In article .com,
Capt. Rob wrote:
There's nothing like sailing along with rooster tails behind the
hulls, screaming along at 14kts, without losing your drinks at every
piece of chop.

Well, there you go....I don't drink. And a 35s5 will surf at 14 knots
and scare the crap out of you in the process. And the 35s5 will also be
fun in light air common around here that makes a powerboat of the PDQ.
It's just not a boat I'd be interested in. In 12 knots of air the 35s5
was FLYING. The PDQ needs more air to even begin to be entertaining.
90 percent of sailing is light air sailing around here. Jeff's comments
about motoring is all I need to know to confirm my experience on the
PDQ.
It just can't match a fast light racer like a 35s5 in these parts and
that's that.

Not even a soda or some juice?

What does scaring the crap out of someone have to do with cruising?
When I cruise, I don't want that. Like I said, for a couple of hours,
a mono is fine.

The cats I've been on, including the PDQ, Seawind, Athena, Belize, and
certainly my windrider tri were great in light winds. Well, actually,
I only sailed the PDQ and Seawind in heavy air, so I can't really
comment.

The sailing I generally do requires that boats perform well in decent
wind (12 kts of wind is a very light wind day here), but do ok in
light wind. Usually this means shaking out the reef and/or putting up
a jib larger than 100%.

As far as motoring goes, cats tend to do this better than monos. They
can literally turn in their own length (or nearly so), back straight
without having to deal with prop walk, and dock without problems
(although the technique for doing so is quite different from a mono).

I have no doubt that 12 kts is normal for where you are, but if you
ever intend to leave the area, especially for an extended trip, cats
can't be beat. The room on deck is amazing, and quite safe for small
children, as compared to a heeling, wet deck, and below is much more
comfortable... no need to confine a child to one spot or put them in a
hammock for safety.




--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com