Where's Your Boot Stripe?

[Divecoz]

Mine sits heavy forward and for the life of me I cannot figure out why..........? Forward of the Head I have 2 anchors and chain and rode about 100 lbs max and a small fridge another 50 to maybe 60 lbs and not much else.........
I have most everything including a 50 HP 4 stroke Mercury BF and two batteries and 18 gallons of gas and most all the food and stuff back aft , aft of the opening of the head on my 05 M Yet in spite of this the boot stripe with full ballast sits at the waters level, in the front and is almost a whole foot above it, in the rear ??? I would ASSUME.......... this is a poor configuration for sailing?
Shouldn't this stripe sit level with the water?

[parrothead]

Divecoz,
How many people were aboard when you made your observations, and where? Our '05 is also naturally bow-down with a full ballast tank and nobody aboard - but I'd say we probably have less weight in the bow than you. The bow is very narrow, so in order for the hull to displace any weight you add to the front, it has to sink a lot further into the water than would be the case if the weight were farther aft. The anchor in our deck locker is aluminum - and our spare [steel] is under the rear dinette seat. We don't have a fridge, but keep our 50-60 lb. cooler on the floor under the dinette - just behind the daggerboard, as centered and low as it can be [also a great seat for when you're extracting something that's stored inside the galley].

I suspect that as you add crew weight to the cockpit, the stern settles and the bow rises a little - putting the boot stripe closer to horizontal for sailing. Last Sunday was actually the first time I got any photos of Blue Heaven from the water [our son was visiting from Florida, and had his waterproof camera]. As you can see, with only my petite Admiral in the cockpit, the stern is still floating a little high - but I expect that would change a lot if we were all aboard.


As far as sailing performance is concerned, I would suspect that a slightly bow-down attitude would be a good thing. It's the drag of the flat stern that makes the most unlike a pure sailboat, and you can clearly see from the rear view above how the hull tapers just below the boot stripe - so lifting the stern should reduce drag [but probably not so much as to be noticeable].

Doug

[Hardcrab]

I much prefer weight forward on my 05 M.
Nothing heavy behind the daggerboard except what came that way, batteries, fuel, engine.
As normally loaded and ballasted, my stripe is just below water level at the bow, 4-5 inches higher at the stern.
That's looking at it from the dock with no one aboard.
I'm sure it drops at the stern when the cockpit has people aboard.

When we sail, sometimes I'll go to the bow and sit to get the sucking stern more out of the water and we can gain about .5 knots.
I've been known to slide the galley as far forward as it will go to help in lifting the stern.
It's not the best answer, but it works with the reality of owning a Mac.
I try everything to get her to sail as fast as she can go when I'm in the mood to do so.

The hull design to allow motoring isn't the best shape for sailing.
The gurgle at the stern is the water slowing the boat down more than a deeper riding bow does, at least by my results.

I'd think if anyone had the stripe level or down at the stern with no one aboard, would really be a dog while under sail, IMHO.

That could be why the M's have the 300lbs of forward fixed ballast and the X doesn't?

[Currie]

Ditto what Doug and Hardcrab said....

my $.02

- Weight full-forward takes roughly twice as much counter-weight to stern to balance it out because of the semi-triangular shape of the under-water hull. I found this out when I added a 20lb toilet and a holding tanks (usually about 30-40lbs of water), and 80 lbs of sand under the back of the rear berth still didn't balance it. The bow-to-stern center-of-boyancy is roughly at about the first step you'd take into the cabin near the base of the ladder. My holding tanks are about twice as far from this point as the sand-bags, and so the 2-to-1.

- Bow-down stance is good for sailing especially in lighter winds. I'm of the belief that sailing *on* the design waterline is about right when the boat is traveling close to hull-speed. The transom-release, or shear, is close to complete at that speed. It takes three or four people aboard for me to get the boat to sail 7-7.5mph (to keep the boat on its feet if sailing on a reach or close reach). Faster than that (presumably motoring) - semi-planing begins and the boat wants to tip even further back and sit on its "flat" (the part of the hull from the daggerboard to the stern). I usually slide bodies around in the cockpit accordingly (if possible).

Cheers,

~Bob

[Divecoz]

Well then I guess, I am OK and good to go I see the front dip with no one on board sitting in my slip BTW.
Not a whole lot I can do about weight distribution really. One anchor on the bow roller and a 17#er hanging on the bow rail.. The mini fridge is locked in where she is, due to location and convenience....... Thanks for the in sight .
Looks like good weather for the weekend so I should be up there Fri Sat Sun Mon again Summer is WAYYYYYYYYYY to short in Illinois.
I need to fix where I live...

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

My X hull is a different shape than your M hull so it's not a true apples to apples comparison.

When we are loaded for an extended cruise with all our junk, coolers, and gear my X sits nice and level. More lightly loaded it is slightly stern heavy but interestingly not any more so with my big motor than it was with the old 50hp. I am still happy to see that even with all our gear and ful ballast the boot strip is still 2" above the water line.

In general I am always looking to get more weight forward. I may add a large water tank up under the vee berth to get more of a bow down attitude.

Getting the fat stern lifted higher in the water definitely improves both sailing and powering performance.

On our recent 13 day trip I noted a number of times, and at various speeds, that when my wife went forward to the vee berth to nap I gained over 1 knot of boat speed. This was true with and without ballast.

As far as my X goes I want more weight in the bow. Of course having the weight as low as possible is always better than up high.

[Highlander]

Here's mine ballast mty, notice how high she sits out of the water
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee20 ... 010140.jpg

Ballast full
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee20 ... 010037.jpg

J

[Divecoz]

Highlander are you under her pushing up? I dont think my boat ever floated that high

[SkiDeep2001]

He must be, especially with all that hardware he has. Rob

[Don T]

Hello,
As Duane has observed, My boot stripe is lower on the hull than most X's. Ballast in and loaded for cruising it is half covered by the water and about 1.5" lower at the bow. I have a lot of weight in the center of the boat (15 gals water, 2 batteries, modded galley and of course the head and cooler.

[Highlander]

OK Guy's
Its like this our Canadian air & water is cleaner theirfore lighter ! , or Roger has been skimping & making the boat lighter or maybe Roger was just looking after me and made my boat a special racing version knowing I would be cutter rigging her

J