Is it my boat or me?

[TrentePieds]

I can't imagine what Billy Garden was smoking the day he did these lines :-) Your problem is almost sure to be your boat and not you :-)!

The "design problem" is common to 27 and 30-footers that try to jam too much accommodation into their length: The beam on the waterline becomes too great, the sticky-down bit of the hull, too little. In consequence, if you over-press 'er, she'll roll up on her side and pull her rudder out of the water and become intractable in just the manner you describe.

You can live with that, but eyeballing the plans given in Sailboat Data I would think that by 10 knots of wind you should be down to the small jib shown on the sailplan. If indeed you have one of those.

Just a few weeks ago I was talking to a fellow with another locally designed boat that is far less extreme in terms of lines. He had had the same problem as you and had fixed it, or at least ameliorated it, by adding 30% more area to his rudder, partly by lengthening it (vertically) and partly be widening it (horizontally). This is efficacious because a too-small rudder requires a greater deflection than a proper one to generate the same turning moment. The greater deflection means an increase in the "angle of attack" at which the water flows over the rudder, and therefore a greater propensity to stall and become ineffective. What you then get is a "sudden onset" loss of control when the rudder stalls. Normally a boat will "gripe" (turn suddenly and uncontrollably to weather) when that happens. Sounds like what you had was a half-fast gripe.

It also looks from the drawings on Sailboat Data as if your rudder is not "balanced". That is good! On many boats there is area forward of the stock in order to reduce the forces required to deflect the rudder. That's dandy at small deflections. On rudders with inadequate area, and therefore a need for great deflection, it can mean that the stal" occurs before it otherwise would.

But you can learn to live with the boat's characteristics. Just don't overpress 'er. Accept that you have to shorten sail before many others do. Doesn't matter on a hot August day in the Salish Sea since there is no wind anyway ;-)!

As someone said: Try steering with the sails. That's what real sailors have always done. With "modern" rigs that can be difficult, but you should be able to set sails of appropriate areas fore and aft of the Centre of Lateral Plane such that when you are merrily rolling along the rudder merely trails along behind you without being needed to steer the boat.

TP

[reed1v]

Spot on. Bad design. Also placement of the main mast can be a real problem. Which is why a split rig gives some options to manage helm. Agree the 30 foot range basically sucks wind. Too many compromises to make a decent sailing vessel. Condos, speed demons, stable platform, and of course the latest fashions pretty much doom these stubby boats to horrible sailing characteristics. Either get a boat designed just for racing(ww) or real cruising(orions), or for sitting at the dock(catalinas).

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

it's not the freeboard of the boat it's sail adjustment issues in most cases. Especially if it's a proven design. If not, it could be a boat/hull shape. rig balance issue, but more rare than sail adjustment.
make some speed, crack off the main sheet as you turn. If the main is in tight it's lie a weathervane trying to keep the bow pointed into the wind.

Boy, not sure how I missed how bad that post is! Let's do it in English this time:
It's not the freeboard of the boat, it's sail adjustment issues more likely. Especially if it's a proven design. If not, it could be a boat/hull shape/rig balance issue, but that's more rare than sail adjustment.
Make some speed, crack off the main sheet as you turn. If the main is in tight it's like a weathervane trying to keep the bow pointed into the wind.

[sv mintaka]

Originally Posted by sv mintaka

I have a 1979 US 305. It has a lot of windage (not sure if this is the right term but she sits high out of water). I was sailing in about 15 knots of wind on a beam reach and I could not get her to turn downwind (wheel steering). She would turn into the wind but the wind on the hull seemed to keep her going on a beam reach. I tried letting the boom out until the main luffed a bit, still no, so I tried letting the jib out a bit. Still no turning. Am I doing something wrong or is it just the way the boat is? Any and all advice would be great! I have sailed for 8 years and had this boat for the past two. It does not handle anything like my ex-Catalina 27.
Thanks

Update: sailed in 30 knot winds with a reefer main and a partially furled Genoa. Makes a big difference in the handling of the boat. At 12 knots no problem upwind or down wind but in 20 knot gusts the rudder becomes useless. Checked and no slippage in steering. Thanks for all your comments and help. It is the boat! See my latest post with a video in heavy wind.

[Island Time O25]

My first boat was 1982 US27. I did a lot of research just prior and after the purchase. What I found out is that Bayliner the parent company had two lines of sailboats - one USYachts and the other Buccaneers. USYs were more of a racer/cruiser kind and Bucs were geared toward families/small condo on the water tubs crowd. From the looks of 305 it is clearly from a Buc line design mislabeled as USY (USYs were getting more $ then Bucs at dealerships due to better designs and quality of build). Check out both lines on sailboat data and you'll see a striking difference between the two lines. My US27 sailed like a charm, could turn on a dime and was very steerable even with water gushing over gunwales.

Here its listed as a Buc.
http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=1376

[NevisDog]

Thanks for the link IT. From SailboatData page titled 'Bayliner (Buccaneer/US Yachts):
...Many of the same models (with minor differences) were built by US Yachts which was a division owned by Bayliner.

Both 305's look identical so it seems the same boat was built by both divisions of Bayliner (no doubt with different pricetags aimed at a slightly different market). That US 27 is a completely different animal - very sleek and racy looking, no doubt handles like a charm and will certainly turn on a dime. The 305 is more a 'motorboat with sails added'.