Hi! Is there anyone who could tell me where i could find the angle of limit stability or angle of vanishing for a morgan 382 or a cal 39? Thank you! – Jacques

Dear Steve and Linda: Having discovered SetSail site, I want to tell you what a terrific boat you have designed in the Wind Horse. What I found particularly interesting is your break up with the dominant design rules of cruising power boats, e.g., trawlers.

While my limited budget allows me only to dream of Wind Horse, I am myself involved with pushing ahead my own dreams of ocean cruising. Having known your work, I have already given up my trawler-oriented mindset and I am rethinking the entire issue considering the canoe-like hull proposition you so beautifully materialised in Wind Horse.

Having said this, I’d like to know your comments on two points.

-according to the equation of displacement hull speed (1.2 times sqrt water level length in feet, am I correct?), a 85 feet-long boat could achieve a max speed of around 11 knots. But boats often go far beyond these limits, as are good examples your own designs. So, I confess I’m puzzled. Could you, please, shed some light on the issue?

-have you ever considered adding lifting hydrofoils to your designs (I think about Wind Horse) not, of course, to turn them into 60-knot-out-of-the-water rocket-boats, but to reduce their displacement and wetted area by say, 30%, so increasing speed & range? I think of hydrofoils added, say, to the keel and skegs, in order to compensate for, say, 30% of the vessel’s weight, or displacement, and adding to stability as a bonus benefit. Is this way wrong? If so, could you point the problems with it?

Thank you for your attention. Best regards, Francisco

Hi Steve, As part of researching for a suitable boat I’ve read the articles about keel and foil design at www.vacantisw.com as well as your description of using a NACA 0000 foil shape with a 15% foil section in Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia. Can you tell me in general terms how much a foil shaped keel improves boat performance compared to one that has no foil, ie. the sides of the keel are parallel? Is this difference enough to warrant keeping away from boats without foil keels? Thx, DM

Dear Linda and Steve, We first heard about you two in the Mahina Cruising seminar given in San Francisco this past March by John and Amanda Neal. It was a great seminar and your books were prominently displayed and talked about during their seminar.

We are just about ready to take off for five or so years on a cruising journey which we hope will include the Med, Caribbean and South Pacific. More if time allows. I (Glenn) have been boating/sailing since the age of 12 and am now the ripe old age of 52. I grew up sailing on Puget Sound, the San Juans and Canadian waters and sail/race J-105’s in the San Francisco fleet. The two of us have chartered all kinds of sail and power boats in California, the Caribbean, and Mexico.

Because we understand that you sail on a 78-footer Beowulf, we thought you could help us with a dilemma we are currently experiencing. We are looking to purchase a boat in the very near future. Two boats are under serious consideration. One is a new Hylas 54. The other is a used Farr 63 built in 1999. Both are cutter-rigged, center cockpit pilothouse models. Both are loaded with the latest in nav and electronic gear. Both have in-mast furling mains and a bow thruster. My wife likes the smaller Hylas, thinking that it will be easier to sail shorthanded (just the two of us most of the time). I like the larger Farr which is a bit roomier, has a bit better sailing performance overall and will be more sea kindly with the longer waterline length. The biggest ISSUE is draft. My wife thinks the 9-foot draft on the Farr will keep us away from many tropical locations where we may want to anchor/moor the boat. I say the difference between the Farr’s -foot draft and the Hylas’ 7′2′" draft is negligible and that it would affect less than 5% of the places we’d like to go. For instance, we chartered a Hylas 54 in the BVI and barely were able to join other boats anchored on the south side of Annegada Island where the depth water was 8 feet. We assume the draft on Beowulf is at least 9 feet. Do you feel limited in where you can cruise??

Any thoughts or opinions would be greatly appreciated if you have the time to respond. We look forward to using your reference materials. Kind Regards, Glenn and Linda

Hello Steve. First off thanks for writing the Encyclopedia. It was a driving force in getting my wife and I to buy a boat and sail the West Coast from Vancouver to Mexico.

We are now looking to move up in size from our Roberts 44 to potentially an Irwin 52. These boats are rare on the West Coast and abundant on the Southeast Coast. They have 2 keel configs – one has a centerboard and shoal draft of 5′6", and the other is a fixed keel with a draft of 7 feet. I have no experience with big boats with centerboards, and would value your opinion on their merit when going to windward? What do you think of Irwins?

