If you pay even the slightest attention to the shape of the sailboats on the water, in marinas, or at boat shows, you are sure to have noticed that transoms are getting wider. much wider. To illustrate this, I compared the outlines of three models from the respected German builder HanseYachts AG.
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Thanks for the interesting and informative read!
Thanks for the article, very informative. I wonder what is your opinion regarding sailing downwind in heavy weather with huge waves with a cruising crew. Something like cruising East to West in the Atlantic with winds above 30kts and big rollers. Which design is easier to steer the boat and which design is safer?
Thanks,
Gian Luca
I recall “sailing” my Krogen 42 trawler in the ocean in heavy seas with its bathtub rounded stern (almost canoe)… much better than a flat transom boat.
Excellent take on the subject, thanks a lot. Also, just a must nowadays is walk through transom with some shape for sitting a bit. Classical classical designs just are cumbersome, and already mentioned the aft cabin and storage.
The man who invented the sugar scoop! A single hander’s hero. On my Beneteau 343 I would back in with the midship line led to the stern gate, hop off and secure the line at the midship cleat, where I had left dangling the fore and aft lines so I could grab whichever end was drifting off. Thank you thank you!
You are far too kind to the pizza boats (shape). You do mention that the flat hulls are slower in light wind, which hardly anyone else mentions. However the flat ride at anchor seems a lot less useful when you consider the seasick inducing movement in even moderate winds. A previous poster asks about handling in heavy seas, and that is a very good point. Just think about the geometry and going down a wave at an angle, and which boat is more likely to broach or pitchpole.
Most current builders proudly proclaim the stiffness of their boats. However, there are two kinds of stiffness in a boat: the stiffness of its construction, and the stiffness of it sailing in the wind. You have pointed out that cruisers have borrowed a lot from racers, and not necessarily to their advantage. This is a case in point. Builders and their salesmen point to the wide stern and flat chines and say “this is a stiff boat,” as if that were a good thing in a cruiser. It’s a good thing in a racer that can plane— and as you point out most cruisers can’t and won’t. That sort of stiffness is good for speed, definitely not for cruising, because it means the boat will snap back-and-forth very quickly and barfily (new word) in a seaway.
Cruisers want stiffness in construction, and from touring the big selling names at boat shows I can say few are providing it. There is nothing wrong with a Beneteau (et al) on the bay or the sound and on the hook. They are perfect for lots of people. But they are not blue water cruisers nor are they racing boats. Why isn’t “ the perfect coastal cruiser” considered a marketable product?
I hope I run into you kicking around on the Georgia Strait. I owe you a lot.
Scott
Skyedancer, Vancouver
This was a absolutely great and fun read… I learned a lot.
As long as you stay close to land and can avert storms, this boat might be fine. But the wide beam and transom coupled with light displacement means that it will be prone to capsize, have a low range of positive stability, implying that once it capsizes it will turtle. In short, a nice boat at the dock to entertain, but don’t venture too far off the coast unless you like to live (or die) upside down.