"Maxprop" scribbled thusly:
Hunters, Catalinas, Beneteaus, Jeanneaus, shall I continue? None of them
are built for conditions similar to the 'average' Hobart.


Hunters, check.
Catalinas... a few models are pretty well built.
Beneteaus... a lot of them are well built.... I suspect the South
Carolina built ones are the worst of the lot and giving the rest a bad
rep I recently checked out a new 10R and it's a great boat.
Jeanneaus... many of their boats are very well built and carry out
some pretty serious sailing. I have the hots for a Sun Legend.


Actually, 'average' Hobart is just a coastal jaunt....I'm going this
year....Sometimes it's as tough as they get.


I would love to go on a Sydney-Hobart race. Oz, good luck from me,
too!


Bennies and Jennies do the race every year and survive even the bad
ones.

That is surprising. I suppose such boats could quietly drop out if the
forecast failed to bode well.




OzOne wrote:
7 or 8 bennies in last year, all raced to the finish IIRC.

Oops, Maxprop drops another one. His ranting just goes to show that he
doesn't really know much about it, although he certainly is quick to
accuse me of ignorance. If he had so much as looked over the Mac race
fleet, which happens in his own back yard, he'd see scores of old
warhorse racing yachts that were the hottest stuff in their day and
still going thru the paces. And yet they are supposed to be "throw-
aways"..... then he turns around and gets indignant because I
misattributrd calling them "flimsy" to him also.

Come to think of it, I'd also like to see him point out my
"uncivility" also... probably just means that I have the bad manners
to disagree with him


You have a false impression of the structural integrity from these
manufacturers.
They are actually very strong yachts, what lets them down at sea is
things like cupboard latches which just aren't tough enough for a
pounding.
Easily fixed if you want to cruise or even race.


In some models... it may just be the ones sold over here... a lot of
the detailing is not fit for hard sailing (by which I mean spending
many days a year actively sailing the boat in winds of say 15 to 30
knots, corresponding seas... not extreme conditions). Another issue
are things like the wiring & plumbing fit-out which are not well
enough finished off to avoid corrosion, chafing, creeping &
progressive mis-alignment, etc etc.

The funny thing (to me at least) (but then I have a cruel sense of
humor) is the large number of much more expensive boats that are
really no better. They just spend more on advertising how well-built
they are.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King