On Mon, 28 Jul 2003 21:16:21 -0400, DSK
wrote:


Peter Wiley wrote:


Not to buy into this, because my expertise is zero, but Tom Colvin
says and claims to have demonstrated that he can sail one of his
schooner rigged designs, balanced, on all points, without a rudder, by
proper sail trim. Given that he's now nearly 80 I'm inclined to
believe him.

What, old folks have greater credibility, just because of longevity?

Nope, the fact that he's been sailing, designing & building boats
longer than most of us have been alive, let alone sailing.

Note that his hulls are cruising designs, not fin keeled
obsolete/failed racing designs recycled as cruiser/racers.

Do I detect some bitterness in your tone?

Hell, no. I have a set of building plans for a Saugeen Witch, all I
lack is the time & shed to build it and I'm working on the shed. I
don't own or want to own a fin keel cruiser/racer or racer/cruiser. In
the future I may change my mind - I'm not hampered by consistency.
Nothing to do with their sailing performance either, more to do with
working on them/hauling without a good marine railway and sailing in
thin water. Like everything else made, different styles of boat have
different mixes of strengths & weaknesses - there is rarely any
'better' or 'worse' until you define the intended use.

Anyway, a boat that sails well is never
obsolete. The sea hasn't changed.

Couldn't agree more.

BTW the debate wasn't whether a boat can be balanced by sail (at which a long keeled
schooner would excel), but whether it could do so with the helm swinging free, a more
difficult proposition.

Yeah, Doug, I caught that.

Peter Wiley