27' swing keel cruiser/racer

Greetings! I'm new to the forum (and the industry!), and I hope this serves as a little introduction. I'm working on a improving one of my early boats from university, as a form of practice in design and to add to my portfolio. I don't really intend to sell or build this design, since I find it kind of outdated or unappealing in many aspects, but it would be great to have some kind of feedback from more experienced designers and sailors. At the moment I am focusing on deck ergonomics and sailing gear. There is a fixed bowsprit with a permanent forestay, configuring a kind of cutter rig, but I am not so sure it would be useful, and may revert to a classic stem fixed chainplate and leave the bowsprit just for downwind sails.

Here in Buenos Aires we sail in a pretty shallow river that separates us from Uruguay. The average depth is between 2-4m, and because of sediments moving constantly with tides, the entrance to many sailing clubs is generally closer to 1m. However lifting keels are not very common since racing folks seem to despise them fiercely and have settled a general opinion that they can never match the performance of a proper fixed keel. This is an aspect of the boat I would find "unappealing". Paired with this is the vague cruiser/racer labeling which in most cases, seems to produce a boat that can do neither of those things very well.

I look foward to reading your opinions on the design

 

Hello Kevin,
I cannot say that I am knowledgeable in club racer design but the renderings (Rhino3D ?) are fun to look at, thanks for posting.
As a boat owner I would want to see how the mainsheet (traveler and line) and tiller and skipper look in operation. As far as pretty pictures go, I would want some more pops of color and an indication of waterline in the renderings, either as a transparent surface and/or a stripe on the boat. I think removing the inner foresail and having one render with a filled 'chute' would be neat.

 

It shouldn't be very complicated to update the design optically, cut the topside flare to 0, make the stern a little wider and introduce a chine above the waterline. The cabin gets windows with straight lines and the cockpit coaming doesn't extend past the cabin side.

I would encourage you to go to a sliding or folding bowsprit, regardless if it's a cutter or not. Jib tracks are often replaced with barber haulers. I would also investigate a self tacking jib option for the more cruising oriented side of the crowd.

It's possible to make a successful swing keel, it just costs money for proper execution. One example is Pogo, I haven't heard anyone complaining about their products. Their keel folds under the boat, only the head of the foil is inside the hull. They make their own hydraulics and the fit is perfect.
The poor people option is a lifting keel, that's much cheaper, but you loose the safety of folding up when that unexpected sandbank suddenly appears. Plus you have to live with the daggerboard case, probably extended right up to the deck to minimize structure and give the necessary lifting clearance.

But, with both options, no one can dispute the keels qualities because it's just a normal L or T keel like a fixed version (foil and bulb type). The "general opinion" was formed when ballasted centerboards with big slots or keel stub + centerboard were the normal option, often also with flat plate boards. On those you can't get the ballast low enough so you need more of it to achieve the same righting moment.

Inspiration, even if they are a little bigger: Day Sailing re-defined. - Speedlounger https://speedlounger.com/

Pogo 30 - POGO STRUCTURES https://www.pogostructures.com/fiche-bateau/pogo-30/?lang=en

Voilier 30 pieds : RM 890+, voilier habitable de 9m https://www.rm-yachts.com/rm-890-voilier-30-pieds/

 

Thanks so much for your comments, Yes the images are from the rhino viewport but I'm not making renders yet, I want to have a decent 3d model first. I will probably use keyshot in the end
I have made a little progress on a couple of things. I finished modeling the rig, changed the tiller to composite and the bowsprit to a sliding aluminum pole, it looks cleaner this way.
I have a thing with round windows and will probably keep drawing them, I am also aware I may be the only one who likes them, so for the sake of argument here is an option with rectangular windows
As for the more modern boats Rumars suggested, I take everything but at this point I'm just trying to get some good pictures of what looks like a finished boat. Once that is done, I may go back and draw a whole new boat.
I also added a jib which could be made self tacking, but I would have to move the mast step aft since there is no room for the rail right now. This will probably happen anyway because the main is too big right now, and the self tacking jib is an interesting option to have.

 

Kevin, I really like your revisions and images of the design, thanks for considering our comments. I have yet to try any add-ons in Rhino for rendering.
The current boat I am working on for 'school' has a molded bowsprit. I can't say I like it all that much either but it is teaching us how to fair it into the hull.

 

Over here molded bowsprits are much more common than sliding, and I've yet to see a folding bowsprit in the river (not that I sail that much). I suppose as long as they are kept short, fixed is always the preference since it is much simplier, then as sails and poles get bigger it's better to be able to fold it back when not in use.
As for the plugins, I only used Vray for Rhino long ago, and later Rhino render with version 7 I think.. Vray gave me better results at that time, and right now Keyshot seems the most friendly and gives me decent results