Nicholson 303 as fast cruiser?

nuvaslacker

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Anyone had experience of the Nicholson 303? The kind of questions I would like to answer include:

1. Are they tender? Do they need a row of crew on the weather rail, or can they stand up to a reasonable area of canvas in a cruising context?

2. How cranky are they on the helm? The well known IOR distortions are present (though they seem to have a substantial bustle under the stern).

3. They won't have the offwind speed of a modern, wide aft hull, but I assume should be quite rapid sailers (Ron Holland design, after all)?

4. Has anyone access to a stability curve? They are based on the Nicholson 30 racer, which had a very poor vanishing stability point (Fastnet 79), but with a much larger coach roof (this should alter the curve beyond 100deg).

I am interested in hearing from those who have experienced this model or similar vessels; many of the excellent contributors to this forum will consider even stepping on such a boat to be utter madness, but, as they say, de gustibus non disputandum est.
 
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