Can anybody help me with the following.
We are new to northamerican sailboats, but have done a lot of sailing in
Denmark where the market a dominated by Swedish boats. We want to go from
Vancouver Island to Caribien and don't really know what is good boat for the
trip.Any tip or suggestion welcome
Thanks
Jim

On Wed, 16 Jul 2003 22:26:35 GMT, "jens teglman"
wrote:

Can anybody help me with the following.
We are new to northamerican sailboats, but have done a lot of sailing in
Denmark where the market a dominated by Swedish boats. We want to go from
Vancouver Island to Caribien and don't really know what is good boat for the
trip.Any tip or suggestion welcome
Thanks
Jim

There's nothing wrong with Newports or Catalinas but I think even the
owners would agree that they are not offshore boats, but decent
coastal waters sailers. They are too light and too open...have you
seen the size of the companionway and cabin in a Catalina 30? and
although I doubt they would sink in under 50 knots, I bet they would
provide an uncomfortable and potentially dangerous ride.

I also do not think that the hardware and rigging on such popular
production boats is sufficient for offshore. You would be better with
a 30 year old North American design, if only because before the
mid-'70s they were overbuilt.

Come to think of it, I see a lot of '70s boats still, and not as many
'80s boats, and then more '90s and later boats. I am under the
impression that economic factors that saw a lot of North American boat
builders close in the '80s led to a lot of shortcuts and quality
compromises in many manufacturers' vessels.

R.

Come to think of it, I see a lot of '70s boats still, and not as many
'80s boats, and then more '90s and later boats. I am under the
impression that economic factors that saw a lot of North American boat
builders close in the '80s led to a lot of shortcuts and quality
compromises in many manufacturers' vessels.

R.


No no no no.... most USA boat builders shut down, went out of business
or went bankrupt when the socialist/democrat US congress during the late
80s decided to penalize the filthy rich "yacht" owners by imposing a
yearly "boat tax" .... immediately followed by approx. 30,000 boat
workers losing their jobs when hardly anybody bought any boats! The
infamous 'boat tax' was rescinded after about 4 years but the US
recreational boat building industry had been virtually been destroyed
and still hasn't fully recovered .... 'furriners' have since taken a
major portion of that market share.

RichH wrote:

Come to think of it, I see a lot of '70s boats still, and not as many
'80s boats, and then more '90s and later boats. I am under the
impression that economic factors that saw a lot of North American boat
builders close in the '80s led to a lot of shortcuts and quality
compromises in many manufacturers' vessels.

R.


No no no no.... most USA boat builders shut down, went out of business
or went bankrupt when the socialist/democrat US congress during the
late 80s decided to penalize the filthy rich "yacht" owners by
imposing a yearly "boat tax" .... immediately followed by approx.
30,000 boat workers losing their jobs when hardly anybody bought any
boats! The infamous 'boat tax' was rescinded after about 4 years but
the US recreational boat building industry had been virtually been
destroyed and still hasn't fully recovered .... 'furriners' have since
taken a major portion of that market share.

BINGO! That )(*!$!! "luxury" tax killed the industry!

Come to think about it, that was about the time they had those decals
where every "yacht" owner had to pay an extra tax each year. I believe
my 21' Macgregor had a "B" or "2" decal on it, so some pretty small
yachts were taxed.

But that tax happened, according to a quick web search, in 90 or '91,
repealed in '93. Other events killed many companies in the late 70s and
the 80s. It was at least partly an economic down turn. The same forces
have been blamed for lower quality glass (as has a fire-retardent
requirement).

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Same thing is going to happen to the pharmaceutical/biotech industry
when Hillary gets elected in 2008.
When she opened her moth in '93 most all the foreign venture capital was
retracted from the US and most viable and wonderful projects left the
USA for Belgium, France, Switzerland, etc. About 40-50,000 Pharm
workers were destroyed in the following 3 weeks of her 'rant'.
Going to happen again, its inevitable ..... sad real, real sad.

"jens teglman" wrote...
Can anybody help me with the following.
We are new to northamerican sailboats, but have done a lot of sailing in
Denmark where the market a dominated by Swedish boats. We want to go from
Vancouver Island to Caribien and don't really know what is good boat for the
trip.Any tip or suggestion welcome
Thanks
Jim

My $.02 about your question, rather than commentary on the U.S.
political system...

Most people will tell you neither boat is adequate for your
intentions. Me, I'd be willing to do it in a Catalina; I'd prefer
something else, but I'd do it in a Catalina. I would *not* cruise with
my family in a Newport, even in the Caribbean.

At the other end of the spectrum, I disagree with the people who
recommend heavy, full-keel boats. Low D/L ratio, high aspect ratio...
that's the way to go.

YMMV,

Frank

Can't speak about the Catalina,,,,,, but I can about the Newport. No
way! And from what I saw, I wouldn't go offshore any farther than I
could swim.

Watched a guy [owner] in a boatyard fixing blisters on his Newport 30.
As he ground the fiberglass down to "good" glass he found that
whoever did the fiberglass layup when it was built left huge areas
where the resin didn't penetrate the fiberglass. He ended up grinding
all the way through to the interior, and had two areas where his
"hole" was the size of a basketball before he got to good glass. Cost
him nearly $20,000 to fix a $10,000 boat.

Go with an "early" [60's & early 70's] fiberglass boat when they
didn't know much about fiberglass so they overbuilt them with really
thick layups. Islander, Pearson, Cape Dory, Alberg, Columbia, Rosten,
etc.

T. Sanders
S/V Cimba


"jens teglman" wrote in message .ca...
Can anybody help me with the following.
We are new to northamerican sailboats, but have done a lot of sailing in
Denmark where the market a dominated by Swedish boats. We want to go from
Vancouver Island to Caribien and don't really know what is good boat for the
trip.Any tip or suggestion welcome
Thanks
Jim