The key to deciding what sort of a design is required, the type of systems, and the compromises to be made (there are always lots of them!) is to be realistic about cruising plans. In our case, we’ve decided we do not want to give up long-range cruising. Quite the contrary, we now want to do more of it than we’ve been doing recently. But at the same time we know that we will not be doing this full-time-there are too many constraints on our lives at this point.

Our pattern with BEOWULF has been to plan for a nice leisurely cruise, move the boat several thousand miles (we enjoy being at sea), spend a few weeks in the new cruising grounds, and then return to the land while the boat was stored for a (theoretically) short period. The problem is that each time we’ve done this over the past three years some event conspired to delay our return to the boat until it was late in the local cruising season, and it was time to move on.

One of the issues with this scenario is the time spent putting BEOWULF into storage, and then waking her up when we returned. This usually takes a couple of days on each end of the cycle. Add a day or two of travel time, and it quickly becomes apparent that quick trips back and forth were not very efficient.

While we’d like to think our pattern will change, and that we’ll spend longer periods cruising, the reality is that we don’t want to be away from family for more than two or three months at a time. So this short-use cycle is here to stay, and we might as well admit it.

Another factor is age and physical abilities. Maybe this has something to do with finally growing up. As much as I hate to admit it-we are not the same physical specimens we were five years ago. Yes, we have a regular workout regimen, and we’re both in pretty good shape, but there are little twinges here and there which are beginning to be felt.

We both like sailing fast. We enjoy the immense feeling of satisfaction that comes with making an efficient passage-OK, smoking across the ocean at a high rate of speed. It is a huge rush of adrenaline to have a 78-foot powerhouse like BEOWULF cranked up with big reachers on both spars or the twin spinnakers set. Even better is that just the two of us-grandparents yet-are BEOWULF’s only crew. Six thousand square feet of sail divided by two crew, going 16 knots in a 20 knot breeze is a real “fix” if you are a sailing junky. But there comes a time when the grandparents have to get the spinnakers down. This often occurs at night, with the sky to weather blacked out by a fast-approaching big squall. Things can happen quickly. Errors in timing can be made. And our sail handling is slowing down. Bottom line, we’re getting to the point where this type of aggressive sailing is no longer prudent.

The paragraph above has to be understood in the context of how we’ve been using BEOWULF’s abilities during her many long passages. She’s a wonderful power boat, with speeds and range under power no trawler of similar size can match. And we’ve not been shy about using the engine. In fact, over the past three years probably half or more of all our sea time has been under power. Of the periods under sail, 90 percent has been an efficient means of getting from point A to B, and the sailing was secondary. Of the remaining 10 percent, half has been good fun and half has been unmitigated joy. It is the latter which made the entire process of part-time boat usage, and the frustrations associated therewith, worthwhile.

The conundrum comes when you subtract that portion of the sailing which involves the free flying sails and incredible speeds achieved thereby. Take this out of the equation and what do we have? An efficient motor sailor.

Here’s where we’re at :

1-We want to continue crossing oceans. 2-We want to keep cruising, but with the understanding that this will be in short-increments.

3-We need a boat which is easy to put to bed for long periods of storage, easy to wake up, about which we do not have to worry when we are away. 4-We are ready to admit that our days of sailing with huge spinnakers and free flying reachers are behind us.

OK-got that off our chest and written down. What about the boat itself? Here are the parameters:

1-It has to be easy to handle and usable on our own for the next ten years (until we’re in our 70s). 2-We want to be able to make long passages comfortably, at close to the same speeds we are now used to with BEOWULF.

3-Heavy weather capability has to be paramount in the design (as it has always been in the past). This mean running off before storms in big seas or heading into them when conditions warrant. Capsize resistance must be at the top of the design parameters list. 4-If we can work shallow draft into the equation, this would be very cool.

5-The boat needs to be simple enough to operate that one of us can handle it in any conditions if the other is incapacitated.

What sort of a boat fulfills these needs? We’ll tell you next week in which direction this design process is taking us.