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What makes a boat weatherly?
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Frank Maier
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What makes a boat weatherly?
(Thom Stewart) wrote:
Why a Mast head Rig?
He is probably a lot like me. That is what I'm use to. A mast head
balances better while cruising. That's my opinion and it is just my
opinion, for what its worth.
I've sailed on 3/4 rigs, and have to admit, the ability of watching that
rig automatically flatten the main in a puff does make me green with
envy. No helm correction needed during or after. Nice! I've often
wondered how it would preform on Main alone? My boat sails just fine. No
excessive weather helm. I know some fractional rigs won't. I know my
rig and am at ease with it
Ole Thom pretty much answered for me. I've raced and cruised on both
masthead and fractional rigs. I guess I answered "masthead", assuming
as my default a full crew of experienced sailors who'd manually deal
with changing conditions on a constant basis. Then you don't need the
fractional rig to "automatically depower" for you.
If we're down to the level of the "real" world, then theoretical
factors become less important than human factors, like Ole Thom's
comfort level with his boat as it is. If I were buying for myself
tomorrow, I'd get a Freedom 38, which is not gonna be as "weatherly"
as either a masthead or fractional Bermudan rig; but it meets a whole
lot of other pragmatic criteria.
Frank
What makes a boat weatherly?