The Ranger 22 Publication
Currents

In the summer of 1978 Bangor Punta/Jensen Marine published a periodical/newsletter called Currents. Its existence appears to have been an effort to keep Ranger & Cal skippers informed of pertinent boat information and new designs. How many of these were distributed I do not know. I only have two-Volume I, Number 1 & Volume I, Number 2. If any of you have any other issues, I would be interested in getting copies for my Ranger Library and this webpage.

What you will find here are those Currents articles concerning the Ranger 22. These articles appeared in the Volume I, No.1 issue for the Summer of 1978.

RANGER 22'S SET SAIL

The Ranger 22 got its first test in a one-design start during the recent Southern California Mid-winter Regatta, hosted by the Dana Point Yacht Club.

Five Ranger 22's competed in three races over a two-day period. They were among seven different classes of boats involved in the regatta.

The winner was Craig Froley, owner of Craig Froley Yachts , a Cal and Ranger dealer in Dana Point and Newport Beach. Fred Cook of Jensen Marine took second place.

Since none of the boats has a significant advantage or disadvantage in terms of equipment, the results of the competition were determined largely by tactics.

During the two days, sailing conditions varied dramatically. While the skies remained sunny, winds ranged from as little as 1 to 2 knots to as much as 15 knots. As a result, the entrants did a great deal of skillful experimentation to find the secret of sailing fast throughout the series of races.

Fine tuning the boats was also decisive. Both Froley and Cook had their masts set about plumb, and their lower shrouds were tight, which helped keep a tight jibstay. Backstay adjusters were used to control mainsail shape.

The event was not only a successful competitive test of the Ranger 22 and the sailors themselves. It also proved profitable for Craig Froley. As a result of all the participant and spectator activity around the boats, he made two sales of Ranger 22's during the weekend.

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GARY MULL: The man behind the Ranger 22

The Ranger 22 is the product of many years of design experience and many very clear-cut ideas about how a racing boat should be built-most of them belonging to the Ranger 22's architect, Gary Mull.

Gary began designing Ranger Yachts for Jensen Marine in 1969. His first effort was the Ranger 26-still a top MORC contender after more than a decade. That was followed by six more Ranger designs, including the Ranger 37 - only the second production boat ever to win the coveted SORC.

We recently talked with Gary about his latest effort, the Ranger 22, and we decided to share some of his comments with you.

In spite of all the technical considerations that must be taken into account when designing any new boat, Gary will tell you the biggest consideration was something much more emotional than technical.

"My basic objectives were to design a really fast, fun boat in the 20 to 23-foot size range," he says, "but I think the basic parameter was fun. When we had a decision to make in the design office, we always asked, 'Is it going to contribute to making it more fun?' "

A big part of the fun of the Ranger 22 is in competition. Gary took that into account: " We tried to make her as useable as possible in a broad variety of places. She can race IOR - she's got a good rating - 16 feet/IOR. She's got a good rating in MORC - about 18. She has a fairly good rating in PHRF, too [the base rating here on Lake Lanier is 222]. So a guy with a Ranger 22 can go one-design, IOR, MORC or PHRF. He can go all four ways.

INNOVATIVE DESIGN

In order to make all this fun possible, Gary came up with innovative design features from stem to stern.

The bow - the culmination of several years of testing by Gary and his firm - is uncommonly efficient - particularly going to windward in a chop. Its fine, modern design and its steep, somewhat modern design produces uncanny windward performance.

Amidship the Ranger 22 sports relatively hard bilges, with flat sides curving rather tightly into an almost flat bottom. According to Gary, this reduces displacement and lightens the boat. It also helps increase stability, provides excellent performance in a variety of conditions and also gives the boat a wider cabin sole and increased floor space. The keel section is a fin - an essential when flat-out performance is a goal. The keel bottom is semi-circular - a practical compromise between chisel-shaped and flat.

AFT SECTION

Gary's concern with the aft section was to arrive at a design that would make the boat well balanced, easy to control and stable directionally.

He settled on a fairly flat, fairly broad and fairly powerful aft section that delivers extra stability and speed - reaching and running with out any steering problems. And there's a nifty little "tuck," as he calls it, just ahead of the rudder post that is a major contributor to the boat's impressive handling and speed characteristics.

