What's Your Top Speed?

Moderator: GreenLake

What's Your Top Speed?

Postby K.C. Walker » Sat Oct 17, 2009 5:36 pm

So, those people with GPS, what is the fastest you have you clocked your Daysailer? I happen to Google albacore recently because the tuna are running locally. What I found interesting was the class sailboat Albacore. They seem to have a pretty good community and forum. One thing they had on their website that I thought was fun was the top speed clocked. 27+ mph! That's pretty impressive. http://www.albacore.org/USA/top_speeds.asp

I think I want to get a GPS just for fun.

KC
K.C. Walker
 
Posts: 1335
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 10:50 pm
Location: North Stonington, Connecticut

Postby MrPlywood » Sat Oct 17, 2009 10:24 pm

I almost bought an Albacore before I found the Daysailer. But, there was no trailer and the owner was reluctant to set it up so I could see it rigged, so I gave it a pass. They are used by the Canadian Forces Sailing Association as training boats for sailing camps. I have run across 5 or 6 for sale. I always look :)
MrPlywood
 
Posts: 111
Joined: Thu Aug 10, 2006 12:38 am
Location: Victoria, BC

Postby K.C. Walker » Sat Oct 17, 2009 10:46 pm

Yes, it is hard not to look! They look like fun boats but I have not seen any around here. I do keep seeing what appeared to be good deals on all kinds of sailboats, though. Not that I need to be looking!!

KC
K.C. Walker
 
Posts: 1335
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 10:50 pm
Location: North Stonington, Connecticut

Postby algonquin » Sat Oct 17, 2009 10:56 pm

Not to brag or anything but I clocked by DSI at 72 MPH !!!! Of course it was on a trailer behind my GMC :lol:


By GPS I clocked 8.7 knots this summer. Felt like 30 though. Brad
"Feather" DS1 #818
algonquin
 
Posts: 475
Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2007 9:16 pm
Location: Maine Highlands - Grand Lakes Region

Postby K.C. Walker » Sat Oct 17, 2009 11:10 pm

Wow 72 mph, did you have a spinnaker aboard?

It is amazing how fast 8.7 kn can feel, isn't it. Last time I was out I was definitely scooting along, it felt like 30, maybe I was going 8.7 kn. :-)

I did notice that the wake was crossing pretty far behind my stern. I was making better progress than most of the boats around me. I'm not sure they knew we were racing, though. Of course, there weren't any catamarans around, or windsurfers.

KC
K.C. Walker
 
Posts: 1335
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 10:50 pm
Location: North Stonington, Connecticut

Postby K.C. Walker » Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:38 am

algonquin,

What kind of conditions where you sailing in when you clocked 8.7 kn? That seems like it should be pretty doable in moderate conditions, say 12 kn-15 kn true wind speed.

The other day when I was out in what NOAA predicted to be 10 kn-14 kn. I was single-handed. Although I needed to sit on the rail and hike I was not overpowered. It seemed to me the boat slid up on a plane without much effort. I mean, it wasn't a screaming skipping plane or anything but it did move along really well.

I guess why I was curious about my speed and thinking a GPS would be a fun toy was that I was trying to decide when I slid onto a plane. It did not seem like I was having to pump it to get it to slide over the bow wake, it just started planing. So, I was wondering if the transition to plane was actually happening at or below hull speed.

KC
K.C. Walker
 
Posts: 1335
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 10:50 pm
Location: North Stonington, Connecticut

9.1 knots in 20 kts of wind

Postby Roger » Sun Oct 18, 2009 11:01 pm

exhilirating surfing... speed confirmed by GPS.
Roger
 
Posts: 853
Joined: Sat May 08, 2004 6:36 pm
Location: Ninette Manitoba

Postby algonquin » Sun Oct 18, 2009 11:44 pm

K.C. Walker wrote:algonquin,

What kind of conditions where you sailing in when you clocked 8.7 kn? That seems like it should be pretty doable in moderate conditions, say 12 kn-15 kn true wind speed.
KC


Had winds running 12-16 knots measured using a hand held anemometer. It was about 10AM and the water was still pretty flat as the winds had just kicked in. G.P.S. reading was 8.7 knots but this decreased as the water surface began to swell and became increasingly choppy with time.
Never did get my DSI to plane in these conditions. By noon the winds were 15-18 knots but boat speed decreased to about 5 knots average because the water was now choppy.

Does anyone know the potential hull speed a of a DS I or II ? Seems to me that even in strong winds you will hard pressed to exceed the potentional hull speed. Brad
"Feather" DS1 #818
algonquin
 
Posts: 475
Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2007 9:16 pm
Location: Maine Highlands - Grand Lakes Region

Postby K.C. Walker » Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:28 am

algonquin wrote:
K.C. Walker wrote:algonquin,

Does anyone know the potential hull speed a of a DS I or II ? Seems to me that even in strong winds you will hard pressed to exceed the potentional hull speed. Brad


Brad,

You were exceeding hull speed at 8.7 kn. Theoretical hull speed for our boats is a little over 5 kn, 5.4 kn I think. I've seen in another thread where Roger did the math. So… depending on how you define planing, I would say that you were planing.

