Cadilac

[Athene]

Saw a dropbox link on the FBYD facebook page and have uploaded the video onto youtube for those interested.........

 

[trix70]

The Cadillac is racing in next weeks Geographe Race Week in Division one IRC against the TP52 Calm, the GP 42's Black Betty and Farr 40 OD The Next Factor and a few others. Given The Cadillac was not designed for an IRC rating our initial IRC of 1.165 is not a surprise but we think could still be competitive in the right conditions. Geo Race Week is on the doorstep of one of the best wine/tourism/surfing regions int the world, Margaret River, so whether the racing is successful or not we will have fun in traditionally warm and light conditions. Below is the link to the regatta.

http://www.gbraceweek.com

 

[MSA]

Any Updates on how you progressed at Geographe Bay Race week? Ironed out some creases?

Results here - http://www.rpyc.com.au/sailing/regattas/2-page/509-club-marine-gbrw

Positions are -

Farr40 Mod

TP52

GP42

Ker39

Foundation 36

GP42

The Caddy

Melges 32

Things I noticed. Upwind needs a lot of work.. They sailed well, but the rig looked to almost invert in the puffs, this would be why they cant get the forestay tension required. Needs either a longer keel or a bigger bulb. Needs more RM.

About the same upwind as a Melges 32 with an IRC Mainsail. Not a top M32 team, a bunch of Club guys have a good time.

Don't let it be any where near you in a building breeze on the last down wind leg... It goes, really goes, downwind in over 16 knots. Not sure if this is a function of design or a weight thing.. I suppose the light weight is part of the design.

I think with a bit more RM you could press the boat downwind ever more and be faster.

Basically it looked cool every time it had a Kite up. But anything with a Main/Jib combo looked tough.

 

[GybeSet]

I notice it's 'across the line' results are better than its IRC results. I hear ya on it's upwind stiffness

not surprisingly the souped up boats ( caddy + Melges) don't do well on IRC

 

[Varan]

What's zappen'n with this ultracool boat?

 

[MSA]

Boom has been off for a few weeks. Was in for some bulb surgery and bulkhead stuff according to Bar fly talk.

 

[Scrotal Canoe]

What's zappen'n with this ultracool boat?

Canting keel, centerline daggerboard directly forward of keel, water ballast tanks. Hauls ass uphill, then at the weather mark, dump the ballast tanks, raise the daggerboard and you are planing your ass off downhill. Fast up and down, just a little more crew work.

 

[trix70]

I thought I.d give an update in case people thought this was another failed experiment, In the off season The Caddy was given a new heavier bulb with has improved the upwind performance but made it slightly slower downwind. We are now sailing upwind in 15k plus at 7-7.5k slightly slower than the Benetau Farr 40 we sail against but quicker than a Melges 32. Last weekend we beat the Melges by 5 mins in a 80 min race and the Benetau by 8mins, but keep in mind it is flat water river sailing. We hit 18+k downwind in 18 k of wind speed at about 150 deg and are clearly quicker than a Melges 32. Our top speed so far on the Velocitek is 22k but keep in mind this is flat rate with no wave assistance, The difference between the Caddy and other 30+ footers is we sailed 4 up (350kg) although we normally sail 5 up, even in 25k. The Caddy only weighs 1300kg ad has a small upwind sail area so is very controllable and we are happy to fly spinnakers in 30k with only 5 crew. The Cadillac is one special yacht. Our weakness is under 5k where our sail area in insufficient upwind but we hope a Code 0 will help. Downwind in 0-5k we are as quick or quicker than a Melges 32.

A few facts. Our IRC is 1.157 and AMS 1.35. It wasn't designed an an IRC boat but we are competitive. We sail offshore Cat 6 (could probably be Cat 5) but Cat 2 is unlikely so we consider ourselves a daysailer. We are quicker than a GP42 on a reach and downwind but they get us upwind. We are around or quicker a Farr 40 around a course in 10k plus but they are quicker in the light stuff, we kill them downwind. The Cadillac lives in the water but the keel lifts like the Melges 32 and it is trailerable. If you wish to follow the sailing results visit RFBYC.asn.au.

