# Hughes 38 Project Started



## North Channel Sailor (Jan 15, 2017)

Hi Guys, 

Just aquired a 1968 vintage Hughes 38. I look forward to sharing the experience of bringing a classic plastic back from the brink with all of you.


----------



## krisscross (Feb 22, 2013)

Great boat, well worth restoring. Congratulations and welcome to Sailnet! 
I will definitely be reading that thread.


----------



## roverhi (Dec 19, 2013)

Really wanted to buy one when when I was looking for a boat 10 years ago. Unfortunately, couldn't find one on the West Coast. Some had keels with a flap that could be moved sort of like the flap on an airplane wing. This was an attempt by racing designers to get an edge on windward ability that was outlawed after a very short life.


----------



## North Channel Sailor (Jan 15, 2017)

That's what mine has. Still works.


----------



## miatapaul (Dec 15, 2006)

You will need more posts first but Photos are in order! pretty boat. I looked at one with the trim tab on the keel. Boat was really nice, though it was in rough shape.


----------



## North Channel Sailor (Jan 15, 2017)

She is a project but seems solid enough. Plus, she is pleasing to my eye so wth. The hull, keel and rudder are all in very good shape. The trim tab still works. Many have seized I am told. Probably ok from being in fresh water. The coach roof and interior not so much. I will need to concentrate on it but the rig and chain plates look good too. An older survey by the PO states the same and that the hull was barrier coated too. Other than a few scrapes from the odd bump, the hull looks really nice.


----------



## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

:worthless:
Seriously, take photos we love to see projects
good luck:2 boat:!


----------



## North Channel Sailor (Jan 15, 2017)

Four more posts and will do lol

In the mean time Jon is doing a nice job with an owners group site that is worth checking out at: hughes38.com

I'd put a link but still don't have 10 posts


----------



## longjonsilver (Oct 18, 2014)

roverhi said:


> Really wanted to buy one when when I was looking for a boat 10 years ago. Unfortunately, couldn't find one on the West Coast. Some had keels with a flap that could be moved sort of like the flap on an airplane wing. This was an attempt by racing designers to get an edge on windward ability that was outlawed after a very short life.


The trim tabs really work. They give the keel extra lift. They say that when sailing upwind next to a boat with the trim tab you feel as if you are being blown downwind. i posted a pic of his trim tab on my website.

There are at least 5 Hughes 38s in the Vancouver area and one on Monterey Bay in California. i planned to visit one for sale in Florida when i was there last week, but time didn't allow. :crying

i considered purchasing the OP's boat, but it is too far from my home to make it practical. My ship will come in someday. :2 boat:

jon


----------



## Lazerbrains (Oct 25, 2015)

Cool boat - looking forward to the pics.


----------



## longjonsilver (Oct 18, 2014)

Lazerbrains said:


> Cool boat - looking forward to the pics.


Yeah, i have the pics that he sent me but i will let him have the pleasure of posting them. You can see the pic of her trim tab here:

Changes and Options Through the Years ? hughes38.com

about 1/3 of the way down the page. So far the OP is the leader in budget Hughes 38s. The standings are $1.00 for SV NorWester - the Gold Medal, $150.00 for SV SturmVogel- the Silver Medal, and $2500.00 for SV Eureka the Bronze Medal. i should have bought SV Eureka, but i had just gotten interested in H38s, and didn't realize what i was looking at. Now i have a better appreciation of the challenges involved. The guy that bought Eureka, drained the bilge, rebuilt the Yanmar Diesel, sailed it a season, and sold for $8000. Shoulda Woulda Coulda

jon


----------



## North Channel Sailor (Jan 15, 2017)

Yes $1 to make it legal. However as we all know, there is no free lunch with boat ownership. I have taken over her stewardship AND its responsibilities. The PO had a lot of brand new equipment that never made it on the boat that I purchased as well.


