On 22 Jun 2005 11:07:38 -0700, "wblakesx" wrote:

so the windage is that bad? I was trying to visualize, a little heal,
some wave masking, wind not as strong close to he waves etc, keeping
it's windage resonable.

No. It's more windage, to be sure. Terrible if you're a racer, worth
it if you're a cruiser. Never had a problem docking, even in strong
crosswinds. You just have to learn its ways and compensate. Never had
a problem anchoring, or dragging, even during severe thunderstorms.
Yes, lots of freeboard, rather "wind shadow", but not as much more as
one would think when one takes into account a "normal" cabin.

Overall performance. Not a speed demon. We've matched a Moody 34 (I
think that's what it was), got left in the dust by a Moody
40-something and briskly walked away from a Cape Dory 28. Also left a
GulfStar 44 in the dust. But then the GulfStar is a motorsailer.


How bad to winward are they in reality?

Performance to windward. Pretty durn close to any cruising sailboat.
Probably a bit slower. Maybe not.....

Forget heeling to reduce windage. First off, it doesn't heel that
much. 8 to 15 deg. 20 to 25 when it's really blowing. 35 deg MAX when
you're very overpowered, and then for seconds at a time.

Water/spray on deck. This happened twice in 12,000 NM of cruising.
First time was in Lake Pontratrain (SP?) near New Orleans during a
squal. Shallow, large lake. We'd hit bottom and get some spray and
even green water over the bow. Second time was a gulf crossing,
beating into 25-foot seas. Would occasionally bury the bow. Made a
couple crossings in 10 to 15-foot seas and really never got a drop on
deck or in the cockpit. BTW, the autopilot handled it all.

Construction? Like a #$@#$ battleship. We ran aground on limestone in
the keys at 6.5 KTS. Lots of noise, bow raising and stuff. Went over
and checked. Cleaned the bottom of the cast iron keel real good and
busted some limestone. On another occasion a 35-foot powerboat ran
into us forward of midships, crushing about a foot and a half of his
bow. No visible damage to us after we scraped off the pressure welded
material of his rubrail.

The hull almost doubles in thickness a few inches above the waterline.
The cast iron keel fits into a "notch", flaring out and forming a part
of the hull shape and is epoxied in and bolted with channel iron cross
members.

No, not perfect. A trade off like everything else. Lots of living room
inside, but not enough fuel and water tankage, 19-GAL each, and really
no place to put more. Lots of stowage space, but in large compartments
under the berths.

Rick