Lloyd Sumpter wrote:


OK...take your basic Merit/Olsen/Martin/Hotfoot/J and:

1. lose the $10K kevlar racing sails and put on dacron cruising sails

Why? If you've already got them, why not use them?


2. put roller furling on the headsail and MAYBE a "cruising spinnaker"
(AKA "downwind floppy genoa")
3. Add 1500 lb or so of "cruising gear": 2 anchors, chain, etc. dishes,
water tank, holding tank, BBQ, crabtrap... (I had all this and more in my
Cal 25)
4. Add 6 mos accumulation of marine growth on the hull

Again, why? That's just plain neglectful and stupid. Especially on a small
boat that can be scrubbed with no great effort or time sunk.



Now, sail it "cruising style": steer with your foot while you eat, tack
when you've finished lunch, leave the traveller centered, undercanvas so
you don't heel too much...

And you'll find these pocket rocketships don't go so fast. In fact, the
C25 may even beat it.

If the C25 was sailed under the same circumstances, not at all likely.


Why? The racers are designed to sail LIGHT and with
a lot of drive. For instance, they're not designed to sail downwind with a
genny. Many have very fine entries which work great when racing, but screw
up when there's 100lb of anchor gear in the bow.

Actually, the finer bow is likely to be slowed down less by weight forward.

This kind of argument is common, but it's pure ignorance and wishful thinking.
FOr example, you know that Michael Jordan can jump higher than you, so that
suggests (by your logic) that you can therefore carry a heavier weight up a
hill.

If a Catalina 25 is trialed against a Merit 25, with both of them light or
both of them loaded, the Merit is going to prove faster.



Now, I do notice that the C250 has one thing I HATE: "water ballast". Last
I checked, water is NOT heavier than water so IMHO does not constitute
"ballast" in a boat

Another example of ignorance.

Water is heavy. It doesn't have to be "heavier than water" to be ballast, it
just has to be below the boats center of gravity, or even below the boats
metacenter.

Tell me, is your boat's stability increased by filling a fuel tank down low in
the hull? Fuel is definitely lighter than water. How about a big cooler full
of ice & beer?



If you HAVE to trailer, get a swing keel. It's a compromise, but not as
bad as "water ballast".

Depends on one's priorities, and of course, on one's knowledge & skill. I have
owned & sailed a water ballasted trailerable for years and found it very
satisfactory.


If you're not trailering, get a fin keel!

Why not a full keel?

Fresh Breezes- Doug King