Soverel 33 Innovations
The purist in us, wants to see S33's left in the original configuration but we also want to see the boat competitive. If you are PHRFing your boat and you have something you've tried let us know. NOTE: not all of these Innovations are Class Legal and as such are noted, either way they are interesting none the less and may perhaps suit your purposes.
Dave Powlison, on Frankly Scarlet, "I've tried just about everything and eventually put most stuff back the way it was"
The image below is Dave's backstay adjustment which leads in through the stern to a 96 to 1 and into the hands of the helmsman where he can power and depower the main from the windward rail. Dave copied this design from Tom Lihan on Runaway. Check out the below deck layouts diagrams provided by Dave.
Fred Creitz, on Flim Flam, has added a 650lb bulb and 8 inches draft to his keel. Fred still has the mold if anyone is interested. He reports he can sail with shortened crew quite easily. [NOTE: this Innovation is not Class Legal, but perhaps it may suit your purposes.]
See Tom Lihan's hull stiffening efforts on Runaway. See also Heavy Air Tourniquet
Paul Lockwood, on EZ, has added true runners to his boat and cut the cockpit coamings to create a flush deck. [NOTE: this Innovation is not Class Legal, but perhaps it may suit your purposes.]
Bill Moore, on Mischief, has added 6 or 7 inches to his rudder draft. "I was just providing entertainment by spinning out on the reaches all the time". He reports significant improvement. [NOTE: this Innovation is not Class Legal, but perhaps it may suit your purposes.]
Dry Sailed boats on Lake Norman, NC led by Outrageous owner Richard Jones have devised a way to launch their boats off a trailer at the Lake Norman Yacht Club landing by using an innovative 48' tongue on their trailers.
Al Holt, on x-Stalker, has added a full bulkhead midway between the two existing forward stiffening ribs. See also Stiffening the Hull.
Robin Ricca, on Phoenix, has added Spreader Tang Plates to the base of his spreaders. Reinforcing plates were designed, fabricated and fitted to the spreader tangs by JIPE Rigging ( Kurt Larsen ) in order to arrest the abrasion of the mast due to the loose fitting spreaders at the tangs.
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| Without spreaders | With spreaders |
Robin Ricca, on Phoenix, has added Centerline Pit Controls. Gaining experience crewing on a gorgeous IMS40 racer, Phoenix added centerline sheetstoppers with the help of JIPE Rigging. The underside was reinforced by cutting away the balsa core and glassing in G10 plastic board.
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| Top View | Underside | Installed |
Robin Ricca, on Phoenix, moved the aft location of the Backstay to the center / end of the Transom. The Technora backstay attaches to a triple block, and the transom has a double block on the centerline and two singles outboard the double, with both tails of the adjust line leading along the cockpit sole to cam cleats just forward of the traveler.
Robin Ricca, on Phoenix, has added Running Backstays and Adjustable Checkstays. Each of the Technora runners is attached at the hounds with a J-bolt and terminates at the bottom end in a shackle on a carbo block, through which the runner tails are led to give 2:1 purchase at the aft cockpit winches (Lewmar 30's). Each Technora checkstay is attached to the same shackle as the runner, via a 4-turn lashing giving 8:1 purchase on the checkstay adjustment.
The standing end of the runner tail is attached to the same padeye on the transom centerline used to attach the backstay adjust blocks. This results in the runners and checks setting 50% closer to centerline than if they were to go straight to the turning blocks leading to the cockpit winches. This helps keep the mast in column.
Robin Ricca, on Phoenix, has added panels to the companionway bulkhead in order to rearrange the instrument layout without showing a "swiss cheese" bulkhead, they covered the companionway bulkheads with opaque black acrylic and mounted the instruments in the best positions, trading off ideal positioning with a desire to avoid cutting away more of the fiberglass structure.
Robin Ricca, on Phoenix, has modified the Genoa Lead Adjustment as shown. The original genoa lead car and track were replaced with a shorter Harken tracks and big-boat cars. The windward adjustment tackle was eliminated in order to simplify things and reduce deck clutter. The single adjust line is led to the cockpit coaming in a way that allows it to be controlled from the windward rail if need be.
Dennis Carriere, on Paladin, has added a partial bulkhead as a continuation of the Companionway Bulkhead.
