On 10 Nov 2003 17:35:40 -0800, (Peter Ward)
wrote:

DSK wrote in message ...
&
"Jim Woodward" jameslwoodward at attbi dot com wrote in message ...

Thanks both for the excellent advice clearly based on extensive briny
experience.

I guess I was thinking of seaworthiness in the fairly narrow sense of
being able to survive something like 'The Perfect Storm'; &
particularly the ability to quickly self-right in the event of
capsize. According to Czeslaw A. Marchaj
in 'Seaworthiness : The Forgotten Factor' the "point of vanishing
stability" et.al. of most modern yacht designs is woefully inadequate
- deficiencies he attributes to the pervasive influence of
International Offshore Rules & the 'floating gin-palace' ethos of the
charter-boat industry, on modern yacht design & construction. This
observation appears to have been borne-out empirically by the 1988
Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race http://www.radford-yacht.com/stablty1.html

The International Offshore Rule did produce some nasty boats. It
passed out of use in the late 1980s. It is only of concern if you
might buy an IOR boat used.

Marchaj's polemic flails about with generalizations that don't really
tell you anything useful. All boat designs are compromises that juggle
conflicting desires. He seems to want naval architecture to stop at
some preconceived "golden age."

It doesn't work like that. A good (not genius) naval architect,
knowing the specific requirements of a client, should be able to
improve an existing design, even from a "genius" architect, if it was
not designed for the same detailed requirements.

If you buy a boat designed to sell at a boat show to nonsailors, you
should realize that the compromises may be tilted toward interior
accommodations at the expense of sailing ability. If you buy a
modest-sized boat that is mainly designed for racing around the buoys,
you may not be able to stand up in the cabin.



Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a


"Curse thee, thou quadrant. No longer will I guide my earthly way by thee." Capt. Ahab