Windhorse Sailing

Let me tell you a little about The Shangri-La. By class definition she is a 36-foot cutter sloop. But I have come to learn she is so much more than that. With her steel hull and sturdy rigging she is a tank. A vessel guaranteed to get you there. A pure cruiser, she won’t win any races, but she should win a battle. I am slowly learning why Dirk, her builder, loved her so. I am beginning to feel the same way.

Working on the mast.

The hull is four-millimeter thick steel throughout and 17 millimeter thick in the bow and the keel. The boat is very heavy, but well shaped. Her keel doesn’t fall directly into any one category. Keels are termed for their length in relation to the boat. Full, long, or fin (racing) keel. Shangri-La has something between a long and a fin keel. Made of lead it has the weight of a full keel, but shorter in length it creates less drag. Also helpful in diminishing drag is the chine of the boat. Chine is the curvature of the hull below the waterline. Shangri-La’s designer took the time and trouble to round the steel like a fiberglass race boat. This is rare for a steel boat as steel is harder to shape than fiberglass. And finally she has a sugar scoop transom. At the aft end a platform to stand on for fishing lengthens the boat at the waterline increasing its overall speed through the water. (Top speed= square root of waterline length x 1.34).

The rigging is made up of the boom, the mast and the shrouds (cables stabilizing the mast). In the case of Shangri-La they are all designed for a bigger boat, which allows us to carry greater sail to harness greater wind force and create greater speed. All this is needed as we weigh more than some bigger boats because of the steel hull. So while greater speed to us won’t break and records we cannot be considered slow. The larger rigging specifications also allow us to withstand greater winds that we may encounter in squalls or low-pressure systems. This is not to say that she cannot be over powered. The first rule of sailing it to reduce sail the moment you think it might be necessary. Good judgment will be the strongest part of our rigging. But it is good to know our rigging may allow us a larger margin of error.

When it comes to caring for a steel boat, it is simple. If you see rust - sand it, prime it, paint it; done. That’s what I’m hoping anyway. As I learn more I’ll elaborate on that.

So far, everyone who looks at her says, “she is a sturdy boat. No Mickey Mouse shit here,” they say. There is no doubt we have the right boat for our journey. What she lacks in style or speed, she makes up for in stability and design. Dirk likes to say she is “always out numbered, never out gunned.”