Velera wrote:
I have the deep fin keel version, professionally faired bottom, feathering prop, with some very decent, if aging sails at my Maine home. I seem to have very good pointing ability relative to others, but I have a lot of experience with her after 30 years of ownership. I have not been in a situation where I felt I was outpointed by a keel boat in all those years, but I will try to do some graphic measuring of it next summer. It is very difficult to remove all the mitigating factors: I have a feathering prop, how clean or dirty things are at any given time, how much fuel and water I am carrying, I have too much chain for anchoring (240') I carry under the V berth, and the currents here in Maine have ridiculous back eddies that confound prediction and measurement, but I will give it a try.
It would be an interesting experiment. Having said that, VPPs can actually do a pretty decent job predicting these things. For a keel/CB, the issue really is that neither the keel nor the CB is operating at their most efficient leeway angle and the turbulence at the keel/CB interface degrades efficiency further. All that likely adds up to greater required leeway than what your boat requires with it's more efficient fin.
My boat had full fuel, full stbd water tank, MT port tank, 100+ feet of chain with a 45lb Mantis, dinghy on foredeck, plenty of gear aboard. So, I was basically in full load cruising mode.
My sails are excellent and new, both North. I have an extensive racing background so my sails were set and trimmed properly. I think I was hand steering by this time but frankly my Ray below-deck AP is extremely good sailing the boat in apparent wind mode.
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