CJ has been club racing his Lug Rigged Viola Canoe vs Lasers and RS Aeros. So we have some real information about relative performance of a Balance Lug Rigged Viola Canoe vs conventionally rigged boats.
A real comparison compared to the normal “I was out sailing and matched with a Laser/420/Nacra :) or some other dubious comparison.
In this case it is real…
… Real club racing, around real club courses, with decent numbers of boats over several weeks.
Several Club Races up to 5 Lasers and 5 RS Aeros
Ok … sailing against conventional sailing dinghies, including the current “cool boat” for singlehanders. A range of conditions. How does a balance lug sailboat fare?
Note too that the Viola Sailing Canoe has three rig options. The 6.2sqm Balance Lug and 4.7 and 6.0sqm laminate squaretop sails.
CJ’s Comments in Bold:
I have started sailing with a mixed fleet of Lasers and RS aeros. We’ve seen a pretty wide range of conditions in the first couple weeks of racing. The first week saw 5 lasers and 5 aeros and pretty steady wind in the 8-12 knot range with pretty flat water, perfectly manageable and easy to sail conditions.
This is my first time racing in a fleet so I am learning the flow of the fleet. As well as tuning the boat at the same time.
I didn’t get any half decent starts this first night, pretty much last off the line every time and in bad air. I was able to make a pass or two both upwind and downwind. But, for the most part I was last or next to last.
Light winds, Lug Rigged Viola Canoe vs Lasers and RS Aeros
Before we get to CJ Blitzing the fleet in stronger winds, lets look at the differences in lighter winds.
The takeaways on boat performance were good, I wasn’t getting blown away by any means.
I seem to to be losing out a bit on pointing ability in lighter wind. at 10 knots I’m sailing a hair lower. In 5 knots I’m sailing notably lower.
I’m not sure if this is down to the rig, my less than perfect handshaped foils, or my less than perfect sailing skills.
Downwind, things seem pretty even. I have some more testing to do here. But what I have learned so far is that having the boom all the way out to 90 degrees, sailing by the lee and playing the downhaul tension carefully yield the best speed in lighter air.
Second week was a no go due to zero wind in the race area. Ended up paddling over to the other side of the bay to find a nice micro breeze and do some exploring.
In Stronger winds the Viola with Lug Rig is Faster upwind and equal down
Ok, before CJ explains how some Lug Rigged boats can blow away modern dinghies upwind given some pressure, here is some orientation for the relative dimensions of the Lug Rigged Viola Sailing Canoe Vs Lasers and RS Aeros.
The Viola is about the weight of the RS Aero (65lb/30kg). It has 6.2sq metres of sail (about the same as a Laser Radial – Laser always underquote actual sail area). Beam is 40″ (1.0m). So, there is way less wave impact than either the Aero or the Laser (should I be saying ILCA dinghy?).
As experienced sailors know, pointing angle upwind is all about drag. Drag from the hull or sails reduces the pointing angle in every case. From heeling a fatter boat, having to make rudder corrections for weather helm (doesn’t happen on sailing canoe) and wave impact (probably the biggest additional drag of non canoe form boats) all have an effect.
As we shall see (bold text) as CJ Congrove continues his experience in stronger wind racing and shows a lug rig is not a slouch:
Last night the breeze was up pretty good, 6 lasers, I think, and 2 Aeros.
It started out in 15 -25 knots and somewhat puffy but not too choppy. I probably could have had a reef in, but went out with full sail.
Overpowered in the gusts but sailing efficiently the rest of the time.
These higher winds seemed to be an equalizer for me. I was able to point at the same angle if not higher than the other boats. The finer/longer bow seems cut thru the chop and maintain speed a little better.
In one race I lead the fleet upwind after a good start, I was passed by one Laser and one Aero just before the windward mark rounding.
The run was more about trying not to capsize than it was about optimizing any performance. The Aero I was behind capsized on the bear away, as did about half of the fleet. I managed to hold it together to the bottom mark but my jibe lead to a death roll capsize that ended that race for me.
I got the boat righted and emptied out and promptly botched the next start horribly.
The wind died steadily for the rest of the evening eventually ending up at almost nothing. As I had seen the first night, the more the wind died the less competitive I was.
The great news is that its a perfectly reasonable boat to race with Lasers.
I’ve learned a ton about optimizing the boat in two weeks and sure there are many more things to discover.
More Sailing in Fresh conditions with a different club against three Lasers – Passing lane was upwind! Big Chop.
I raced with a different club yesterday. However, using a traditional start sequence with a 5 and 4 minute warning and was a bit lost but managed to just follow the other boats to the line.
It was at the far end of our 30 mile long lake with a lot of fetch to get some good chop going in about 15 knots of wind.
Definitely the biggest waves I’ve sailed the boat in and it did great. Had weight back a bit upwind but still took a couple over the bow. (I was happy to have my bailer draining water quickly)
I had great fun on the runs finding and surfing waves. It was 3 lasers and me on a big course but the racing was pretty tight. I was last off the line both times but finished second in both races, all my passing was done upwind.
Video image can take a moment to load.
Read on, but we also have a Real Time Video of the Balance Lug Rigged Goat Island Skiff racing Lasers in Italy
AND
A long report of a Goat Island Skiff twilight racing other sailing dinghies in the UK with video highlights – PY ends up about the same as an OK.
More about the Viola Sailing Canoe and my other boat plans
Click here for more information about my other boat plans
