i550 sportboat

i550 no.107 "Tonka" sailing on St Georges Basin.
Tonka is a homebuilt i550 sportboat sailing only for the second time.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• i550
• Sailing
• Sportsboat

[kiwipro1972]

This is almost exactly the same techniques we use in our little 16 foot trailer yacht. Weight forward and lots of heel. It digs the chine in, loads up the helm a little bit, and just lifts! Must be something about the nearly flat bottom and almost square chine. In flat water we can even just crack a plane sailing upwind.

When we flatten out, we just lose ground on the other, rounder shaped boats.

Our boat was designed in the early 80s.

[alexdoodd]

that boat heels a lot.. more than a 420 and its not even 10kn dang

[geebee3d]

While normally "flatter is faster" the i550 was designed to be sailed on her chine. She has a very sharp edge and as she heels, that edge engages the water and helps her track. Goes against most everything we have been taught, but it works for this boat.

[bigkiwial]

Wouldnt be very good in a chop, so short it would stop dead!!

[TheRatnz]

great toy looks good

[pudd750]

im such a wuss in my old age id think id screw up and get ate by some shark - that does look like a ton of fun aving er up on the gunwhale like that though

[123cooperrp]

Keep that boat flat!! Sailing flat will not alow the boat to slip more! thats what the KEEL is for! Wouldntyaliktono is wrong... Flat on a hull like this is always fastest. maybe a little tiny bit of heel will reduce wetted surface when you arent planing... not that much though. Flat is best 90 percent of the time.

[wouldntyaliktono]

the hard chine helps her point better upwind. sailing flat will allow the boat to slip more, preventing it from powering upwind.

[484scott]

Does this boat like being tipped up like that? Would it be faster if you let the sail out a little and had the flat bottom on the water?

[eng3ineguys]

Thanks sooooo much for the motivation. Hull 19 stalled a while ago but this might be the vid to put me back in the shop.

Thanks, SecondAlarm #19.

Hats off to Chris and Tim R and all the other people who have helped me to this point. If you want to build a sport boat, the i550 gang will give you all the help you need.