Dear Dashews: A quite wonderful website. The most interesting and informative I have ever come across in any field of interest. I shall certainly be buying some or all of your books. In the meantime, a word of advice, if you have time: I noted your comments about one of the Beneteau designs. First question: do you have a view as to the suitability of the Oceanis 473 for deepwater cruising? It seems to me to be quite a lot of boat for the money in this part of the world (UK) – compared for instance with the clearly excellent but extremely pricey Hallberg-Rassey equivalent. Second question: conceivably you might think single-handed offshore cruising to be inadvisable, but would the 473 lend itself to that, if suitably set up? Third question: do you rate the boom furling equipment now available? – I am thinking in particular of a New Zealand design the name of which I have forgotten but have seen in action. It seems pretty handy and of course permits a a fully-battened main with a decent roach. With kind regards and deep admiration, Neil
Hi Neil: 1-All of the high volume light displacement (charter inspired) designs have certain advantages and shortcomings. On the plus side, they cost less to build and offer a lot of interior room – and they don’t sail that badly in protected waters. However, in heavy weather they are difficult to control, and often have problems with capsize recovery. There are a couple of reports from the MAIB in the UK in our Surviving the Storm on this subject. I’m not sure I would want to be stuck in a fall gale in Biscay or a Norther in the Gulf Stream in one of these boats. But good seamanship (and luck) will overcome a lot.
2-We look at single handing and sailing as a couple in the same light – one person has to be able to do it all. You can easily do this without getting overly fancy – we prefer slab reefing to any of the integral systems – on a boat of the size range you are discussing (or substantially larger).
3-I have no direct experience with in boom or in mast furling gear, and have been able to dissuade all of our clients from going in that direction. However, there are apparently some good systems out there. But you do need to use it carefully or fouls will result (boom angle to the wind and the horizontal angle are both important). Good Luck – Steve
Posted by Steve Dashew (November 30, 1999)
