Is there a perfect boat for me?

[Concerto]

Do full keels slam upwind? Thats not something I have heard before ?

Generally no due to the higher weight, longer bow overhang, and deeper Vee fore foot. Not all fin with balanced rudder (with no skeg) slam to windward. My Fulmar is almost impossible to slam and it has a very small skeg. She tends to sit in the water, rather than on the water. These photos show the nice hull shape and how deep the boat sits in the water - exactly where the antifouling stops.





In these photos Concerto is 41 years old, so not a very modern design.

When I spoke to the designer, Ed Dubois, a few years ago before he died, he said it was still one of his favourite designs as everything just felt right. This also applied to the interior and the layout stayed the same during the 11 year build period, with the exception of a few trial aft cabin versions that were built during the first year but did not sell well, maybe Westerly were too far ahead of the market!

 

[SailingDog]

Idly speaking there you have it.
What kind of sailing do you want to do, how much do you have to spend.

Ask your question of three sailors or three boat owners and you'll get 5 different answers.

 

[geem]

Deleted. Wasn't beaten to it?

 

[LittleSister]

Isn't the perfect boat always either -
(a) the one you're thinking of getting next, or
(b) the one you sold two boats ago?

 

[ashtead]

We are a more modern Bill Dixon design - not super heavy at 9.8 t but we don’t slam - must admit I have found it was an issue on older Bavaria of the 2000 era . It might be just the model we had though.

 

[steve yates]

mine doesn't.

No, neither does my mates twister, just digs in and flies ( well, 6knots, feels like its flying )
i didnt think they do, just wondered if i was labouring under a misapprehension all this time.

 

[rotrax]

Our long keel Island Packet SP Cruiser has 'slammed' a few times in the almost 15,000 NM's we have covered in her. She weighs in at almost 17 tons full of fuel and water, 8KW genset, ballast for the genset and all the tools, spares and cruising gear on board.

When she slams it is because she has fallen into a hole, due to us being out when we really should be alongside.

Operator error, not the boats fault.

We were on a Bavaria once. That was very noisy and 'slammy' in wind over tide off Cowes. In the same conditions our boat would have been silent.

The Bav was faster, lighter, much more manouverable.

But noisy at sea from slamming in moderate conditions.

Horses for courses. Bavaria's are fine boats, but quite lightly built and a different underwater shape compared to our choice.

 

[Stemar]

My friend's Dufour 385 slammed under power in Chichester Harbour in a 12" chop. That wasn't the only reason it wasn't my favourite boat, but it certainly didn't help. Oddly, it handled F7 mid-channel with a lot less fuss, or maybe the wind and sea were from the right direction.