Would like to start a thread that gathers any hands-on about PHRF ratings of the Mac D. I have an X and in the Venture Yacht Club the D is king. When racing against them it is so much a apples and oranges thing both in pointing and speed it has been discouraging. What I am wondering is there anyone that has done a bunch of racing and found that perhaps the standard rating of 216 is more than generous. What ratings have you heard about or have been given? I have heard of D with 186 rating.
The 186 rating was "Faire Warning". Original rating was 216. I did some mods to the boat: 10% taller mast , 10% taller foretriangle and lead keel.
(Side note; the keel had been a bulb on a fiberglass blade but that was same speed as the original water ballast due to pitching going upwind, and I replaced it with a blade cast from the fiberglass daggerboard, exact replacement.
The Long Beach PHRF gave a 3 sec penalty for each (standard guidelines) and I raced one season at 213. Each season the boat was adjusted some 3 to 6 more seconds. Last straw was 2007. At the end of the season the Del Rey Yacht Club sent me a letter stating that my boat did not meet the intent of the class. I suppose they meant "fair racing". We won the overall Millard Rosing Sunset Series at Cal Yacht Club in 2007 and was informed by the race commitie we would not be allowed to race in the Cruising Class any more. There is a Soling winning at this time in 2008 by the way, some cruising boat what with the beds, windows, enclosed head, galley, stovetop that Solings don't have like Faire Warning does have. This is my first public venting, I am still pi$$! That was my own Yacht Club so I dropped my membership and joined WSA. Anyway, "Faire Warning" is for sale. I just bought a 1979 V23. I will start over.
Mike Inmon
Mike - I think you caught the essence of racing in your post. Unless its one-design (which is fun, even when you get your butt kicked, since you always learn about sailing better watching the gals and guys ahead of you) someone decides they dont want you to win and then they penalise you 10 seconds for having the non-stainless steel BBQ adapter ....
Apologies for lumping the honest racers into this debacle.
I thought Faire Warning had been sold, and that was one of my questions, what had become of her? How much are you asking?
With the PHRF committee shaving off 30 points did this make it impossible to win or just real difficult? If you were to race one design, (26D) would the 186 rating be reasonable versus 216 or 213?
When racing, did you put in water ballast or just use the lead dagger? How much does it weigh and how do you lift it? I remember you retelling of hitting seaweed or something, and being rolled, losing forward motion in a race, now I'm understanding more of what that was about.
The sale fell through on Faire Warning. He bought a Cat-30. There is no water ballast tank in Faire Warning. This boat was a factory test of fixed ballast in the boat. It has been sailed with bulb keel and also with a lead daggerboard exactly same size as stock daggerboard. The best upwind has been daggerboard, hands down. Pitching up and down in choppy water is bad with bulb keel, so current boat is daggerboard, fixed, not possible to move it. This boat had a movable board at first, but once I settled on a best case, just fixed the keel to stop movement I have now bought a perfect V-23 from 1979, store in a barn and like new. Just like and same year as one I raced in New Orleans. Will add a lead daggerboard and extra foresail as well as square rig for downwind! Yes, Faire Warning is for sale, $6,000, but I don't have a trailer and the Mac trailers wont work for it. Some one will take it from here on it's onw bottom! Sail her to her new home.
MIke Inmon
Sometime over a beer, you will have to tell us the story why they did not like your winning,
PHRF is a club, and like all others.......has er..... politics involved...
I guess that is why I havent raced in 30 years....
However....... lets see...... high winds and a mac for swiftsure........ too bad.... registration closed the 16th lol....... conflicts with my other cruise this weekend....... maybe I can convince my crew to .er.......get up early enough to watch the start, or more likely, not be too upset to watch to hear the diesel start up about 6 AM
Wow, Faire Warnig is a one-off design for sure. Sounds like the only thing left original is the waterline stripe. Still a great price. If I had a partner and a slip in Chula Vista I would consider a buy.
Perhaps your boat has had a large part in building the legend of the fast D model.
Since it was ballasted and now has a lead keel it would be a difficult beast to get on a trailer, therefore I wouldn't be able to race it with the VYC since the club is for trailer sailors. The club has several boats beyond traileribility they don't race.
My latest thinking on the V23 I just bought for racing is:
Roger says the original keel is pretty good. It is the same keel (625 lbs) as the Mac 25. It is swept back some so it will shed kelp! I lost many races with Faire Warning and her vertical front edge keel while dragging kelp. A vertical front of a fixed bulb keel is better for upwind, but only there. Well it might carry more sail area due to lower VCG. The swept keel will track better (who cares) and of course shed kelp. One major advantage is the perfect bottom of a trailerable boat! The fixed bulb keel will have advantage upwind only! The retracting swing keel will sail as well or better everywhere else. One other advantage of the swing keel is money! Even though I have the bulb keel already, it still must be mated to the V23, the swing keel is already there. I've just talked self into trying the V23 with it's stock keel. Saves enough money to buy at least one more new sail!
MIke
