What's the worst sailing boat?

[PabloPicasso]

Ok a very subjective thread. What's the worst sailing boat you've been on and why was it so bad?

It's the sailing properties inherent to the boat/design I'm interested in, not the attitude of skipper/owner/crew.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Dabbler dinghy. Wouldn't make progress to windward at all. Centre of effort of sails far away from centre of lateral resistance. Completely hopeless.

 

[Sandy Bottom]

The sailing qualities (in terms of speed at least) of Sir Alec Rose's 'Lively Lady' where not good (I used to look after her) - That's why I have such huge admiration for the man - a 'Sir' indeed!

That is NOT to say that she is a bad boat - just to say that compared with say Gypsy Moth and the like Sir Alec set himself a challenge with that boat for that task!

 

[Stemar]

There were a couple of Oppies at our regatta used for some fun activities. One of them seemed to be crewed by kids (up to 40) with no idea until one of them managed to capsize it, when a good part of the dagger board floated away...

 

[langstonelayabout]

My brother had one of these: http://www.sailboatstogo.com/content/Sea_Snark_Sailboat in the mid 1970s. It sailed pleasantly but carrying a passenger resulted in the completely Styrofoam/polystyrene hull breaking completely in half. Laugh, I almost fell into the local harbour.

Later, in the early 80's, my dad bought one of these: http://www.cvrda.org/dinghydata/Seabat.htm Seabat dinghies for me (I never thought he hated me that much... Sorry Dad). It was sloooooow. When re-rigged with a topper rig it was less slow. Fitted with either rig it leaked badly and after a few years in my parents' back garden it fell foul to fiends and I testing our new-found motocross boots

Both boats were dreadful 'easy access to the water' car toppable things. I'm sure there is a message there.

 

[Halcyon Yachts]

I couldn't possibly comment - (the owner might be reading this!)

Pete

 

[dunedin]

Decades ago we hired a sailing dinghy in Yugoslavia (yes the original semi-comunist original). Was hired in a small bay with an onshore wind. After 30 minutes had failed to get out of the bay, not impressing my new wife.
Back ashore and a full re-rig (as often needed in uni team racing,) plus moving the centreboard to go further forward we managed to get out and have a nice sail in the sunshine of what is now the Croatian sailing paradise.

None of the other boat hirers got out of the bay, that day or the rest of the week.

It's amazing what can be done with some rope and basic tuning knowledge

 

[Keen_Ed]

Bosun dinghy. Ridiculously heavy, crazy long boom with massive sheet loads. Awful.

 

[LittleSister]

Bosun dinghy. Ridiculously heavy, crazy long boom with massive sheet loads. Awful.

No! My first ever sail was in a Bosun dinghy - one of the most exciting and inspiring moments in my life.

 

[Twister_Ken]

This thing...

... a Clovelly Piccarooner. Wouldn't go to windward, tacked like a dog on lino, but plenty of room for two kids, madame, self and a picnic basket.

Otherwise a Swan 57 sloop. A dog. Apparently designed as a ketch, when it was offered as a sloop, Nautor just stuck a bigger mast in it. So the balance was bad. Slow through the tack, then really bear away to build up speed, slowly creep up, but it would never point like its competitors. On the plus side, it did have a wine cellar.

 

[JumbleDuck]

The Skipper Mariner (later the Skipper 17 and even later the Eagle 525) my father bought in, I think, 1973. Lovely big cockpit, sorry cabin, horrible lee helm. Ours was the prototype, and in am sure they must have tweaked things later because the design lasted a long time in production.

The Ferranti Boat I have for sail (make me an offer) is bad in light winds without the jib. It uses a Mirror rig, but without the alternative mast steps. With a jib, or in fresher winds it's fine.

 

[dom]

The sailing qualities (in terms of speed at least) of Sir Alec Rose's 'Lively Lady' where not good (I used to look after her) - That's why I have such huge admiration for the man - a 'Sir' indeed!

That is NOT to say that she is a bad boat - just to say that compared with say Gypsy Moth and the like Sir Alec set himself a challenge with that boat for that task!

On that note, any idea where she's gone? ...no longer at Port Solent it would seem.

