Peter Wiley wrote:

It'd depend on the boat really. Rerigging a racing boat could get
really expensive I'd assume, but it's likely the winches are a lot
bigger than most cruisers would have.

It could get hairy trying to simplify the running rigging for 2 handed-sailing; but
then some race boats have a workable deck layout already.

Hull construction would be my
first concern.

Agreed, with some attention definitely on the rig.


I was just chatting to one of my staff who sailed in the
1998 Sydney-Hobart race and had a carbon fibre hull start to delaminate
in Bass Strait. They also lost nearly everything on the foredeck
including pulpit etc when they dived into a wave. Repairs were very
expensive.

I'm somewhat lukewarm on carbon fiber. It's great stuff, but it's yield to failure
curve is almost straight... which means that you get very little flex, and no
cracking or gradual failure... one second it's whole & hearty, the next second
you've got a loose bundle of carbon splinters. Carbon fiber also requires an order
of magnitude (or thereabouts) greater skill & preparation & tooling to make good
secondary bonds.

If you (or some careless bugger in a steel boat ) punch a
hole in the hull in some flyspeck harbour in the Pacific, how is it
going to be effectively repaired? Do you need 8' plus of water to sail
it? How many crew do you need with the existing rig? What's the
accommodation like?

Yep... a functional approach. Always best IMHO. These are issues for any cruising
boat shopper. No such thing as a perfect boat, but one can try and maximize
utility.




My approach would be the same as for anything else - decide what the
aims are first, then see if what you're looking at is fit for your
intended purpose, or can be made so at an acceptable time/money cost.
If so, go for it. If not, think of the scrap value to you then offer
less.

I think what's happening is that a lot of these boats are on the market because of
the economy, and the owner can't reconcile himself to scrap them, yet their sale
value seems to be hovering right around scrap value.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King