The Ranger 22 has a unique computer-designed mast (Gary told the computer how to do it) with turbulence generators similar to those on the wings of jet aircraft that give the mast and mainsail additional lift. As for the rigging, Gary's idea was to provide greater flexibility of sail shape over a wider range of wind conditions. The sail plan is a clever seven-eighths rig that gives the Ranger 22 a cloud of sail - 209 square feet - without a sky-high rating.

PLANNING

The deck and cockpit layouts reflect Gary's planning and expertise. He comments, "One of the things you run up against in a small boat is that although everything gets smaller, the people that sail on her do not. As a consequence, you just can't reduce everything by - say 35% - and hope for the best."

As a result, Gary's design features a spacious, safe and work oriented deck and a cockpit that's bigger than any other boat in the Ranger 22's class.

Spaciousness continues into the below deck area, which has accommodations for four adults.

Gary has made every part of the Ranger 22 functional and fun, but he feels the best feature is something other than design: "One thing that makes a boat - this boat - fun is that you do not have to pay an arm and a leg for her. And it's always more fun if you don't have to put your soul in hock for a boat. By doing innovative things, we're able to keep cost down for the consumer.

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Popeye Wins First Ranger 22
National Championship

The first Ranger 22 National Championship was held Sept. 22-24 at Chandler's Landing Yacht Club, Heath, Texas. The winner of the five-race event was John Kolius, of The Galveston Bay Cruising Association, who sailed Popeye. His crew for the event was Phil and Tye Taft, and Donna Owens.

Conditions on Lake Ray Hubbard, just east of Dallas, were light to moderate winds, with races #2 and #5 sailed in drifting conditions.

Race committee chairman Gerald Price, of the host yacht club, set triangular courses for the first three races on the Chandler's Landing Olympic Circle, then established two Olympic courses for the final two events.

The final race had to be shortened because of dying winds.

Low-Point Scoring The low-point scoring system was used, and at the end of four races, a tie existed between Kolius in Popeye and Stephen Price sailing Scirocco for the host club.

Kolius and his crew had it all together for the light air of the final race and led at every mark. Meanwhile, Price found himself trapped well back in the fleet of 12 boats and could not reach clear air. This allowed the steady sailing of Doug DeCluitt, in nameless hull # 239, to move up into second overall position, even though he, too, had trouble in the final race.

One throwout was allowed. Price finished the series in third, followed by Tommy Woods in Wisp, also sailing for the Chandler's Landing Yacht Club.

TUNING THE RANGER 22 FOR SPEED
by Dick Cuminsky

The Ranger 22, with its clever seven-eighths rig, swept-back spreaders and shrouds, has a far greater potential for windward speed than any traditional mast rigged boat. It does, however, require considerable more finesse in tuning it for full potential, and requires entirely different techniques than you may used to in other boats.

Subtle Tuning

A best point of performance of the Ranger 22 is hard on the wind, and it's this particular aspect of sailing that the boat needs to be tuned for. Reaching and Running will pretty much take care of themselves once the boat is well prepared for going to weather.

The key to winning races with the Ranger 22 is getting to the weather pin first. After a lot of experimentation during the past year, I now find that through some subtle tuning procedures I can get my Ranger 22, Bandwagon, to go much higher and faster than the average competition.

As with any boat of the seven-eighths rig category, a lot of attention must be paid to fitting the spars to the sails. This is far more important than with a masthead rig, where the sailmakers tend to accept a straight mast, and their only point of flexibility is headstay sag.

With seven-eighths rigs, the spars becomes much more flexible, and sailmakers have different opinions on how sails should be built to fit bendy spars. No matter who you purchase your sails from it's imperative that you have a good talk with the sailmaker. You should clearly understand what he was thinking when he constructed the shape that he put into your sails.

Taut Jibstay

The jibstay on a seven-eighths rig boat will never be as straight or as taut as that of a masthead rig, particularly without the addition of running backstays. Consequently, a lot more negative luff curve is put into the headsails by the sailmaker. However, you still get the best windward performance by keeping the jibstay as taut as possible.

The Ranger 22 has a factory-installed adjustable link plate that connects the jibstay to the tack fitting at the bow. The optimum position for the jibstay on most boats that I am familiar with is either the upper hole or the hole immediately below it. It requires a bit of trial and error to find exactly which hole is better, and later I will explain how you determine which hole is best.

On my boat, I use the following procedures to begin tuning.

