# Anyone w/ experience racing C&C41



## gedaggett (Oct 21, 2008)

Hey guys, 

Hoping I can pick the brains of anyone that has experience racing or sailing the C&C 41. We have a C&C 41 custom and race in JAM class on Wednesday nights. Wanted to see if I can talk to you guys about some of the performance characteristics of the boat and getting her to go a bit faster. Let me know if you have experience with this specific boat as I would like to bombard you will tuning an tactics questions. 

Regards, 

Gary


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## jsaronson (Dec 13, 2011)

Owned and raced a 35/3. Don't let it heel more than 15 degrees. Reef the main before the jib. Upwind keep the boom centered unless overpowered. Enjoy!


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## Loki9 (Jun 15, 2011)

Your boat is similar to my Baltic 38DP. You will need a good size crew to go fast, there is no substitute for weight on the rail. Trim is important, move crew forward when you are off the wind. I often have crew forward of the shrouds on the downwind legs. As much as crew weight is good, dead weight is bad. Get everything off the boat that isn't needed. Racing JAM, you'll need a whisker pole and a big genoa, 155% ideally. Your boat is never going to be super fast downwind, do the best you can, and then beat them on the upwind legs. 

Feel free to pepper me with questions, here or via PM.


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## aloof (Dec 21, 2014)

Loki9 is correct. I raced a Newport 41 (that is the same boat, right?) for several years as crew. We were competitive when everything was spot on...sails, PHRF rating, bottom, crew work. The boat is slow. Slow to accelerate. Slow to turn. The keel foil is not hydrodynamic. You cannot start, point or sail with "quick" boats. The boat was lightened pretty drastically by removing all sorts of heavy interior liner pieces. Hope for heavy air. Keep the bow down. Trim for a straight rudder as it is not among the efficient ones.


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## Sanduskysailor (Aug 1, 2008)

The Newport 41 is a version of the 60s C&C Redline 41. Completely different boat. I raced a bit against the 80s 41 which was a full on IOR inspired racer. You are correct in wanting to know more about rig tune which is critical. The bendy 3 spreader mast with runners was a pain to tune and adjust. My recollection is that the boat went really well upwind and deep angles downwind. Reaching not so much. Your best bet is to get a hold of an old sailmaker to help with the rig tun and to give you some advice on how to adjust the rig due to changing conditions in a race.


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