Boat Performance Notes

Downwind with the North Sails S2 runner spinnaker

Now that I have around 15 trips on the boat I have an idea on what to expect and some hopes for improvement.

Upwind it does well with the 150% North Sails laminate medium #1 genoa when the winds are below around 12 knots or maybe just a little less.  I don’t solo with this sail.  With 2 people I can get it to point around 32 degrees AWA after it gets up to speed.  Top speed on close hauled with good wind will be around 4.0 knots.  Sometimes a little faster.   That 150% can overpower the boat upwind in gusts.  That will look like a high heeling angle and loss of rudder.  It wont necessarily round up when the rudder goes either.  I remember being surprised early on with the rudder not responding when I went to dodge below another boat.  Luckily they graciously (or cautiously) gave me some room even though they were stand on.  

We hit the top speed so far on a beam reach in 10 knots of wind with the 100% with a short leach.   We hit 5.19 knots boat speed on the DST810 boat speed sensor while surfing a small wave.  Can’t wait to get this into some good conditions on the ocean.

Downwind with the spinnaker (North Sails S2 medium air runner) we had upward of 4.9 knots with any decent wind 10 or more knots.  

One race day we beat everyone to the windward mark and we were 3rd off the start.  Being sharp on the helm helped a lot.  When a puff heated things up I resisted the urge to ride it too high.  Just let it come up a few degrees.  This was with the 150%.  I recall getting into the groove at around 32 to 34 degrees with adjustments for lulls and puffs.  It isn’t that we hit warp speed or anything crazy like that.  More that we were sharp on the tacks, accelerated nicely and didn’t drop out due to pinching or distractions.  The wind was on the light side that day.  The other boats were a Merit 25 and a Capri 25.  When our crew of 2 is working well it makes a big difference for my ability to stay in the zone on the helm.