I've had the same experience of having too much chop and/or too much wind to keep the boat flat and therefore not able to get as much speed.

Roger, surfing definitely counts!

KC
K.C. Walker
 
Posts: 1335
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 10:50 pm
Location: North Stonington, Connecticut

Postby GreenLake » Tue Oct 20, 2009 5:59 pm

GPS is fun. I had a friend bring his one time, but we had rather moderate winds. So the fastest was 5kn. I've definitely done faster, but not confirmed. Anyway, the curious thing was that I tried to guesstimate the speed before having my friend read the number from the GPS and 'nailed' it to within .25kn each time.

It's not quite as impressive as it sounds, because getting the confirmation after each guess helped - for the next guess I only had to estimate the difference. But still, it was a fun little game to play.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
GreenLake
 
Posts: 7135
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:54 am

Postby K.C. Walker » Tue Oct 20, 2009 6:34 pm

GreenLake wrote:But still, it was a fun little game to play.


GreenLake,

Yes, just what I was thinking! It would be fun to train my eye/senses to be able to tell what my speed was. In particular, I knew I was going faster than the hull speed but couldn't tell how much faster. It seems that with help from GPS one could estimate their speed by looking back at the wake.

What's your impression about transitioning to planing? My impression is with the Daysailer it's harder for me to tell because it seems to just get faster. Whereas with my sunfish or wind windsurfing it's real obvious when I'm planing and when I'm not, especially windsurfing.

KC
Last edited by K.C. Walker on Tue Oct 20, 2009 9:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
K.C. Walker
 
Posts: 1335
Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 10:50 pm
Location: North Stonington, Connecticut

Postby algonquin » Tue Oct 20, 2009 9:24 pm

When I noted my GPS speed of 8.7 knots I don’t feel that my DS was planing at all. It was well heeled and moving nicely as the water hadn’t yet become choppy. Pictures I have seen of a DS planing were usually with a wind from aft with sails wing and wing (sometimes with a spinnaker also) and the boat lying relatively flat on the water surface and speeding to beat the band (so to speak) with quite a large white water wake. Brad
"Feather" DS1 #818
algonquin
 
Posts: 475
Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2007 9:16 pm
Location: Maine Highlands - Grand Lakes Region

Postby GreenLake » Wed Oct 21, 2009 5:55 am

Between displacement mode and true planing there's something that's referred to as "forced mode". In trying to account for what I've experienced, I've tentatively concluded that for the DS the transition to that mode is not very noticable. What K.C. described as "it just goes faster".

One day, I was sailing on a reach and there was a gust - not a very strong one - we managed to keep the boat rather flat, and suddenly the DS seemed to be taking off. The acceleration was dramatic and the speed easily felt like it had doubled. Just a few seconds later, it slowed down again. Very interesting experience and the first time that happened to me. Totally unexpected, and I wasn't quick enough to adjust the sails to the new apparent wind, otherwise we might have gone a bit longer.

I now think the gust must have kicked us on a plane (or far into that intermediate mode).
~ green ~ lake ~ ~
GreenLake
 
Posts: 7135
Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:54 am

Postby Peterw11 » Thu Oct 22, 2009 2:07 am

I'm guessing the stronger the wind, the more she'll heel, and given the hull shape, the less likely it is to get her to plane.

DS's have a pretty flat hull, which helps her plane if powered by an engine, but under sail, heeling prevents the planing effect.

You might have a better chance in choppy water, as she'll surf from crest to crest, but I've had mine out in pretty strong gusts (20-25 approx, strong enough to scare me) and have yet to get her to plane.

We've had her going fast enough to leave a substantial wake, and had the rigging literally humming from the vibration, but with that, the boat heels and won't plane under sail.

But then, I'm a notorious chicken when it comes to strong winds, so maybe I just haven't pushed her hard enough.
Peterw11
 
Posts: 155
Joined: Wed May 06, 2009 12:02 am
Location: Central Mass

Postby jpclowes » Thu Oct 22, 2009 10:48 am

K.C.
The Albacore, and the DS share a designer, Uffa Fox. (George O'Day also "helped" with the DS. I think the Albacore actually looks like what Fox wanted the DS to look like, before O'Day got involved.) I have seen them at DS Midwinters, in Sarasota. If you look closely, they have some similarities. They are also much faster than the DS.

I have had the most success in planing on a broad reach, almost a run. This past weekend we were sailing in about 15kts of breeze, and got up on a plane when we launched the spinnaker. I think the broad reach counteracts some of the heeling that Peter describes. Surfing on the top of waves helps too. There was a 2 foot chop comming down the lake.

Unfortunatly, I've never had the GPS with me when I did it. I will have to try to change that.
J .P. Clowes
Eastern Great Lakes Regional V.P.
DSI 14083
jpclowes
 
Posts: 204
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2004 9:10 am
Location: Columbus, Ohio

Next

Return to Racing/Performance

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests

cron