Soverel 33

[the_abandoned_brane]

is this a decent boat? is this a boat that you can tow somewhere and have a good time with? not looking for a beercan race boat.

there may be one I know for cheap at a marina on the other side of town from me. h34r:

 

[Dr Conrad Zimsky]

is this a decent boat? is this a boat that you can tow somewhere and have a good time with? not looking for a beercan race boat. there may be one I know for cheap at a marina on the other side of town from me. h34r:

Decent? Yes. Light and fast, and wanting plenty of rail meat. We used have enough 200 pounders that we figured we had a ton on the rail. In Vancouver.

Check build quality and condition, though. The deck on the one I mention had some pretty serious Corn Flakes noises.

Tow? I have no idea.

 

[akaGP]

is this a decent boat? is this a boat that you can tow somewhere and have a good time with? not looking for a beercan race boat. there may be one I know for cheap at a marina on the other side of town from me. h34r:

Decent? Yes. Light and fast, and wanting plenty of rail meat. We used have enough 200 pounders that we figured we had a ton on the rail. In Vancouver.

Check build quality and condition, though. The deck on the one I mention had some pretty serious Corn Flakes noises.

Tow? I have no idea.

I had one for 7 years and loved it. Get one built by Tartan or Pacific Boats. Tartan built ones had a better cockpit lay out after hull #70.

The only reason I sold mine was because the J/105 guys were whining so much because I was often beating them boat for boat in PHRF.

Bought a 105 to beat up on them in OD.

 

[bammiller]

TAB,

I just dragged a Soveral 33 back to my shop a month ago to store for a friend. While you can tow it (I used my Suburban), between the trailer and hull, you absolutely know it's back there, especially going down inclines. This trailer had electric brakes, which I think is mandatory. Not something I would want to do all the time; unless I had a truck intended for doing it, which I dont think the Suburban was.

I will say, that boat on trailer, the height of the deck above the ground is WAY up there. Good thing there is an open transom for getting on and off.

Great sailing boat; fun and fast to sail.

Bam Miller

 

[dacapo]

they are deadly in under 7kts. of breeze.

 

[azoria]

Light air, fast boat. It's not a good trailering boat.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

Ditto on all the above. Fantastic boat, but definitely not for casual towing. Of course few fixed-keel 33 footers are.

 

[KRC]

is this a decent boat? is this a boat that you can tow somewhere and have a good time with? not looking for a beercan race boat. there may be one I know for cheap at a marina on the other side of town from me. h34r:

What do you want to do with it? As a daysailor it'd be OK, but it's definitely NOT a cruising boat. Good racing boat, but very tweaky. Get it tuned and trimmed just right and it flies. A little outside the groove and it's slow.

IIRC, the boat weighs 6000 lbs and draws 6ft, so you'd need a lot of clearance when towing.

Find a crew that has a high pain threshold. Lots of things on deck to bang your knees and head against, and wherever you are on the rail, there's probably something sticking up your ass.

 

[DoRag]

is this a decent boat? is this a boat that you can tow somewhere and have a good time with? not looking for a beercan race boat. there may be one I know for cheap at a marina on the other side of town from me. h34r:

Decent? Yes. Light and fast, and wanting plenty of rail meat. We used have enough 200 pounders that we figured we had a ton on the rail. In Vancouver.

Check build quality and condition, though. The deck on the one I mention had some pretty serious Corn Flakes noises.

Tow? I have no idea.

I had one for 7 years and loved it. Get one built by Tartan or Pacific Boats. Tartan built ones had a better cockpit lay out after hull #70.

The only reason I sold mine was because the J/105 guys were whining so much because I was often beating them boat for boat in PHRF.

Bought a 105 to beat up on them in OD.

Are you suggesting that J105 guys whine a lot?

WTF?

 

[swwind]

Note the comments above on deck layout in different versions. I have never seen a version with a good layout. Horrible in frequent tacking situations

 

[big chicken]

Note the comments above on deck layout in different versions. I have never seen a version with a good layout. Horrible in frequent tacking situations

One of the weak points from a deck layout perspective was that the runner winches were right where the helmsman needed to be during a tack and so it got really congested back there. We solved that on our Tartan model by removing those winches (put them on the cabin top for halyards) and replacing them with cam cleats and multipart tackle on the runners so that the winches weren't needed. It cleaned things up considerably and allowed us to get one more person out of the ass end of the boat.

The Soverel is killer fun in the right conditions, especially to weather in light air. What others have said above is all true. Sailed right it can also be fun in heavy air too once you get used to its characteristics. It is trailerable with the right equipment. Some of the east coast boats do a fair amount of traveling.

 

[Gouvernail]

Note the comments above on deck layout in different versions. I have never seen a version with a good layout. Horrible in frequent tacking situations

Thee was one here for a few years. The first owners did OK and teh second owner tweaked it out and sailed it well better than its rating. He asked for a 25 point hit so he could ahve some competition and i I think that left him rated at 70. He did just fine with that number against 108 rated J-29s and 90 rated Hobie 33s but he got bored with being a one of a kind and now has a Hobie 33.

and...swwind??

fuck off newbie

 

[walterbshaffer]

The Soveral 33 does not seem to like chop AND you have to keep the boat light.

