Stern Down Trim Problem

Discussion in 'Sailboats' started by oatsandbeans, Aug 29, 2009.

  1. oatsandbeans
    Joined: Aug 2009
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    oatsandbeans Junior Member

    I have a 44" sailboat that has a distinct stern down trim problem, this is only apparent when sailing, not at rest, and seems to get worse the faster the boat goes I was sailing a few days ago on a reach ( not much heel) at 10-14 knots and it was really bad. What should I do? Forget about it ( the boat sails really well despite this), look at a keel mod. ( expensive?), or some sort of transom mod (another 12" fairing?) ( not so expensive).
    Any comments would be appreciated
     
  2. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Without knowing what you have, how it's equipped, etc. it would be very difficult to guess at you question.

    As a rule, the faster a sailboat goes, the more the stern settles onto the troth created by it's wave train as it passes through the water. The angle isn't objectionable on most boats.
     
  3. oatsandbeans
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    oatsandbeans Junior Member

    Thanks for the input. Interesting about the comment on sinking down into the wave pattern at speed sounds spot on. The boat is a "performance cruiser" I'd rather not say the make and design as I may want to sell it and don't want any bad PR about it.
    I don't know enough about yacht design to know if it is a real problem or not, but it makes a lot of noise and lots of turbulence and the transom seems to have sunk 6-9". I was wondering about putting a scoop on the stern to try to fair in the back end when it is down in the water. Possibly even making a swim platform out of it to disguise it.
     
  4. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    I wouldn't have a clue how to address the issue without a year, make and model. If it's a model related issue, it likely all yachts of this particular mold have the same issue, so yours in nothing new. If it's something odd, because other examples of this model don't display this behavior, then not knowing what we're working with isn't very helpful.

    I have a car, it runs fairly well and it's performance oriented, but it seems to skid excessively in the corners, can you help me . . .
     
  5. lewisboats
    Joined: Oct 2002
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    lewisboats Obsessed Member

    It is made by one of the US big three...
    There...See...question answered to a tee.


    in all fairness PAR is correct...we have to know which boat it is in order to determine if it is a singular problem exclusive to your boat or a design flaw which is/has already been noted in the design. You can do a bit of detective work on Google by punching in the design and playing with various versions of "Problems With" or "Design Flaws"...if you get hits well then...
    If not then we will need further info as to construction (could be the core is soaked and the boat is extra heavy), or added equipment (big heavy diesel engine as opposed to light gas one) etc.

    Steve
     
  6. TeddyDiver
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    TeddyDiver Gollywobbler


  7. Munter
    Joined: Jul 2007
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    Munter Amateur

    To give you an example of how other boats behave - at speed, the transom that you see elevated well out of the water in this picture has water flowing right up to the edge of the transom.

    [​IMG]


    [​IMG]
     
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