Projection 762 Help please?

That's a great picture chic! And interesting about 19kts.

Those of you that have had the boats a while, what sort of speeds have you
manage to wring out of them?

I had mine out in a nice breeze for the first time the other day and we were
doing 10kts off wind without pushing her - there is clearly potential for a lot
more speed with more breeze and few good waves & pumps.

I do not agree that a projection 762 can beat x332s on handicap in modern irc. we have had superb races and still lost on handicap against the 'lesser' x332s.

If the x332s were not there i can see the projections winning class 2 again.

The boat is brilliant on any flat water but as soon as waves are involved you can say goodbye to any placings against the longer boats. Ive heard the boat is great in very heavy winds, but the only time ive experienced really heavy winds racing was at ramsgate this year with a huge swell and wind against tide! The boat to windward required plenty of concentation to keep the bow in the water and every third wave turned it to a submarine! The extra crew member seems to make all the difference when the wind picks up.

downwind it was blowing force 7 with long rolling waves, the crew all behind me (myself helming and 2 crew behind the backstay to widward) apart from the spinaker trimmer, and we hit 14.8knots down the back of a very long wave (the log showing 14.7 and gps showing 14.8). 19knots? my crew and i would all like to think so, (and we'll be trying this year!) but maybe more likely down a speed trench!

Simon

 

Well if it doesn't do 19knts I'm taking it back!

2007 certificate has just arrived and Upstart comes in at 0.972

Down by a whole 0.001!

I wonder why the rating that the Projection 762 usually gets (average around .970) is so hard, so much so that they rarely win IRC events?

Is it a "slew" in the rating formula that leans against boats with this sort of formation (was the rule designed so that sportier types such as the Projection were somehow discouraged?) (low freeboard, lightish weight, sensible sail area)

I wonder what aspect of the design if any is the critical one that leads to the heavy rating number?  

I have never seen any Projections regularly featuring in results in a consistent way. Certainly not in the way you see X yachts....I wonder why this was/is?

I also wonder if anyone has ever approached a naval architect to try and "optimise" a Projection for IRC.......

The rating does seem somewhat harsh for a 20yr old design.....

Comments?