Olson 30 tips? Am I doing this right?

[matthewwhill]

Greetings. Have had an Olson 30 for a few months now in Seattle. Really like the boat. Almost always single hand. Would like to get some feedback, especially from Olson sailors that bash upwind out to the Farallons.

I realize that without weight on the rail beating upwind isn’t its greatest strength. I want to know what I should expect and whether I am doing something fundamentally wrong. I reduce sail early, keep her flat and as fast as I can while still making some progress to windward. I can sail 6 kts as close to apparent wind as I can and although I don’t have a lot of instruments I believe I am sailing close to the polars with respect to apparent wind.

But when I look at my course over ground my “GPS-VMG” I occasionally get tacking angles at 90 degrees or less but usually around 50-55 with VMG 3.5-3.6 but sometimes much worse depending on sea state etc… I presume a lot of it is leeway despite my efforts to stay flat and fast.

What do you guys experience beating out to the Farallons if there is a west or NW wind?

How long does it take ? Or what is your VMG?

Thanks so much!
Matt

 

[solosailor]

6K sounds good and yes, your VMG is correct if the target is dead upwind. If it's a true NW then it's one long board to the Farallones with or without a few hitches. A great elapsed time for an Olson 30 for the full race is 9'ish hours.

 

[matthewwhill]

6K sounds good and yes, your VMG is correct if the target is dead upwind. If it's a true NW then it's one long board to the Farallones with or without a few hitches. A great elapsed time for an Olson 30 for the full race is 9'ish hours.

Thanks! So in a true NW wind a good time would involve a 5-6 hour close reach out and a 3-4 hour broad reach back roughly?

Any other pearls for getting somwhere directly upwind in heavier conditions? On a close reach and anything lower she goes fast no matter what I do it seems.

 

[Xavier]

Matt,

I thought I had responded earlier, but guess it didn’t go through. I can’t answer your questions directly because I’ve never paid attention to the numbers. I’ve had a SpeedPuck (GPS) on my O30, used mostly to gage changes like current lines or trim adjustments, and recently added a paddle wheel knotmeter as part of a package to satisfy a depth sounder requirement. But I’ve never done a postrace analysis beyond a casual look at recorded tracks.

I have been fortunate to crew on the O30 HOOT in one design and PHRF races, and learned a lot about O30 trim/performance there. But have never sailed an O30 with instruments other than described above. If you have any active O30’s near you, I recommend crewing for the fastest one you can get on, and pay close attention to their trim, especially how best to depower.

It's been a long time since my last Farallones race (all doublehanded). As Solosailor indicated, the classic Farallones NW conditions are often dominated by one long tack or fetch. Often, with sheet leads on a mid-track or the rail. So just looking at speeds and times out to the rocks isn’t particularly useful for assessing upwind targets.

Hope some of this helps.

Sam
O30 Dragonsong

 

[matthewwhill]

Matt,

I thought I had responded earlier, but guess it didn’t go through. I can’t answer your questions directly because I’ve never paid attention to the numbers. I’ve had a SpeedPuck (GPS) on my O30, used mostly to gage changes like current lines or trim adjustments, and recently added a paddle wheel knotmeter as part of a package to satisfy a depth sounder requirement. But I’ve never done a postrace analysis beyond a casual look at recorded tracks.

I have been fortunate to crew on the O30 HOOT in one design and PHRF races, and learned a lot about O30 trim/performance there. But have never sailed an O30 with instruments other than described above. If you have any active O30’s near you, I recommend crewing for the fastest one you can get on, and pay close attention to their trim, especially how best to depower.

It's been a long time since my last Farallones race (all doublehanded). As Solosailor indicated, the classic Farallones NW conditions are often dominated by one long tack or fetch. Often, with sheet leads on a mid-track or the rail. So just looking at speeds and times out to the rocks isn’t particularly useful for assessing upwind targets.

Hope some of this helps.

Sam
O30 Dragonsong

Thanks Sam. Everything helps. Can u clarify what you mean by sheet leads on a mid-track ? Do you mean outside the shrouds ?

 

[Xavier]

Matt,
Yes, tracks for the #3 and #4 placed just outside the shrouds, roughly mid-way between tracks set along the edge of the cabin house and the toe rail. They are seldom used but are nice if you want to widen the trim angle and maintain the shape of the small sails. You can do the same thing with out-hauler/in-hauler combinations.
Sam