"DSK" wrote in message
.. .


Depends. The whole boat is more desirable than a life raft. Otherwise why
have the boat, why not just cruise in the life raft in the first place?

It's a bit more of a challenge to build a boat that would be liveable and
operable (even sailable) after severe flooding, but it's certainly
possible. And I think, for some types of sailing, it's highly desirable.

I would agree with the paradigm you offer. I must admit I'm not aware that
a vessel of decent size and cruising capacity (volume and mass) could meet
those parameters. I'd be interested, and I suspect others would be as well.

I can't believe that there are still some centerboard racing classes that
are not self-rescuing; some don't even have positive flotation. WTF are
they thinking?

I wasn't aware that some still don't have self-rescuing capability. Snipes
went through a decade-long metamorphosis from positive flotation to
self-rescuing (self-turtling, in the early iterations) as a result of class
rule changes, and I assumed most other smaller racing classes had similar
requirements. Considering the nature of the sailing in such classes, it's
doubly surprising.

Sounds like he didn't have his priorities quite in order. Well, it's his
boat, his priviledge.

I wondered why he had constant crew turnover while other boats sailed with
many of the same crew for years. I spent three weekends with him and was
told I was with him about as long as anyone. I jumped ship and raced with a
couple of guys for whom an extra pair of gloves were an unacceptable weight
penalty.


True.
Some people hate foam core, though.

I'm curious--why? It provides hull rigidity, it's closed-cell meaning it
won't absorb water like end-grain balsa or ply, and it's temperature stable.
What's the downside?

Because if I went to the effort, the boat would not only remain afloat but
have a good positive range of stability & reserve bouyancy... ie be
operable and liveable after severe flooding...

That would be preferable to a life raft, yes.


Shucks, in Pamlico Sound... or many places along the Chesapeake... you
could just wade ashore. The boat wouldn't sink very far.

After the wind tide receded from one of the hurricanes, I saw a photo of
people walking miles from shore on the Sound. Amazing. We, um, don't get
that here.

For him, it almost certainly is. I'm not surprised he's a bit of a
reactionary (I mean, look at his boat designs) but I'd be surprised if he
didn't have a pretty good grip on the practical issues involved. But then,
talking to boat designers at boat shows is often a futile endeavor...
they're there to sell boats.

I agree that he should have had a fair grasp of the positive flotation
issues and details, but he could have been a bit more affable by explaining,
at least briefly, why he found it laughable. I decided then and there I'd
never own a Bayfield or a Gozzard, if only because he was a jerk. g

Max