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(Tim Synge) wrote in message . com...

Hi Simon,

It's the old story of compromises - just as there is no single car
that will meet all the needs of the average family (I want an
Espace-sized vehicle with Lotus performance that I can park easily!),
there's no boat that will do all these things.

Within the parameters you set, it seems to me that you really won't
get much in the way of sailing performance - certainly not with more
than one or two occupants.

But the thing that I would be most wary of is using a small light boat
of the type you describe to visit neighbouring bays - a small
inflatable four-up is likely to be at risk if you are in a swell or
waves on the open sea. Four in something smaller than a Mirror is not
ideal for this kind of use. Presumably there is no way that you can
store/moor at sea level rather than at the top of the cliff?

Sensible comments indeed. I used to have a 16' Fletcher Arrowsport
with 80HP on the back which was moored just off the coast within the
shelter of an offshore reef, but the water-skiing days are gone.

I'm looking for something much smaller scale, mostly for messing
around in and teaching the children some basic sailing. Fantastic
sailing performance is not important really, and I certainly wouldn't
expect to be able to sail with more than 2-up. It'd be nice to get
four in when rowing or motoring though.

You're right that small boats and big swells don't mix of course, but
the idea would be to get something that could be used to round local
headlands if/when the sea was sufficiently calm.

Maybe I'll stick with the old Mirror, though she needs a little TLC.
I'm still interested to know what size outboard a Mirror's rated for,
and what the effects of using more power on the back would be.

Thanks,

Simon.