 

[KINGFISHER 9]

On that note, any idea where she's gone? ...no longer at Port Solent it would seem.

Last time I saw her was the end of May, ashore at Port Solent, looking very neglected paint flaking off, seams opening etc .. horrible sight. Sir Alec would be whirling in his grave! The poor old boat needs a saviour ... or maybe someone could suggest to whoever owns her they might donate her to the Maritime Museum.

 

[doug748]

Maybe the Mohawk:

"The next significant equalizing event came in 1876, when the American centerboard schooner Mohawk capsized and sank in a sudden but relatively moderate squall off Staten Island in New York Harbor. The boat's owner, Will Garner, his wife, and a party of guests were killed in the incident.

Mohawk, an extreme example of the skimming-dish type, was intended by Garner to be the largest, fastest, most opulent yacht in the NYYC fleet. She was 141 feet long, 30 feet wide, and had a draft of just 6 feet that increased to 30 feet when she dropped her massive 7-ton centerboard. She flew an amazing 32,000 square feet of sail area. The fact that she could not stand up to all her sail in spite of her great beam helped fuel arguments that the wide, shallow yachts favored in the United States were fundamentally unsafe. It did not help either, of course, that Mohawk was slower than Garner had hoped and proved a dud on the race course."

The Modern Cruising Sailboat - Doane

 

[dom]

Last time I saw her was the end of May, ashore at Port Solent, looking very neglected paint flaking off, seams opening etc .. horrible sight. Sir Alec would be whirling in his grave! The poor old boat needs a saviour ... or maybe someone could suggest to whoever owns her they might donate her to the Maritime Museum.

Interesting, I noticed it was ageing rapidly after last year's winter. All of the bunting from the charity which supported the boat has now been removed from what has for many years now been its permanent home in front of the Sir Alec Rose pub. Up on the hard it will, if left untreated, inevitably dry and split and then the fresh water will commence the rotting process ...very sad as you say.

 

[Fantasie 19]

No! My first ever sail was in a Bosun dinghy - one of the most exciting and inspiring moments in my life.

Yep - racked up most of my early hours in Bosuns which I used to borrow from HMS Dolphin (my Dad was a submariner based there) - sailing single handed in Pompey Harbour as a 14 year old, you can't even imagine it these days...

 

[johnalison]

I used to own a little moulded ply pram made by Prouts. It was great fun to sail with its cat rig but simply wouldn't go about without the dagger-board being half-raised.

The least rewarding cruiser I have sailed was a friend's Trapper 501 bilge keel. It sort of went alright but it was a bit like sailing a barge and didn't seem to know where it wanted to go. Added to this, none of the equipment worked well and simply raising and lowering sails was a pain. The owner is an old friend, so don't tell him.

 

[Wansworth]

Last time I saw her was the end of May, ashore at Port Solent, looking very neglected paint flaking off, seams opening etc .. horrible sight. Sir Alec would be whirling in his grave! The poor old boat needs a saviour ... or maybe someone could suggest to whoever owns her they might donate her to the Maritime Museum.

.I..should be sold to an individual who will look after her...... most historic boats looked after by a committee fall into disrepair..... and dispair

 

[michael_w]

Worst boat I've ever sailed is a St Mawes One Design.

A very heavy 16' log (or dog) Designed by Frank Peters, local worthy, famous for his rowing boats. I think the OD is the only sailing boat he ever did and it shows. The fleet isn't very one design as the cast iron centerboard position varies by a foot or so. The result being some boats have chronic lee helm (the one SWMBO used to own) or arm wrenching weather helm; that is until the tub leans over a few degrees and the rudder comes out of the water...

Strange rig with diamonds and no spreaders, impossible to tension as the hull and deck bends; not to mention the rubber boom. The people who sail these horrors, who have never sailed anything else, think they are wonderful.

 

[dom]

For me the worst boat I've ever sailed has to have been the Irish Leprechaun -- a dumpy Irish 470 type contraption that weighed about a ton and was utter rubbish to sail; I had a crack in one once in Blessington Sailing Club in Wicklow. It was even worse than the aforementioned "Bathtub" Skipper!