Bart Senior wrote:

I will be working with a fellow I met a few years
ago in the boatyard. He and his father decided
to buy a boat and learn to sail. I can't remember
all the details--I think I recommended a cute
little Cape Dory that was for sale.

It turns out they bought a bilge keel Westerly Centaur,
that they were not too happy with. Mostly they were
unhappy because everyone told them the boat was a
dog. I think they could have had plenty of fun with it if
they put a little money into it.

It's a shame everybody got them down on the boat. It could
be a fun litle boat in the right circumstances.



It needed a bit of work and I guess the price was
right, and included a mooring.

One problem is that a boat like that, which excels in heavy
weather, isn't going to be any fun with rattley old junk for
fittings & rigging... that means spending at some money.



Even poor performing boats can be fun to sail if they have
decent sails.

Agreed, but I didn't have in mind so much performance as
boats that work properly, and which are sold with realistic
expectations. All boats have their good points.

It's certainly wrong to tell beginners that their boat is
fast when it's a dog. Or to tell them it's a dog when they
could gain some appreciation for the boat if you tell them
it's good points.


... I can't stand sailing 30 year old boats with
sails so blown out they can't point--imagine trying to get
upwind with a Westerly Cenaur with ratty sails?


Yep. Or any boat with badly blown sails.

It's difficult to tell people how bad it is sometimes,
especially when they don't have any experience with anything
better. I sailed a few times with a nice couple who had an
old Chrysler... Nice boat, Herreshoff design in fact,
although not a rocket. Their mainsail was so badly blown out
that the luff pushed against the spreader when close-hauled.
The section at the upper spreaders was like a 'V' and the
leach shape gave the boat a very erratic helm. In a gust the
boat just lay over & died. Very frustrating to sail. But the
people were enjoyable company and I hinted a few times about
better sails (trying to be diplomatic which is not really my
nature).


In any event, I plan to take father and sun out
on HOOT to show them how good it can really
be with a nice boat with fairly new sails.


That's a great idea. I bet they learn more in one afternoon
than they did the whole time with their Centaur.

I still believe the best boat for beginners is a tippy
one-person dinghy. They will get the quickest feedback on
when they're doing right, and swift negative reinforcement
for when they do wrong.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King