----------



## North Channel Sailor (Jan 15, 2017)

As promised

























The famous trim tab


----------



## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

Interesting, the trim tab almost looks like a second rudder. I think you looked at my boat about a year ago, you will definitely be faster to windward on the Hughes- good find!


----------



## North Channel Sailor (Jan 15, 2017)

Hi Arcb. Yes it must be. The Fantasia. I see you are on the market again. Good luck. My Mirage went in the fall. The Hughes should work well here on Georgian Bay. Maybe even further afield down south someday.


----------



## longjonsilver (Oct 18, 2014)

North Channel Sailor said:


> Hi Arcb. Yes it must be. The Fantasia. I see you are on the market again. Good luck. My Mirage went in the fall. The Hughes should work well here on Georgian Bay. Maybe even further afield down south someday.


i just got back from a trip to Florida. We all loved that place in the winter. There is a Hughes for sale in Flagler Beach. The family is thinking of spending time down south on an H38. i don't want to tell them that the draft will limit where we can go, :eek We liked the St Petersburg area. i would like to summer in Nova Scotia and winter in the Caribbean. Whether we can make the trip south in November is still iffy tho.

jon


----------



## longjonsilver (Oct 18, 2014)

North Channel Sailor said:


> As promised
> 
> View attachment 85874
> 
> ...


Returning to the trim tab - i posed the question two years ago about what way the trim tab was turned for greater lift to windward - i think you can find the thread if you read all the Hughes 38 threads - altho i don't know if i posed the question here or another forum.:eek

However, the answer was that the trim tab was a rule beating addition that got legislated out of existence about a year after it was introduced. The trim tab increases lift and makes the boat a terror to windward. It should be angled to leeward, "just like an airplane wing".

Now, let's think this thru. On an airplane the flaps are put down to increase lift (and drag). Down is the high pressure side of the wing on an airplane. The high pressure side of the keel is the leeward side.

Another pundit on that thread stated that it didn't work as well in light air as in heavy air, because of the increased drag. My thots are that in light air it should be angled less to leeward than in heavy air, because a flap on an airplane increases lift a lot and drag a little bit when it is angled slightly. When angled a lot, lift is increased a little bit and drag a lot. That is why the flap is used for both takeoffs and landings - and more flap is used for landings than takeoffs.

blessings

jon


----------



## North Channel Sailor (Jan 15, 2017)

There is also the smaller flaps on a plane which are trim tabs. They are used to neautralize the helm. I imagine it working the same on the boat, neutralizing weather helm.


----------



## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

Counteracting forces doesn't seem like a good way to increase drive. I'd say balance the weather helm with the sails and reserve the trim tab for lift.

I can imagine some value as an emergency rudder though.


----------



## North Channel Sailor (Jan 15, 2017)

It's a relatively small foil so it wouldn't be inducing excessive amounts of drag I'm thinking. Maybe just enough counter force to take the strain off the rudder and helm I'm guessing. I am looking forward to playing with it.


----------



## longjonsilver (Oct 18, 2014)

The Hinckley 38s of that era also came with trim tabs. There was another Hughes 38 - SV Naked Sun - for sale a while back that had the trim tabs. She also came with rod rigging.:smile

It seems that the trim tabs were an option on the MK1s, as not all have them. The later versions don't have them, correct me if i'm wrong. 

jon


----------



## North Channel Sailor (Jan 15, 2017)

Boat details for the H38

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-19Uox-8J6.../s1600/1903+general+arrangement+alternate.jpg


----------



## North Channel Sailor (Jan 15, 2017)

More Drawings


----------



## longjonsilver (Oct 18, 2014)

Notice the tiller. The MKIII has the wheel aft of the rudder post allowing for an emergency tiller. Fatty Goodlander installed a tiller permanently. i like that idea. As a longtime dinghy sailor i'm used to sailing sideways.:boat :
jon


----------



## North Channel Sailor (Jan 15, 2017)

I liked the tiller on my last boat too. You can feel exactly what the boat is doing. It's also nice at anchor when you fold it up and get all that space to move around in. Especially on a smaller boat.


----------

