boat weight one design

[Mambo Kings]

If a one design boat is heavy, say 50-80lbs over weight, how much of a factor is that? Should you sail with a lighter crew to compensate? Thoughts?

50 lbs on an E Scow will not be significant . Sure ,look for it and try and reduce .
However, items like athleticism of crew, rig tune, stiffness and fairness of hull, quality of sails etc will be more significant. A50 lb over e scow can win the nationals

 

[Roller Skates]

Not sure it can be taken out of a converted e scow.

Unfortunately, at this point if it's old enough to be converted - the age is the bigger issue - not the weight. The E hulls just wear out. So just go sail!

 

[DtM]

^^^ The best advice yet.

 

[Steam Flyer]

Do they get more flexible over time? I don't have much experience on E's and they seem built like tanks.

 

[dogwatch]

Weight 965lbs according to https://melges.com/melges-e-scow/ so 50-80 lbs overweight is 5-8%. I know sod all about e-scows but any class I do know about, 5-8% overweight would be cause for concern.

 

[Roller Skates]

Do they get more flexible over time? I don't have much experience on E's and they seem built like tanks.

They are. But like the tanks built in the russian (wisconsin) countryside with a hammer. Hell of a fun time to sail until they start shaking the bilge board boxes loose and going all flappy. The new design is better but it's still a bit of a demolition derby style race boat.

 

[Steam Flyer]

They are. But like the tanks built in the russian (wisconsin) countryside with a hammer. Hell of a fun time to sail until they start shaking the bilge board boxes loose and going all flappy. The new design is better but it's still a bit of a demolition derby style race boat.

Well, shucks, set up a figure-8 course for them and have some real fun with the old ones. I bet it would do a lot to boost sailing as a spectator sport!

 

[JohnMB]

Well, shucks, set up a figure-8 course for them and have some real fun with the old ones. I bet it would do a lot to boost sailing as a spectator sport!

The old one are still fun, only Escow I've sailed is a very old one at a summer camp in MI
Super flexy, you could feel the boat twisting and bending on every wave. But fun to blast around the lake on.

 

[JM1366]

Unfortunately, at this point if it's old enough to be converted - the age is the bigger issue - not the weight. The E hulls just wear out. So just go sail!

Not necessarily. As a reminder, conversion took place in 2008, so some of the boats that were converted are mid 2000s boats. Most of the mid 2000s boats I've sailed are still reasonably stiff, and the ones that didn't see a lot of use (or spent their whole lives on some tiny frog pond like Pewaukee or Pine Lake) are likely to be more or less the same as the new stuff.

The big, flat bottom does tend to go soft with age... but it is not nearly the problem it was 30 years ago. The lamination quality of the boats built after 1995 is much higher, and I've sailed some pretty heavily used late 90s boats that, while a little softer than new, are still good enough to be competitive. Keep in mind, ALL of them flex a little (including the new ones).

But some of those 70s and 80s boats... wow. I've sailed some scows at Hoofers where you could literally see the bottom flexing whenever you punched a wave - quite disturbing. Of course, I've also sailed a few that were stiff as rocks. Either a barn queen, or just the "lucky one" that had a decent layup. All of these boats were built by hand back then.

Given the fact that there is an E shortage right now, I say clean it up and try to figure out where the extra 50 pounds is.