Hull Longevity

PiersHS

Member
Hi all,

Having been racing competitively now for a few seasons in the Radial now and looking to get into one of the RYA Squads at some point in the year and had some questions about the hull.

My Sail number is 136077 and is about 1988, the hull is scratched a little but not nearly as much as it could be for a boat of that age, on top of this I have sanded the worst ones and polish it occasionally (about once every 2 months) so I reckon the bottom is in pretty good nick. I have a new racing-only sail, the new controls etc with complete Harken fit out on it aswell as a new top section (result of a very windy day)

My Question is- How much faster would I be with a brand new (i.e- 190000 or 200000 range) boat? This is for all round performance so I will be spending a lot of sailing time at Hayling, WPNSA, Grafham Water and am based at Farmoor- so big mix of Inland and sea venue.

and yes, I am spending as much time as I can possibly get out on the water aswell :p

Thanks,
PiersHS

Be sure to check out my blog- phsracing.wordpress.com
 
the short answer is it depends. it depends on mainly how soft your hull and deck is. secondly, how many big breeze and big waves has the hull seen and how much does it currently see.

ive seen top guys hop into a beater boat with a rag sail and win by a leg!

now go sand those scratches and polish the hull!
 
Hi,

I don't think the hull has gone soft much as it was only used inland before I got hold of it- I'm now using it regularly though in most wind strengths and sail on the sea about once every 1 month or so. Hopefully I've got it up to scratch now so won't have to sand it and just give it a polish before a big event...

Cheers,
PHS
 
I haven't raced Lasers in 15 years, but I'll take a crack at it. I'm assuming you're talking about longevity for racing.

First I'll say that I'm perplexed that people focus so much on scratches and how smooth the hull is. You yourself said you've fixed the scratches by sanding. I'm sure most here would agree that stiffness of the hull is the single most important characteristic followed by dryness. A scratched stiff hull will perform better than a smooth soft hull, exponentially as the wind increases.

Ok, so longevity, I got myself a brand new laser in 94 when I was in highschool/junior sailing. I was athletic, 190 pounds, raced/practiced for 3 1/2 summers for 40 hours per week in a predominately light air venue. By the end of the summer of 97 the boat was noticeably soft and slower than stiffer boats.

My basis for comparison: Back in those days kids sailed their privately owned boats in a round robin format for the Smythe qualifiers. In that event I got to race on 8 other boats against my own, also I raced many events where schools/clubs provided boats.

It is important to keep a boat smooth, but it's not worth the time and effort so many put into it. The same applies to bigger keel boats, I don't understand those guys in the yard that wet sand down to 1200 grit and spray on their VC-17 or bottom paint. I just wet sand with 600, roll on the VC and go sailing and when I loose races it's because of my bonehead decisions and lack of focus, not my bottom.
 
In the days when I used to sail wooden painted boats we used to paint then wet and dry sand for a sailing finish - not a polished finish because theory was that a polished finish gives you a laminar flow only at slow speeds and then as speed increases so the flow breaks away and becomes turbulent (= lot of drag). However a wet and dry non-polished finish gives a turbulent boundary layer which stays attached at far greater speed and thus less drag.

Not being a fluid dynamics specialist I cannot judge the physics and theories on this but most people in the fleet were doing the same. Maybe a "fad" maybe based of true science with a performance gain. Who knows.

Ian
 
I have an '89 laser and it has been used somewhat since it was made (I'm the only true racer to ever use it) and I have found it amusing at midwinters 2011 to be able to beat boats with 199000 sail numbers. I hope that they looked a my sail number (135021) and wondered how I was beating them ;) Anyhow as long as it is somewhat stiff, does not have any leaks, and the mast step is in good condition, it should be able to keep pace with newer boats.
 
I have a 98 hull, 164375. I baby this hull. It does not leak a drop of water and weighs in around the 128-130 lbs range. There are guys at my club who buy news boats every 2 years, (I hope LP gives them some frequent buyer points or something) and I have no problems keeping pace with the 197,000 numbered hulls. We are all pretty level on our abilities. I win my share of short course races. It's been a couple of years since I've had the boat on a long course like you get at a mid-winters event, but the last time I did I was able to snag a top 5 finish, (out of 60+ boats) on a breezy race. So, you are probably fine for a couple of more years.

Now on the flip side. In 1993 I was sailing a 1976 hull, 8859. I was always a mid-fleet finisher. Then I pulled a brand new 1994 boat, 148,000 range out of the box, (that was fun!) and went to consistent top 5 finishes in every event I entered. So, I know the 76 hull was a bit soft and heavier.
 
I have a 133000 sail number laser (88') which has only been raced a couple of times and has overall been sailed very little. When compared to a 2004 that had been raced competitively for 5 years it is much stiffer, and in better condition. As long as your hull is stiff, I think you should have no real problem competing with newer boats.
 
Cheers guys,

Seems to be a pretty mixed bag so I'm going to try and arrange some two boat testing at some point against a m8 of mine in a 190000 number boat- might jump in aswell and see whether I can feel a difference. Diemos- I tend not to wet/dry the hull and only the foils as it picks up dirt much more easily which would be more induced drag- especially since I sail at an inland, muddy venue.

PHS

phsracing.wordpress.com

Sponsored by- www.nautilus-yachting.com
 
Diemos- I tend not to wet/dry the hull and only the foils as it picks up dirt much more easily which would be more induced drag- especially since I sail at an inland, muddy venue.

I was saying how I used to do it on a wooden painted boat (also treated with West Epoxy) - so each time one did it you were only thinning the paint (two part) just applied and NOT removing gel coat. I would never do it to a Laser. Also, my understanding is it would be against the rules.

Ian
 
Ok, I understand the principle of a "beaten" boat with hi-use in strong winds verse a stiff one.

My question is for your opinion, but which series boats were the fastest? I have had several generations of boats, and my feeling personal feeling is the 21-29,000 series was the fastest built hull. What's your thoughts?
 
I’ve some questions for this forum. Agree stiff is faster than soft,
· how does one measure stiffness?
· What about hollows, sometimes seen just aft or alongside the dagger board opening?
background: I’ve three Lasers, 82 beater and loaner, '92 lake and frostbiting and '02 for regattas, The 02 is stiff all around, The 92 feels very stiff to me in the hull, but the deck on the port side has some play in it when pressed by hand, the 02 has play in the cockpit floor and the deck but the hull itself feels stiff or perhaps I’m not sensitive enough to measure stiffness. I’ve had lasers in the past (85 to 87 series) where the stringers started to show though the hull, I got rid of those quickly.
 

Back
Top