Sure, I'll rant about heavy displacement boats, Pablo. We've sailed a
Westsail 32 for years and years and loved it. You can NOT escape the
compromise between speed (aka "performance") and seaworthiness. Ask the
Aussie 12-meter lads whose boat was going like a gazelle when it split and
sank. True, we are talking a contiuum here, not an either/or situation, but
the faster you want to go the less seaworthy your boat will be. And vice
versa, certainly: heavy displacement boats are the most seaworthy--and
hence the least "performing" of sailboats. For bluewater sailing we'll take
our old Westie, and zing around the harbor in a Laser for fun.

Dick

PS. We're about to make the geriatric jump to power boats, and have chosen
a Lord Nelson Victory Tug. That's the powerboat equivalent of the Westsail,
and built hell for stout, as is LN 41.


wrote in message
...

Anyone with opinions or experience with the Lord Nelson 41? Looks
like a well designed, safe, maintainable boat but I am anxious about
the performance price that I am assured I will pay. My limited
experience in light air with the boat is pretty good (3.5-4 knots
boatspeeed in 5 knots of wind) but I guess the windward performance is
poor. Anyone want to rant on the relative merits of heavy
displacement less performance boats vs. more modern designs?

Pablo