stiletto left us like we were sitting still.

Tom Troncalli

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Don Strong 
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Sent: 6/8/2011 11:12:54 AM 
Subject: Re: [C38] Stiletto 27s are rock stars where the wind is light

Hey Bill there are two of us! For old times sake I check out the S27 websites every once in a while. I have kept a few mementos, such as those funky jib sheet blocks that we replaced with tiny winches for the big gennaker adapted from an Irwin 30. It worked sooo well in the angels' breath that passes for wind on the Gulf. When the winds blow, sailing an S27 is stark terror.
    We towed it from Florida to California. We did just one day in the Stiletto27 with "normal" winds on San Francisco Bay and two young kids, GAWD!  The look in my wife's eye "never again, if we happen to live." Ten years later, kids fledged,  we splurged on Discreet Charm. Now that is the boat for San Francisco Bay! The Stilletto 27 is rotting at Clear Lake, last time I checked. Such a waste that the new owners did not appreciate what they had in the S27.
Don

On 6/8/11 7:55 AM, William Knowles wrote: 
Don We had a Stiletto 27 too. What a fun boat, used to love sneaking up and sailing by power boaters. We sailed her on Erie and was pretty rough sometimes very hard on the body. I miss being able to grab a dock line and stop the boat on a dime. Tried it docking the 38 the first time docking and almost pulled me over the side. 
Cheers
Bill Flying Goose

On Wed, Jun 8, 2011 at 10:44 AM, Don Strong <drstrong at ucdavis.edu> wrote:

We lived in Tallahassee for 20 years and sailed the length of Florida as far as the Dry Tortugas. First we had a Catalina 27 and were repeatedly aground. It was light and we always got free, with some work. Then we "downgraded" to a Stiletto 27, what a boat for the Gulf Coast! Many great stories of anchoring for the night in shallow water, tide goes out, high and dry at 5 am. Cooking breakfast while watching the tide come in, then walking the boat back to the channel in 4" of water. Drop the rudders, and off we went! The Stiletto 27 was a bit dicey in the Florida Straights with 10' swells and 30 knots of wind. But it ws great for anchoring in fresh water creeks where the bottom growth was gentle. The big gators on the mud at low tide always smiled at us. Young and foolish, we were. 
Don  

On 6/8/11 7:30 AM, Chuck Finn wrote: 
Marci,
You are correct that 6' 9" is a bit troublesome in the Caribbean and even in the Great lakes.  I too have considered a shoal keel and actually did all the homework to shorten my keel (see the discusssion thread from 2-3 years ago).   Obviously, I did not make the change, but here is my thinking.
First is performance and this of course is a preference.  With all do respect to our C38 shoal keel folks, the long keel really does make a difference.  I get around on other boats and like on mine, the skippers like to see someone else steer.  And the fact is that our deep keel allows for performance to wind that other boats simply do not have!  Six feet seems to be the magic number, with significant performance differences.  My calculations supported by the folks at Mars Metals (the folks who make the short keel modification) is in order to go to 5' 6", I would have to add five hundred pounds as a torpedo.  I would lose about 3-5 degrees of performance close hauled.  Even more problematic for me is the reduction in the "transversal metacenter" calculation that makes boats with shoal keels far more tender over the first 10 degrees of heel, which is one of the reasons our boats accelerate so well.
Second was the question of what is shoal enough?  4.5' seems to be a good number and perhaps a good compromise.  But, why not a centerboard or a Cat?  I have sailed both in the Caribbean, and honestly don't know which one I would prefer.  Seems like what I really need is two boats!  But the fact is that no matter what draft you have... you still have to be always considering your depth!  The S&S C38 does things that no other Catalina does and while I always want everything....  this is as close to who I am as I have found!

Chuck Finn
Mighty Quinn #114
Great Lakes

On 6/8/2011 9:17 AM, Don Strong wrote: 
That deep keel gets all caught up in bull kelp when you arrive at the farm house on Santa Rosa Island at 2 am in driving rain. We really didn't have to anchor. Don

On 6/8/11 12:20 AM, Joseph Launie wrote: 
Steve,
    In Southern California we have a different problem with depth, anchoring in deep water.  In Pelican Cove on Santa Cruz Island for example, if you get there early ( in the summer that is Thursday) you can anchor inside in only 25 feet. Get there on saturday and you will anchor in the center in 45 to 60 feet.   Years ago when we used to race to Catalina on saturday and arrive at Two Harbors in the late afternoon, I have anchored in 100 feet of water. Don't get too much scope. Joe Launie/Macavity

On 6/7/2011 9:03 PM, Steve Smolinske wrote: 
NW does have some issues with depth, but they are not soft bottoms, they are usually rocks.  The San Juan Islands publish a chart "The twelve most hit reefs"

________________________________

From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org on behalf of david at dlrfilms.com
Sent: Tue 6/7/2011 8:38 AM
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: Re: [C38] Deep keel - 6'9"

INTEMPERANCE has the deep keel. We bought boat in Georgia I think the deep
keel is part of what was keeping the boat from selling and helped us get a
good deal on her.

I grew up on the West Coast. To my west coast way of thinking, if you've
got a bottom reading, you're in the surfzone and losing your boat. Sailing
INTEMPERANCE down the GA/FLA ICW was *extremely* stressful for me. A
couple of things have helped me learn to relax:

1) A miss is as good a mile. It takes time to get used to this. But the
water is 8' deep, it might as well be 1000. Sailing over the Little Bahama
Bank, watching the keel knock over conch shells was a head trip!

2) If you have a dinghy our boats are really easy to get unstuck. Tie a
halyard off to the dinghy, gun the engine, boat tips, off you go.

I'm guessing that those of you on the west coast don't have any issues
with
shallows. On the east coast however, it seems like my eyes are glued to
the
charts (instead of the water) too much of the time. While I love the way
Checksy handles, her 6'9" draft makes it hard to relax! What percentage of
the C38s were produced this way?  How many of you have the deep keel, and
do
you like them?

Marci J. Brown
Check's In The Mail

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-- 
Donald R. Strong
Professor
Dept. of Evolution and Ecology
University of California, Davis 95616

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-- 
Donald R. Strong
Professor
Dept. of Evolution and Ecology
University of California, Davis 95616

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-- 
W H Knowles

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-- 
Donald R. Strong
Professor
Dept. of Evolution and Ecology
University of California, Davis 95616
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