Very good insights. Thanks for your time… I am not familiar with the term ‘form stability’ does it get ‘knocked down’ easily in higher winds? The boat doesn’t feel tender at dockside to me, the ballast/displacement ratio is very good IMO. To further explain my intentions/desire, I am looking for something that would be easier to single hand than my Ticon 30, I frequently find myself without available crew or at the best very inexperienced crew, I am on an inland lake (Grand Lake of the Cherokee in NE Oklahoma) with mostly light and always VERY shifty winds. The San Juan’s self tacking jib appears to be a big plus and the PHRF rating is far better than my Ticon which does OK with heavier wind but does not seem to point well at all and at 10,000# it takes some good wind to keep moving.
So here are the short answers:
Form stability:
Sailboats have two primary types of stability: Initial stability and ultimate stability. Initial stability primarily results from the movement of the lateral center or buoyancy with heel angle. The shape of the hull controls speed at which the center of buoyancy moves with heel angle, and so initial stability is also referred to as 'form stability'. Form stability typically drops to near zero and moves into the negative category around 90 degrees of heel if not sooner.
Ultimate stability results from the relationship of the center of gravity to the center of buoyancy throughout the entire range of 180 degrees of a boat being rolled. In that regard, the lower the vertical center of gravity, the better the ultimate stability curve will be.
For day to day sailing, having more form stability is much more useful since it increases the ability to carry sail at flatter heel angles. Adding ballast keel ultimately prevent a boat from capsizing, but it has minimal impact at the relatively flat heel angles typical of normal sailing conditions.
Ease of handling:
The mix of a fractional rig and a high SA/D should make the 33S much easier to single-hand than the Ticon. The high SA/D means that you do not need to carry large overlapping headsails, and small overlap sails are much easier to tack, and can typically shift with changing conditions much more effectively. The backstay adjuster will be your best friend. With a SA/D of 23.3, the 33S will probably need a 110% genoa to be able to sail in light air (Self tacking jibs are typically at best around 90-95%) 110% genoas are very easy to tack and can be depowered more easily than a self-tacking sail and so will actually have a better wind range.
Racing PHRF:
The added speed, ease of changing gears, and light air ability of the 33S will certainly be an asset in racing in shifty conditions. That speed will allow you to make tactical decisions and tack on shifts more easily. Certainly the 119 to 132 rating on the 33S would move you closer to being scratch boat and so less likely to be rolled and end up in bad air. On the flip side, the narrow wind range of a boat like this would suggest that there will be races that are easier to win, and, without a lot of luck, races that will be very hard do well in. I also do not know whether these boats can sail to their ratings. Fast, low production number boats tend to get hit hard with unrealistic numbers on their PHRF ratings.
Jeff
sailboatdata.com