Paul Lockwood, on EZ, has added a sprit spinnaker pole to his boat. [NOTE: this Innovation is not Class Legal, but perhaps it may suit your purposes.]
John Eldredge, on Cheap Sunglasses sails with the class (oversize) pole SP = 14'. They removed the original bow pulpit and replaced it with a pulpit from a Mumm 30. It has an open horseshoe at the front end; the bottom crossbar is about 1/2" above the level of the tack fittings and wrapped with bicycle tape. Pole sits on the "soft" crossbar at about deck level and pokes out about a foot beyond the bow. Pole hoists are very fast and you have no worries about the pole tip being trapped inside the pulpit.
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Tops-in-Quality Manufacturer of the Mumm 30 Bow Pulpit. tel: (810) 364-7150 e-mail: price: $492.50 in Oct.2006 |
| Profile | Taped w/ Bicycle Tape | Overall View | Profile Close up | Stem Close up |
Modifying your Soverel to go Faster, by Mark McCarthy, Slàinte:
Yes I AM talking about modifying your soverel to go faster, however, under motor, not sail power.
The story behind these pictures was one of determination. As you might have heard, my Yanmar was on the verge of quitting this season, and we were looking at a 60 mile trip from Westbrook CT, down long island sound towards the city, to Greenwich CT, for the [2005] Soverel 33 Nationals.
A bit of ingenuity, teamwork, and some luck, we pulled together what is shown in the attached pictures. No, I did not build an engine, just the Stainless Steel bracket which attaches to the stern rail of the non-tartan soverel boats. The key to the design can be seen in the 3rd picture. Basically, there is a 6 inch plate specifically angled the slop of the transom below the back stair. So, the forward and down pressure of the engine pushes against that part of the transom. Originally on the way down, we had 4 u-bolts attaching the bracket to the stern pulpits. We decide this was overkill, and just attached 2 u-bolts at the top. Of course we used the diesel coming into the dock, for reverse. I also cut up a white fender and used it on the bottom of the bracket to prevent chafing, worked really well.
Performance? We had a medium shaft 15 hp Mariner on the back of the boat. In flat water we were doing 7.1kts through the water, towing an inflatable. Our best time between these two points in the past was 10 hours, motor sailing. We made the trip both ways in 8 hours, towing a 10ft inflatable. I plan on using this setup for any long trips, and especially during any cruising trips, even after I get the diesel rebuilt. The beauty was, once we got to Greenwich, we pulled the 15hp off and put it right onto the dingy. 10 minutes to take the bracket off and we were done.
Runner Sheet Stoppers, by Frank Wallenberg, FlexiFlyer:
In these pictures you can see that we lead the runners through the back of the combing up to flat mounted Spinlocks on the combing and from there to the main winches. We only used it for the first time this week [February 14, 2006] but so far our experience is very good. We used to have a gross/fine tune system but never felt we could get enough tension using the fine tune anyway. Now the runners are simply 2:1 and going to the main winches. Coming out of the tack it is easy for the main trimmer to hand tighten the runners and get them on the winch (we don't want too much tension right after the tack anyway). As soon as the backup trimmer (me) is done tailing the jib, he can grind on the runners as much as needed before freeing up the winch and getting it set up with the jib sheet for the next tack.
Q1) Any issues with the spinlock slipping?
A1) So far we're only seeing the regular "slip" as the spinlock sets (same as on halyards). I would expect them to work fine but, like with all spinlock and other cleats used for heavy loads, they'll probably wear down over time.Q2) Any issues with releasing the spinlock under heavy load? Do you have to take load on the winch first to avoid having it release with a bang?
A2) What's wrong with a bang? :-) And no, the reasons we have spinlocks is partly in order to facilitate the release (but also because no cleats can hold that load).Q3) How do you adjust the checks? Is there a small block and tackle to the runner? Or did you just lash the checks to the runners and don’t adjust?
A3) We have a 6:1 block and cleat setup between checks and runners. We do need to adjust that balance depending on the wind conditions.Q4) Where / how did you anchor the runners – to the inside face of the cockpit per the standard checkstay arrangement, or some other way. Any beefing up required?
A4) We have not changed the anchoring of the runners. They come down on the inside of the cockpit and then run to a cheekblock behind the combing and go through a tube in the combing before they come out as shown in the picture.
Please send pictures and/or descriptions of your innovations to: Bill Heintz, webmaster.
