race/cruiser

[Guest]

Has anyone experience in cruising with a boat designed originally for racing? Would like to know your experiences, as I´m considering buying a second hand JOD35, this may sound foolish for some of you but here in the western med we usually suffer from light winds, and I think of a racing boat that can be tamed when the need arises as a possibility for coastal cruising/racing combination. Thanks for your time and help.

 

[davidhand]

I have a Beneteau First 375 (1985) which was marketed as a racer/cruiser in its day. Very conservative by todays standards however. I sailed it up from San Diego to San Francisco, and I sail it every weekend on S.F. Bay. San Francisco typically has afternoon sea breezes around 25 kts with 30+ kts not uncommon. The boat sails just fine and has more than adequate accomodations. One needs to reef at about 20 kts.

 

[billmacfarlane]

I think you'll find David that your boat has a lot more of a cruising fit out than the JOD. I've sailed in a friend's 375 and by today's standard it's more of a cruiser than anything else. He uses his as a pure family cruiser with his wife and children and the boat's really suitable.

 

[billmacfarlane]

If you seriously need a boat to race then the JOD might fit the bill but if you're only interested in cruising than why not get yourself a cruiser with a decent set of light weather sails ?

 

[Twister_Ken]

I don't know the JOD35, but some out and out race boats are not very well thought out for cruising. For example does it have adequate bow rollers and a foredeck cleat for anchoring? Is it equipped with a full cooker, or just a couple of burners? How much water tankage is there? Is there a boarding ladder? Room to stow a dinghy? Can the sails be handled by one or two people or do you need lots of bodies? How comfortable is she to sleep aboard? Does it rely on runners to keep the stick up, giving you something extra to do at every tack and gybe? How well will the sail wardrobe stand up to cruising use (hi-tech sails can have a depressingly short life)? Does it need a bunch of big blokes on the weather rail to go upwind sensibly? Will it float below its marks and thus lose performance when loaded with cruising gear?

 

[vyv_cox]

Good points, Ken. All the racing boats I have ever sailed on were diabolically difficult for a crew of two to handle. Few controls were able to be handled easily, for example no self-tailing winches, no roller furler, no single line reefing.

 

[duncan]

I'll third that. Many one design 'rading boats' were actually designed form the premise that they had to be acceptable cruising boats in order to attract the necessary number of purchasers - who of course wanted to race but couldn't afford to have a boat soley for that.
Buying an out and out racer and 'converting to an acceptable cruiser' is extremely unlikely to be financially sound.

 

[peterb]

And another item for Ken's list: can you reach the sheets (main and fore) from the helm? Having to have an extra person (or two) on deck just to handle the sheets immediately implies racing with large crews.

 

[billmacfarlane]

Peter , practically every French and German cruiser made nowadays has its mainsheet on the coachroof thus making it unreachable from the helm. Ironically some of the Jeanneau Sunfast range has the mainsheet across the cockpit. Therefore the so called "family" boats needs two people to sail them and the "performance" versions can be sailed singlehanded. Crazy isn't it ?

 

[Paulka]

My boat is a typical cruiser - long keeler, 20 years old sails, lot of weghty items on board, full water tanks, dinghy, food and drinks for the years to come, etc - nevertheless, I have tremendous fun taking part to the club regattas.
Of course, I have no pretention to win the local "America's Cup", although the IMS rating gives you a chance to land into the middle of the classification.
When cruising, I'm confortable, don't miss any of my accessories - diving gear, fishing gear, etc - and have tremendous fun as well.

Remember : if there is no wind, that's for all of us, racers and cruisers and even the most sofisticated racers are becalmed ..... then, I cook a good meal, and guess what, as soon as I go for the siesta, the wind comes back!

All the above in the med.

Good luck!

Paul