--
"Swab Rob" wrote

Even my nice looking 35s5 is FAR
too Starship Enterprise to be anywhere near as attractive.
Even a
Mac26x looks nicer.


I'd say it's a toss up.


--
Scotty
''One who never gets out of the Sound cannot, with
any degree of credibility, comment on the courage
of fellow sailors'' ....F.B.







Its not often that anyone will tell a boat owner that
their boat
really sucks. You have to rely on your real friends like
us for that
kind of tough love.

LOL! Yeah...the same people who bashed the C&C 32 and
Pearson 30....to
boats that are still superior to most on this NG. Who here
has sailed a
35s5? Oh, that's right. No one! Why not read the reviews?
She did win
boat of the year in 3 countries. She continues to sell at
a silly-high
price. She continues to win races....more than I can find
for the C&C99
and Express 30 & 35 combined.


You could look at the "Motion Comfort Factor" of your
boat. Its hard
to find one with a lower rating that isn't billed as a
racing boat.
On the other hand, lots of boats will be a lot more
comfortable in
stronger air, and they move along just fine.


Now that's an interesting topic. I did, in fact, look at
the MC rating
at sailcalc and wondered about it. But I did sail the 35s5
three times
and once in very gusty conditions with 4-5 foot swells in
Florida. I
just didn't note anything "uncomfortable" compared to the
C&C or
Pearson which heeled more, took more spray and didn't
track as well. On
the other hand, I have no doubt that in some serious seas,
the 35s5
will be a washing machine. But we bought her for use on
the LIS where
conditions are generally easy to deal with even on the
rougher side of
the spectrum.


Of course, if you only measure performance as "pointing
ability" and
comfort as having a 7 foot bunk that needs A/C so as to be
not
"horrific," then maybe yours is the best.

We like the AC and if a boat has no room for stretching
out and
vigorous sex I don't want it even for short cruising. I'm
43 not 63. My
wife is 38.


The average age of the users group is certainly brought
up by the
retirees, but there are plenty of owners in their early
50's and some
younger.

I wasn't trolling with the age comment. The design appeals
to the older
set who are finding a monhull more trying than salty and
romantic and I
do respect that.

Clearly since the used price of any but the cheapest
cats is
over $120K, this is not for young kids just starting out.
Further,
for daysailing, there are better multihull rides than a
cruising cat -
maybe a F28.

We have a few F28's here and they look like fun. They can
even be
cruised. I've actually toyed with the idea of getting one
after a few
years...but then I'm also toying with the idea of a Menger
23 Catboat
and Alerion 28.


what's up with hatches into the cockpit? I can
understand why
sleeping in your aft cabin is "horrific" even on a
mooring.

There are no hatches into the cockpit, Jeff. They are
ports...and only
one. The other opens to the portside. We've found that
with both open
on the hook we get a nice breeze. Oddly, with the door
closed the
breeze is almost a wind. A design of luck I think, but
it's nice if the
breeze is not hot.

While traveling for a year there were only a few nights
when I
started
thinking A/C might be nice, but a wind chute actually does
work for
creating a healthy breeze (assuming you have an overhead
hatch, which
you don't).

It's funny. The only people I know who aren't happy with
their A/C are
the ones who don't have it. Sure, you can get a breeze
going, but when
it's 90 degrees that can really suck at times. You may be
used to it
and tolerating it, but having A/C is simply nice...just
like having a
fridge on board instead of a mere icebox or a real shower
stall (Which
I don't have) over a sit down shower. When people buy a
boat with these
"non-essentials" they suddenly get a sheepish grin about
them. A/C is
nice and worth the money.

I spent 3 hours mid-day doing plumbing and carpentry
in
the head. Yes, it was hot but I just stepped into the
shower for a
quick rinse to "test my work."

I wonder if your realize how unhealthy it is (especially
at your age)
to risk superheating your body like that. It can be
equally dangerous
for small children.

You talk like your boat is
superior because it was designed for A/C. I claim its
inferior
because it needs A/C.


Sorry, but unless your interior can drop to 75 degrees on
a 90 degree
day without A/C you need it. Like the C&C we note that the
interior of
the 35s5 is generally cooler than outside heat, but it's
still not 75!
And niether is your cat.


The quote I got (from the high end guys who travel from
RI) was
$4-5K,
more if I wanted to chill all of the cabins all of the
time.

Uh, why wouldn't you do the job right and cool the whole
boat? The two
zone a/c on hour boat was & installed for 5800.00 (PO paid
for it).
It's 19'500 BTU and also heats the boat. It has a nice
computer control
which monitors humidity and temp...nice. I think you're
wrong about how
much nicer it would make the boat and 400 bucks extra?
That's not a lot
and I really seriously think your vastly underestimating
how much use
the A/C would get used once you have.

Oddly, We've had almost no mildew, virtually none in
the living
areas.
Must be the good ventilation.


You can't see a wide variety of molds and other germ
breeding areas on
your boat. Step aboard a boat with climate control and the
first thing
always noticed is how clean and nice it smells.



RB
35s5
NY