Nautical
Well-Known Member
Correct, its all to do with hull design and how the whole package is put together, you can get great SD's and some pig awful ones which just about goes for all hulls really.
I would choose a beamier SD in a following sea as you have more bouyancy midships so if you get quartered and the following sea is doing its best to roll you over you have more chance of staying upright. Also as you crest a large wave a beamier boat will balance better as some of the a water falls away for'd and aft, a really narrow beam such as an older Nelson tends to almost sink into the crest and if you get caught in a breaking crest it can have the boat unbalanced for a moment. A beam of only 1:4 (one quarter of the length of the boat) makes for a very rock and roll ride beam on and can have you dragging your gunwales all the time and more prone to being knocked down. Some try to correct this tendancy by beefing up the weight in the keel, down side is it also acts like a counter weight in a grandfather clock so more rock and roll.
I would choose a beamier SD in a following sea as you have more bouyancy midships so if you get quartered and the following sea is doing its best to roll you over you have more chance of staying upright. Also as you crest a large wave a beamier boat will balance better as some of the a water falls away for'd and aft, a really narrow beam such as an older Nelson tends to almost sink into the crest and if you get caught in a breaking crest it can have the boat unbalanced for a moment. A beam of only 1:4 (one quarter of the length of the boat) makes for a very rock and roll ride beam on and can have you dragging your gunwales all the time and more prone to being knocked down. Some try to correct this tendancy by beefing up the weight in the keel, down side is it also acts like a counter weight in a grandfather clock so more rock and roll.
