Choosing for blue water

Seems strange that he includes the PDQ range of catamarans for offshore cruising, when they're almost universally considered to be generally unsuitable for that.
 
geem said:
Interesting that his list of boats has Moodys as moderate quality.
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Well he doesn't even list Beneteau, Bavaria, or the American Hunters, so the list is such that being middling on there is not too bad.

But any list that has Malo, Vindo, Rustler, Morris, Hinkley as 'well built' can only have Moodys, Westerlies and Catalinas as 'moderately well built'. There has to be some differentiation.

And finally, to an American, using cast iron for the keel material is a sign of cost cutting and compromised quality. They'll never understand why anyone purporting to be a quality boatbuilder would use a material that is not very heavy, rusts and precludes the use of quality bronze keel bolts.
 
The only Westerlies in the list are the "26" and "43". Personally I wouldn't choose a centaur as a blue water yacht. YMMV. And they only built 10 Ocean 43s compared with 42 sealords and 112 oceanlords.
 
I also found the Centaur an odd choice unless you are a Mr Roger Taylor who customises and rebuilds everything.

As an owner of an LM27 I have been debating seaworthyness for extended passages and viewed this thread seeking tips for smaller cruisers. I certainly didnt expect to see an LM27 listed as suitable. Its rugged enough but it has various flaws that make it vulnerable to flooding in knockdown or wave breaking over cockpit. Lack of bridge deck, stern bulkhead incomplete in not rising to underside of deck, inadequate cockpit drain with only 3 inch of freeboard at drain. Nothing I cant fix given time, and nothing I wont fix or at least improve but still a flaw.
 
Mmmmmm

Anyone who finds that article useful is not ready to go cruising offshore IMHO.
 
oldmanofthehills said:
I also found the Centaur an odd choice unless you are a Mr Roger Taylor who customises and rebuilds everything.

As an owner of an LM27 I have been debating seaworthyness for extended passages and viewed this thread seeking tips for smaller cruisers. I certainly didnt expect to see an LM27 listed as suitable. Its rugged enough but it has various flaws that make it vulnerable to flooding in knockdown or wave breaking over cockpit. Lack of bridge deck, stern bulkhead incomplete in not rising to underside of deck, inadequate cockpit drain with only 3 inch of freeboard at drain. Nothing I cant fix given time, and nothing I wont fix or at least improve but still a flaw.
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That is perhaps because the author is looking through one way rose coloured spectacles and sees anything with a canoe type stern from Scandinavia as a Colin Archer lookalike and therefore perfect for bluewater sailing,

You have to remember that many americans are in the dark ages as to boat design. You can see from the list and comments that little designed or even built after 1980 is considered suitable.

That is also why it is posted here as representative of the thinking of some posters - even though a large (majority?) growing number of voyagers use boats that are not on this list.
 
Tranona said:
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- even though a large (majority?) growing number of voyagers use boats that are not on this list.
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Just check the boats in the Azores marinas, which have probably gone through a couple of transats and possibly some serious weather, I'd say probably 10-20% are of the type described in that site, the majority are production boats, with some relevant percentage of boats (self built, rusted steel, end of life grp, etc etc) which I personnally would not feel comfortable in having a days sail, yet sometimes they come from very, very far away.
I think a *lot* more can be gained from preparation of the crew, than by choosing one type of boat than another.
 
Roberto said:
Just check the boats in the Azores marinas, which have probably gone through a couple of transats and possibly some serious weather, I'd say probably 10-20% are of the type described in that site, the majority are production boats, with some relevant percentage of boats (self built, rusted steel, end of life grp, etc etc) which I personnally would not feel comfortable in having a days sail, yet sometimes they come from very, very far away.
I think a *lot* more can be gained from preparation of the crew, than by choosing one type of boat than another.
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+1

Also if you go to the Pacific you see a different variety of boats. West coast sailors tend to have an even more nostalgic outlook. When I had some involvement in the marine market there a few years ago the "must have" ocean voyager was the Westsail (or was it Wetsail?) 32.
 
Tranona said:
+1

Also if you go to the Pacific you see a different variety of boats. West coast sailors tend to have an even more nostalgic outlook. When I had some involvement in the marine market there a few years ago the "must have" ocean voyager was the Westsail (or was it Wetsail?) 32.
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I was in the Pacific side, San Francisco; the yachting community was healthy but I was surprised to see that, overall, yacht design was very conservative in comparison to European designs and varieties.
 
>Seems strange that he includes the PDQ range of catamarans for offshore cruising, when they're almost universally considered to be generally unsuitable for that.

We saw a number of Prout catamarans in the Caribbean that had crossed the Atlantic.
 
KellysEye said:
>Seems strange that he includes the PDQ range of catamarans for offshore cruising, when they're almost universally considered to be generally unsuitable for that.

We saw a number of Prout catamarans in the Caribbean that had crossed the Atlantic.
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Catamarans are fine but have you been on a PDQ catamaran - of course it had aged but even so it was probably the most charming and ramshackle craft I've ever been on. It felt like it would come apart gently leaving everybody floating around in the warm water in a state of bliss.
 
RupertW said:
Catamarans are fine but have you been on a PDQ catamaran - of course it had aged but even so it was probably the most charming and ramshackle craft I've ever been on. It felt like it would come apart gently leaving everybody floating around in the warm water in a state of bliss.
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They shouldnt use drugs at sea.......
 
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