Dave, without sounding rude, may I ask how much each of your crew
weighs?
My goodness, they must be super-sized if you are having that much
trouble
keeping the bow down.
They must obviously be forward of the helm, and if they are seated just
aft of the cabin trunk, they cant be contributing THAT much to dragging
your stern. Are you sure there isn't something really heavy in a cockpit
locker or a quarter berth that is contributing to the boat being stern
heavy? Does it float on its lines in the slip or on the mooring? Do you
have a really heavy O/B sticking way out on a mount? (I thought you
had an
I/B)
I think the Catalina 27s in and around Annapolis MD are probably some of
the fastest on the planet. To my knowledge, I know of no one who is
employing additional ballast anywhere on the boat. Chris D and Peter Z
would certainly know better than me, but I would be surprised if they
didnt say the same thing. I have raced on a bunch of these myself,
both in
Annapolis and Baltimore and Berkeley YC and no one I've ever seen has
put
ballast anywhere else besides the keel.
But: if you still feel the need....
however you deploy that lead, it is going to need to be secured so that
every time you pound into a wave it doesnt slam down on relatively
lightly
reinforced hull and topsides areas. My boat (hull 2286) had a decent
enough layup, I felt, but it was hardly a Westsail 32 and I would never
have entertained the notion of spreading lead around anywhere but
directly
over the keel sump.
If you put 800 pounds of lead in the boat, you then would have a 7600
pound 27 foot boat on less than 22 feet of waterline. Your acceleration
out of tacks will be miserably slow and your light air performance
will be
gawd-awful. Your SA/displacement number will be at rock bottom and the
Rangers and Pearsons you race against will be eating your lunch and
maybe
your dinner and breakfast, too.
And like Peter or Chris or somebody else said, you really ought to be
balancing the boat by shifting crew weight forward...does no one aboard
want to sit on the rail?
tf
If I spread out 800 lbs. of lead forward of the holding tank is
there an
inherent problem taxing or burdening the structure or integrety of the
hull? This is what I estimate is necessary to balance the boat with
the
crew in normal position, on her lines, then.
Dave Hoy
WYANOKEE #6295
Camden, Maine