I'd love to see an MC31, Farr280, C&C 30, Fairest 28R or others come to Perth because we would kick there ass over the line and on IRC. In the meantime every day we go for a sail in The Cadillac in any weather is absolute joy.

P.S. This boat is not being manufactured so there is no sales spin but if someone is interested in a 30ft'er seriously consider building it under 1400kg sailed by 4 or 5 crew.

 

[Varan]

Thanks for the update. Love the boat. Need more pictures!

 

[Alcatraz5768]

Pics please.

 

[Roleur]

How much weight did you add to the bulb?

 

[trix70]

Cadillac was launched with 430kg in the bulb but another 146kg was added offseason to help the upwind performance. At this stage we are likely to go back to 480-500kg to with a smaller jib for strong winds as we feel it was more fun downwind with with a smaller lighter bulb and our upwind performance has improved due to a better tuned rig.

 

[i550sailor]

Yes,,,,, post some pics and keep the info coming,,,, awesome looking boat.

 

[huey 2]

bump ... there has been some great sailing weather for the last couple of months

 

[Varan]

Zup?

 

[trix70]

Haven't logged in for a while, off season and all that, but in case your wondering Cadillac will be back better than ever with a smaller and slimmer bulb, a couple of improvements to the deck layout, slightly reduced P and as a result a lower IRC just under 1.14 meaning we don't have to beat the Farr 40 and Melges 32 over the line. We went out for a spin last weekend in 15-20 knots 4 up to try the new Onesails 11 sqm jib. It looked good but was made for 20k plus and we were better with the 16 sqm no 2 headsail managing 7 k+ upwind and 16k downwind in flat water. Last year with the larger short an bulky bulb we thought we were tripping over it and slower down wind (relatively speaking as we were still quicker than the M32). At this early stage we are confident we are quicker all round and it is a better boat to sail but we may sail 5 up in 20k plus. Mind you we only need 4 to handle the boat in any weather and the 5th would just be for weight upwind. We are also planning to do some offshore day races if we can satisfy the safety requirments so that should be fun.

I'd like to provide more video footage but keep in mind this is a one -off and there is no marketing team behind it so if I can get something I'll post it. In our mind 30ft sports boats or Super 30's like the C&C 30, Farr 280, M32 etc are too heavy and lack the get up and go of smaller sports boats. The Cadillac concept is a lighter boat with greater hull shape stability, a smaller rig and less crew which makes for more fun. Anyone looking to build something different in the 30 ft range should have a good look at the Cadillac.

 

[huey 2]

Great News good luck in the offshore and thanks for the update

 

[mathewgj]

I need one of these on SF Bay - would be awesome here.

 

[huey 2]

 

[Ex Machina]

Haven't logged in for a while, off season and all that, but in case your wondering Cadillac will be back better than ever with a smaller and slimmer bulb, a couple of improvements to the deck layout, slightly reduced P and as a result a lower IRC just under 1.14 meaning we don't have to beat the Farr 40 and Melges 32 over the line. We went out for a spin last weekend in 15-20 knots 4 up to try the new Onesails 11 sqm jib. It looked good but was made for 20k plus and we were better with the 16 sqm no 2 headsail managing 7 k+ upwind and 16k downwind in flat water. Last year with the larger short an bulky bulb we thought we were tripping over it and slower down wind (relatively speaking as we were still quicker than the M32). At this early stage we are confident we are quicker all round and it is a better boat to sail but we may sail 5 up in 20k plus. Mind you we only need 4 to handle the boat in any weather and the 5th would just be for weight upwind. We are also planning to do some offshore day races if we can satisfy the safety requirments so that should be fun.

I'd like to provide more video footage but keep in mind this is a one -off and there is no marketing team behind it so if I can get something I'll post it. In our mind 30ft sports boats or Super 30's like the C&C 30, Farr 280, M32 etc are too heavy and lack the get up and go of smaller sports boats. The Cadillac concept is a lighter boat with greater hull shape stability, a smaller rig and less crew which makes for more fun. Anyone looking to build something different in the 30 ft range should have a good look at the Cadillac.

You should post that vid of you guys overtaking that riviera I think on the swan ?

 

[Irrational 14]

I'm liking that full batten on the jib foot. Clever.