 

[bammiller]

Note the comments above on deck layout in different versions. I have never seen a version with a good layout. Horrible in frequent tacking situations

One of the weak points from a deck layout perspective was that the runner winches were right where the helmsman needed to be during a tack and so it got really congested back there. We solved that on our Tartan model by removing those winches (put them on the cabin top for halyards) and replacing them with cam cleats and multipart tackle on the runners so that the winches weren't needed. It cleaned things up considerably and allowed us to get one more person out of the ass end of the boat.

The Soverel is killer fun in the right conditions, especially to weather in light air. What others have said above is all true. Sailed right it can also be fun in heavy air too once you get used to its characteristics. It is trailerable with the right equipment. Some of the east coast boats do a fair amount of traveling.

My friends Soveral has the checkstays (not runners) lead along the toe rail, then up to the secondaries. You only really need them for shaping the main once the wind started to come up. He also has bungie retractors that pull them way up the backstay, so they clear the mainsail leech going down wind. The you dont have to slack them all the way off to get the boom out.

Bam Miller

 

[DEAD MONEY]

This is probably as BIG as you want to go and tow for the "normal" racer. We drove from CT to NC to pick up ours. We borrowed another Soverel's trailer....a Triad. Boat & all gear + trailer was = 10,000 lbs so your gonna need a pretty good size vehilce. I've towed it with a Navigator, F 250 pick-up and a Dual Axle GMC w/Big ass diesal. Bigger is better when it comes to towing for sure. We are at limit of 13'6" so watch where you are going as you won't fit under every overpass.

As for the Boat itself, mostly everything said has been true. A fun overall well designed Race boat. Very tweaky and very easy to get out of the grove, needs to be put into gear and you need to be able to switch gears fast. Cockpit is small and does get crowded but the rail is large and plenty of room for the seven bodies you will need to keep flat when wind gets above 8. You need to shorten sail faster than you would typically with any other boat. Very, very weight consious boat and you will NEVER be able to put as much weight when wind is above 15. The adage "more is better" could not be more true. Most boats have Checks, which are not critical to keep mast up and winch is easy for Main sheet person to trim, some have Checks/Runners.

The one problem is the boat is woefully underpowered with it's 1 cylinder Yanmar 1GM. If you are on a long delivery and it is real light and the tide is against you......you are shit out of luck as it will take you all day to get there. Just plan for the time it will take.

Great website!! Fun OD when we get together but most find it difficult to tow to away regatta's so not a lot of true OD action.

 

[RandyNJ]

I sailed on Birnam Wood in the early '90's and won the NA's one year. It was a great boat, but doesn't like chop. It rocks in light air and is wicked fast in flat water. I vaguely remember there was an issue with the hull/deck joint so check the boat carefully. You'll also need rail meat as this is a pretty light boat.

I believe it is fairly well rated in LI Sound for PHRF.

 

[the_abandoned_brane]

interesting. I havent actually seen the boat. think I'll go take a look at it when the weather breaks. it would just be a knock around boat to haul to regattas and such, and not for regular sailing. it depends what I can pick it up for.

 

[echo]

This is probably as BIG as you want to go and tow for the "normal" racer. We drove from CT to NC to pick up ours. We borrowed another Soverel's trailer....a Triad. Boat & all gear + trailer was = 10,000 lbs so your gonna need a pretty good size vehilce. I've towed it with a Navigator, F 250 pick-up and a Dual Axle GMC w/Big ass diesal. Bigger is better when it comes to towing for sure. We are at limit of 13'6" so watch where you are going as you won't fit under every overpass.
As for the Boat itself, mostly everything said has been true. A fun overall well designed Race boat. Very tweaky and very easy to get out of the grove, needs to be put into gear and you need to be able to switch gears fast. Cockpit is small and does get crowded but the rail is large and plenty of room for the seven bodies you will need to keep flat when wind gets above 8. You need to shorten sail faster than you would typically with any other boat. Very, very weight consious boat and you will NEVER be able to put as much weight when wind is above 15. The adage "more is better" could not be more true. Most boats have Checks, which are not critical to keep mast up and winch is easy for Main sheet person to trim, some have Checks/Runners.

The one problem is the boat is woefully underpowered with it's 1 cylinder Yanmar 1GM. If you are on a long delivery and it is real light and the tide is against you......you are shit out of luck as it will take you all day to get there. Just plan for the time it will take.

Great website!! Fun OD when we get together but most find it difficult to tow to away regatta's so not a lot of true OD action.

Which one did you buy?

 

[RATM]

Dennis Conner tricked one a about 10 years ago. One of the features was re-running the checkstays tails to a better spot for the main sheet trimer to operate. Up here on Lake Erie, they are pretty deadly in lite air. If your worried about being over-powered in heavy air, have a main built for heavy air and/or get a #4 built (NOT a storm jib but a < 100% jib for racing)