Thanks a bundle, Tony

Hello and thank you,

Over ten years ago I read of Sundeer 64′ and bought the video and watched it over and over again. I dreamed my wife and I were owners of such a boat thousands of times. Being just regular people, a police officer and stay-at-home mom, we’ll never likely have the means for such an acquisition. Now I see Beowulf and am THUNDER STRUCK. I think if GOD The Father, Son and Holy Spirit decide to sail a human-made vessel, it will be Beowulf. It is as close to perfect as mere mortals can produce. You MAY do a newer sailing design in future days, and it MAY be different here and there, but I can not imagine it could be better. Please continue your work of supplying the able people with such fine boats. We dreamers can always use more "fuel". And those with the financial means to become owners of your creations will be very well satisfied with their fine decisions to do just that. {Three-hundred miles per day…it almost seems to defy the laws of physics.}

With gratitude, encouragement and best regards,
John M

P.S. Hello again, I forgot to ask, I thought you two were steadfast REAR COCKPITTERS! What made you put Beowulf’s cockpit in the CENTER? Cordially, John

Hi Steve, I’ve just found your website and have a couple of questions. I live on a 1977 40ft Cheoy Lee ketch. It is quite spacious and has a full keel. I couldn’t help noticing that you don’t mention Cheoy Lee’s anywhere on your web. Do you see this as a good cruiser and is a full keel better in weather? Thanks, Todd

Hi Steve, I read that you felt at one time your Sundeer 56/60 was one of your best designs. After your experience with Beowulf, are there any significant changes that you would make to that boat? A better question is if you were going to design a similar sized boat today, what would it be like? Thank you, Downing Mears

I realize this must be the single most common question you hear, but I cannot find it on your FAQ page. What are your recommendations on rig type and boat size for a cruising couple? We currently have a Frers 41, but want to move aboard and go offshore indefinitely – so we are looking at other boats. When we cruise now – which is every available moment (we do not race), our boat is stuffed with all manner of gear, supplies, bikes, books etc. Our gear wish list is long, and provisioning for a long journey… Personally we love split rigs, and are very inclined towards a marconi rigged schooner we have seen. My concerns are handling a large boat (60′) with my wife, and of course maintenance costs. Any pointers you may be able to give us would be much appreciated. Thank you for all the information you have published. Alex & Daria Blackwell

We are looking at buying a 1983 Alden with two centerboards. I’m familiar with one board but not two. The boat draws 5′ 4" BU and 11′ 8" BD. What is your advice on this arrangement. Thanks, Rod and Lucinda

Dear Steve, It has been while since I last connected with you–in fact it was 2000 prior to the Bermuda race. By the way, INTERMEZZO now FUERA did quite well. In any case the reason why I am writing to you is because I am now working with Bill Tripp Jr. to figure out the true history and facts on how to bring her back to her original state. I thought you might be able to help me separate history from folklore–fact from fiction. I am not sure if she was a ketch or a yawl, you reference in one of your books that she was a ketch, but we are not sure. Do you have any before pictures that you could share with me? Many people who think they are in the know think that she was hull number one. We are convinced that the bow sprit was not part of the original sail plan. Any help sorting any of this out would be very much appreciated. Best regards, Fred

Steve, Thank you for responding so fast to my e-mail. I have many questions which seem to be answered several different ways by as many people. It is always a pleasure to have some one like yourself to give input. I still am interested in a boat, I thought a motorsailer since I will be in Alaska most the time. But several people have been talking against them if one was ever to truly sail in the open ocean, small on deck structures etc is preferred as to a pilot house. Although I have found the open ocean, hundred miles off shore to be calmer in the long run than the inshore tides etc… (I have skipped tugs across the gulf of Alaska several times). I anxiously await your response. Cheers, Spike

Hi Steve. With a 36 foot waterline, wouldn’t the boat (at least theoretically) have a hull design speed of about 8 knots? [sqrt 36 = 6 x 1.34 = 8.02] Do you find that such boats won’t sail at the design speed? Sidney

My question is this. I feel that BEOWULF is too big for me. I don’t really want to deal with so many sails and the cost and effort to maintain, dock, haul, paint, etc. a 78-foot ketch, even if I have to go a little slower. I expect that, as in the past, you can’t help but always be thinking about how you might build a successor to your current yacht. Historically your yachts have always gotten bigger, but I was wondering if you had ever given any consideration to a new design, maybe in the 50-foot range, for those of us that are a little less aggressive in our cruising requirements than are you and Linda. A boat like the Farr 50 Pilothouse seems to have interesting design characteristics but I have not test sailed one because it doesn’t have sufficient headroom for me and I don’t want to waste their time. Because I am 6′3″ tall, and refuse to have to duck anywhere on my own boat,I require an absolute minimum of 6′6″ headroom throughout, including heads and showers. After many years of trying to find a boat in the 48-53-foot that is based on the design characteristics that you have pioneered, with an attractive pilothouse and an interior that is designed for both voyaging and live aboard, I am finally giving serious consideration to custom building a boat. I have eschewed this option until now for fear of making a mistake and owning a white elephant, which I can ill afford, but it seems that no production builder is going to build my dream boat for me while I am still young enough to use it. Whether you are interested in such project, or might suggest a couple of yacht designers whom you favor, I would appreciate your thoughts. Jeff