How can you have the "best performing boat here"
if you just stated the only Loco and Donal have
true performance boats?
S.

"Capt. Rob" wrote in message
ups.com...
: What constitutes performance in a sailboat
design is a common point of
: dissension among sailors. Let's cut to the
chase. A 40 foot vessel that
: sails at 10 knots on a reach, but falters at 40
degrees true is not a
: great performing boat in spite of it's
formidable downwind ability.
: From the perspective of a designer and sailor,
performance equates to
: the widest range of directional velocity or VMG.
In short; the higher
: pointing hull is superior regardless of speed or
size. A small racer
: like a J24 is a better performing boat than a
Catalina 42. Does this
: mean the J24 is faster. Perhaps at times and in
certain conditions, but
: the Catalina 42 LWL will prove to be too much
for the J24 off the wind.
: No matter, the J24 is the better performing
boat. Let's try an
: off-the-wall example...a Mazda Miata vs. a Ford
Crown Victoria. The
: Crown Vic, used by police is a big fairly fast
car. It's faster than
: the Miata and can hold high speeds longer with
less driver fatigue. But
: the Miata is a better performing car. It's
responsive
: transmission/engine, fine balance and suspension
make it able to turn
: faster and return generous feedback to the wheel
and brakes. The faster
: car is not the better performing car in all
cases. Performance is not
: all about speed...with cars or boats.
: And so it is with sailboats. A J24 is a better
performing boat than a
: C&C 32, in spite of the fact that the C&C is
faster in many situations.
: The only other true performance boats on this
list are Loco's and
: Donal's. You can cry and wine all day and night
about it. Jeff can
: claim his boat goes 200 knots downwind. Mooron
can claim his boat would
: fare better over 2000 miles of reaching through
tsunamis. Neal can
: claim he'll fly a 344% genoa generating an S/AD
of 77.9. It doesn't
: matter. You can all claim my interior is not
suited for Atlantic
: crossings. It wasn't bought for that. You can
jump up and down that
: she'll be uncomfortable in 10 foot swells. We
won't take Thomas into
: that any time soon.
: We bought the best boat for our needs and
conditions. What angers so
: many folks here is that our choice just happens
to easily eclipse
: there's and that's more than they can handle.
: We simply have the nicest boat here...and the
best performing one as
: well.
:
: (Yes. I stole the opening from a certain book on
racing. So what? It
: only afirms my point.)
:
: Capt. Robert B
: 35s5
: NY
: