Mirage 33/35
Jayne & Peter Edgley
I am considering a purchase.
Don White
Good looking boat, great down below...lots of head room.
The head is a bit cramped for my tastes.
Our problem is slowness. Is it us or the boat??
We do well when the wind is stiff, but one particular mark on the
windward shore kills us. The land rises quite high and blocks most
of the wind.
Funny thing...we have some old promo info where thwy brag the Mirage
was faster than the C&C's.
It also seems a bit tender. Anything aproaching 20 knots, especially a
gust, will first push us over fairly quickly and then head up into the
wind (weather helm?) no matter what you do.
If it's gusty we usually have someone ready to let off the main sheet
at a seconds notice.
I don't have enough experience on other boats this size to compare,
but must say we are disappointed in our racing results.
***most important****
Have someone who knows boats check the bow plate where the forestay
connects. This is a weakpoint. Ours tore off and the mast came crashing
down just missing me and the owners girlfriend in the cockpit.
His insurance company had to buy a new $6000.00 CDN mast.
There is a website which describes the repair needed.
Here we were lucky..the former production manager of Mirage in Quebec
now lives within 60 miles of our Yacht Squadron and personally designed
the stainless steel replacement chain plate.
HLAviation
>We do well when the wind is stiff, but one particular mark on the
>windward shore kills us. The land rises quite high and blocks most
>of the wind.
>Funny thing...we have some old promo info where thwy brag the Mirage
>was faster than the C&C's.
>
>It also seems a bit tender. Anything aproaching 20 knots, especially a
>gust, will first push us over fairly quickly and then head up into the
>wind (weather helm?) no matter what you do.
>If it's gusty we usually have someone ready to let off the main sheet
>at a seconds notice.
You're probably rounding up because of a shift in wind direction comenserate
with the gust. When the gust starts picking up, why not try steering up into
the lift to maintain you angle of heal. Thats part of driving small sailboats,
drive the wind and take your lifts when nature provides them, might save you a
tack or 2 on the weather leg.
http://hometown.aol.com/hlaviation/
Douglas King
> It also seems a bit tender. Anything aproaching 20 knots, especially a
> gust, will first push us over fairly quickly and then head up into the
> wind (weather helm?) no matter what you do.
This could be a textbook description of what happens with a blown-out
mainsail.
>
> If it's gusty we usually have someone ready to let off the main sheet
> at a seconds notice.
That's not uncommon with any boat (that's not a slug under sail, that is).
>
> I don't have enough experience on other boats this size to compare,
> but must say we are disappointed in our racing results.
Heh heh heh everybody including Dennis Connor is disappointed with his racing
results, usually. But as long as you're having fun and improving skills, then
you're winning IMHO.
>
> ***most important****
> Have someone who knows boats check the bow plate where the forestay
> connects. This is a weakpoint. Ours tore off and the mast came crashing
> down just missing me and the owners girlfriend in the cockpit.
That would be bad news on any boat. Having the stemhead fitting tear off could
be due to poor maintenance on a boat more than six or ten years old rather
than initial build quality or lack thereof. It's a very good idea to carefully
inspect all standing and running rigging on all big boats. Failure of any one
of a hundred or so parts coul bring the rig crashing down.
>
> Jayne & Peter Edgley wrote:
> > Any opinions on the Mirage 33/35 ? Are they well built? sail well ? etc.
> > I am considering a purchase.
Sorry, don't know a thing about Mirages. The comments above apply to all
boats.
Fresh Breezes- Doug King
Don White
Does this mean the mainsail doesn't hold it's shape any longer and needs
repair or replacement??
Douglas King wrote:
>
> Don White wrote:
>
> > It also seems a bit tender. Anything aproaching 20 knots, especially a
> > gust, will first push us over fairly quickly and then head up into the
> > wind (weather helm?) no matter what you do.
>
> This could be a textbook description of what happens with a blown-out
> mainsail.
>
> >
>
> Fresh Breezes- Doug King
Colin Dykstra
What happens over time is that as the sail ages, the draft starts moving
aft. You can try increasing the halyard (or cunningham) tension ... but
eventually the sail will get so tired that this won't have any effect and
the draft will start migrating aft. This will, of course, move your center
of effort aft as well and increase weather helm.
A low-cost measure is to get the sail re-cut. The sailmaker will
essentially take out some of the draft ... but it's a fix that will only buy
you a year or two. Eventually you'll need a new sail.
But, before doing all this ... Don, make your you've got LOTS of halyard and
outhaul tension. In 20 knots apparent and that size of boat, you should
probably be maxed out in both dimensions. If your backstay is also
adjustable ... crank it down as much as possible to depower the main. If
you're talking about 20 Knots true, then you should absolutely have a reef
in the main at that point.
C.
"Don White" <whi...@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:3B432240...@ns.sympatico.ca...
Douglas King
> 'blown-out mainsail'??
> Does this mean the mainsail doesn't hold it's shape any longer and needs
> repair or replacement??
Given what you describe, it seems very likely.
I second Colin's advice about tensioning the halyard, outhaul, and backstay
first and seeing if this helps; it's also very likely that you need a reef.
Note that an improperly snugged-down reef will produce horrible sail shape.
It's possible that the sail could be recut along the luff rather than
replaced. Still, nothing lasts forever.
If possible, get a sailmaker or an experienced racing skipper to go along with
you and take a gander at the mainsail. There's some risk that a sailmaker will
simply try to sell you a new sail no matter what, but hopefully you'd
recognize and discount that. And most sailmakers I have known were pretty
honest.
Fresh Breezes- Doug King
Don White
(The original owner did a lot of cruising)
The self-furling jib has been patched also....it had rubbed once too
many times on the spreaders and also needed the UV protective strip
along the leech replaced last year. Someone told our skipper that the
sails weren't too bad then but I think we need a second opinion.
Rich Hampel
shrink due to age) and a very slight recut along the luff.
Sometimes you can simply release/ease and reattach the boltrope tension
preload a bit and the sail will regain its normal shape - and that's a
very cheap fix.
The indications of a shrunken bolt rope are needing a LOT of halyard and
outhaul tension to get the proper shape and proper weather helm
(reduction).
The moral of this story is.... when you have a new sail, take careful
measurements of the luff dimension so that when the boltrope
(inevitably) shrinks, you can release the luff preload back to normal
... or know when to take it back for adjustment --- will save you $$$
and will vastly prolong the useful life of the sail as you wont have to
continually 'crank down' and continually overstress to get good shape.
Next time you have a sail cut, consider asking the sailmaker to include
a bolt rope that is easily adjustable for boltrope pre-load (by him) in
the future.