I first set the jibstay in the uppermost hole of the link plate, and leave the backstay adjuster relaxed. Then I gradually tighten each upper shroud until I have literally put some bow aft in the mast, being careful to keep the mast straight athwartship.

For the purpose of measuring mast bend, I recommend that at a point midway from the tack to the head of the mainsail, along the luff, put vertical black bands at distances 2, 4, and 6 inches aft of the luff tape. By sighting from the gooseneck fitting to the masthead using these black stripes, it's possible to accurately determine exactly how much bend is in the mast.

At the dock, without the backstay adjuster applied, I have approximately 2-2.5 inches of bend, using the previous measurement method. In this condition the lower shrouds are still relaxed. There is no tension on them at all, with the uppers taut in the following manner and the backstay adjuster relaxed. As the backstay adjuster is applied, mast bend will increase 4-5 inches, using the above sighting method.

The lowers will gradually begin to snug up although they still have no tension on them. At this point, check the jibstay tension. It should feel fairly stiff and should almost twing when you pluck it.

The next step is to relax the upper shrouds and backstay adjuster, and try moving the jibstay to the next lower hole in the link plate. Then repeat the above procedures. As the last step, again "pluck" the jibstay, and try to note relative differences in tension between the two settings. One of these settings should produce a definitely tighter jibstay. Whichever one it is should be a good point to start final tuning.

Next, fit the sails to the spars and begin the actual tuning under sail. Now you want to look for several things in addition to keeping a straight jibstay. With most sails it will be rather important to keep the mast as straight athwartship as possible. Here is where your lower shrouds will have some effect.

Applying the backstay adjuster, in theory, has the effect of moving the jibstay block closer to the deck. This bending -or shortening- tendency of the spar is compensated for by tension from the lower shrouds.

Particularly important are the windward lower shrouds, which prevent the mid portion of the mast from going forward. The bend in the mast thus tends to occur mostly in the upper portion, both in a fore and aft athwartship direction.

This combination also allows the positive luff roach in the main to be pulled somewhat forward, flattening the main, which I feel aids the boat in going fast upwind. Perhaps more importantly, it tends to relax the leech on the main, allowing for a more uniform slot between it and the headsail.

Careful Adjustment

The draft in the headsails should be kept at about the 40% point of the J for maximum power. This is achieved by careful adjustment of the halyard. The maximum cord in the mainsail should be at least 50% aft of the luff; never forward of that point. The greatest power from this main is gained by sailing off of the battens or the leech.

There should be no further need to adjust the uppers, other than to compensate for stretch occurring over time. However, further adjustments to the lowers may be required to get the optimum combination of straight jibstay and a reasonably straight mast in an athwartship direction. Some tip fall off to leeward, as well as aft, is desirable in shaping the main for best windward speed.

In going to weather, the backstay adjuster should almost constantly be up to its maximum, as provided by the 4:1 adjuster standard on the boat. My own boat carries an average of 4-5 inches of mast bend, using the previously discussed measurement method.

With the rig set in this basic configuration, it then becomes extremely important to play combinations of cunningham tension, outhaul, and flattening reef adjustment for optimum mainsail shape. Jib leads should be adjusted so that a uniform break occurs when luffing.

Optimum speed and pointing ability generally occur in the 8 to 10 knot wind range, using a 150% headsail; keep the sheet eased, with the sail about 4 to 6 inches from the spreader. Strapping it in tighter tends to stall the boat induce leeway.

Sheeting Tracks

The inboard sheeting tracks, standard on the Ranger 22 are deceptive because they allow the boat to be easily oversheeted. The mainsail can be kept rather flat in profile, but sheeting again is very, very important to developing optimum windward performance.

Fairly light sheet tension is necessary to avoid flattening the leech to where it will no longer provide drive. The traveler becomes the prime adjustment while sailing the main, and must be worked through each and every wave, wind pattern or shift that occurs. Only by sailing with the traveler sheet in your hand, will you effectively be able to work the boat to weather through a mild chop and sea condition.

The most important thing to remember is not to get everything oversheeted and ultra flat. This will starve or steal power from the boat. Sheets must be slightly started from their blocks, so the boat may have maximum power. Beyond that, it is up to the finesse of the helmsman to work it to windward.

Success

It will take a certain amount of trial and error and experimentation with this method of tuning. But once you have it perfected, you will find that you will have one of the highest [pointing] and fastest sailing boats available -up to 30 feet- in your Ranger 22. Fine tuning and practice will be the key to your success.