What's the worst sailing boat?

[Rivers & creeks]

Well and I am going to stick my neck out. I grew up sailing on my Dads Macwester 26. This boat was great experience for me. It taught me what I didn't want in my own future boat. I didn't want an inboard two stroke petrol engine. I didn't want a boat with no spray hood. I didn't want gutless windward performance. I didn't want huge weather helm. I don't want wind around the boom reefing where you had to throw a sail bag in there to take out the baggy bits. It was a truly great experiences of lots of negatives. The only positive is the Macwester 26 has a loo bigger than a Boing 747 but it still had no wash hand basin. Come to think of it, we had no vhf or log. We did have a whizzy round depth sounder though. Still managed Anglesey to Southern Ireland and Isle of Mann a few times without all that electricery. The good old days........

No need to worry about sticking your neck out - that Mac26 is far worse than the other Mac26 so irrationally disliked on the forums. The Macgregor is a thought through concept that works at what it's designed to do, but the Macwester was an ill conceived lump that neither sailed nor motored. Huge wetted area, diminutive stubby little keels, short rig, under sized asthmatic engine, poor use of internal space. The sailing was somewhat sorted with the 27 and fitting a 15hp diesel will make it motor reasonably well.

 

[jwilson]

I know they bring great joy to many, but I did not enjoy my sail in a Drascombe Lugger. I was sailing a pretty tired example, and it was blowing pretty hard, but all the same, it was not a satisfying experience, despite my own penchant for sailing fairly innefficent boats in a variety of rigs, including Lune Whammels and Pilots which are no more efficent, but just much more satisfying to sail.

I too used to really like the idea of a Drascombe lugger - till I sailed one.

 

[Serin]

I too used to really like the idea of a Drascombe lugger - till I sailed one.

We had a Drascombe scaffie and I rather enjoyed both its positively biblical simplicity and it's sailing qualities off the wind. On the wind was another matter, but you just had to learn some different techniques.

 

[Pete7]

I've been on a M26, at the London Boat Show!
Lot of hard sell but I resisted
.

I saw a YouTube video of one in heavy sea and high winds promoting it's sailing "qualities", remarkable if true.

Met one on Friday evening at the Needles, looked like he had just come across the channel and was headed for Poole. Brave I thought.

Pete

 

[Serin]

Met one on Friday evening at the Needles, looked like he had just come across the channel and was headed for Poole. Brave I thought.

Pete

No reason why not. We have friends who have had one for many years and traveled widely with it. They may be a slow and lacking in windward ability, but they are pretty seaworthy. And there's at least one of the smaller sort - the Macwester 22 - that has made a circumnavigation.

 

[Seabat]

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.

I owned a wooden Seabat from 1970 - and still have it. Being so light it readily planes, and the low centre of effort suits a light crew - and reefing was unnecessary. Alas I don't weigh 8st any more. The flat deck is fine for a youngster, but rather tiring for me nowdays. On a reach or broad reach it'd keep pace with Fireballs (without spinnaker), but of course they'd lose me going to windward. And to windward I'd adopt a lot of heel so the chine cut the water, else the flattish panels would slap, and the angled deck became more comfortable. Close-hauled I'd sit on the windward gunwale mounted toe-straps, and downwind I'd shift weight to rear. The lateen rig performed near identically on both tacks - presumably because the aerodynamics are more like that of a delta wing rather than high aspect ratio. I did reshape the dagger-board and rudder cos the originals were simply bevelled.

My uncle had a wooden Beachcomber (the Seabat's larger relative), with a small cockpit well making it more comfortable, and was matched for speed - but quicker when the lateen gaff was lashed back to the mast and a jib fitted.

Our record from roof-rack to sailing was 3mins! With daggerboard up it'd skit sideways across sandbanks in 3ins of water. And at sea, the bows perforated through the waves, so I'd keep the mainsheet on my lap as the sea swept the entire deck. For youngsters they're a great machine - no way in the "worst sailing boat" category. A broad reach in F6 on the open sea used to be like riding a rocket sled. In their day they were fast and exciting - but got left behind by windsurfers - which in turn have been eclipsed by kitesurfers. As said, I've still got mine - it's a bit tired, but I take it out occasionally and it's still scary fun.
Dave

 

[capnsensible]

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

Spot on!

 

[Rivers & creeks]

Spot on!

Bosun dinghy - the Colvic Watson of the dinghy world. Never come across a heavier thing. I did my RN sail training on one and despite years of crashes and abuse they were completely solid. We modified one to take a trapeze, it was like trapezing off a small house.

 

[Aja]

Home Counties design. Truly awful. Went sideways faster than forward.
Donald

 

[AndrewB]

MacGregor 26. Does that count as a 'sailing' boat?

(Oh, sorry Aluijten - see you got there first!)

 

[Rivers & creeks]

MacGregor 26. Does that count as a 'sailing' boat?

Sometimes

 

[Scolly]

Sorry gentlemen but this thread seems to be only concerned with dinghy's
No mention of anything over 26' Does this mean anything over 26' sails like a dream

 

[RupertW]

Sorry gentlemen but this thread seems to be only concerned with dinghy's
No mention of anything over 26' Does this mean anything over 26' sails like a dream

My two worst (and I hate to mention the second one as I'm about to go off for a week on it) were a Leopard 42 charter and the Jeanneau 42.2 I've owned and done up (thrown huge amounts of time and money at) for the last 7 years.

I have no doubts about the Leopard - new then and of 2003 vintage. I'd enjoyed sailing cats and had just helped deliver one across the Atlantic but this one felt like it was built of concrete and had myriad faults - essentially based around the same thing - very heavy loads and build with tinfoil strength fittings.

So one swimming ladder twisted and torn with sharp edges and the other one distinctly wobbly, just one winch for the whole boat by all the levers and set by the helm so that it was hard for anybody but the person up on the steering platform to reach. No autohelm so if the person let go the steering wheel to do rope work the boat skidded any which way, and as the cat had 4 double cabins and 4 heads you would have thought it would be designed to allow for crew to help without squeezing the helms-person to one side, whilst whacking them with your elbow as you turn the winch. Finally she sailed like a limping dog even downwind whilst the incredibly sliding heavy patio doors smashed open and shut as the catches were too feeble.

I might be being unfair about my current boat as I haven't owned one this size before buying it as a bit of a project 7 years ago but I go through periods of total exasperation about the sheer amount of kit that goes wrong and has to be fixed and replaced. I was telling myself truthfully that at least once I've replaced something properly I've never had to redo it but last year the reworks started on some things. But most of all it's just not a remotely fast or responsive boat - I thought at 42 feet it would be faster under sail than my previous 24 and 31 foot boats (GK24 and First 30E) even though it's not supposed to be performance oriented but it never seems to be.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Home Counties design. Truly awful. Went sideways faster than forward.

I think I sailed them with the Sea Scouts at Lochgoilhead.

 

[BigJoe]

Can’t say anything bad about a Bosun ……….. sailed the in the Sea Cadets in Campbeltown

 

[jac]

Funny you should mention that, I once saw a Lark do an impressive nose dive in a lake, the skipper of ' Das Boot ' would have been proud !

Was your Firefly on a fresh water lake or river by any chance ?

I found dinghies like my Caricraft 10, Topper and Scorpion for instance all showed a tendency to nose dive in fresh water, but not in salt which they were presumably designed for.

The Express dinghy was special though, it wouldn't have handled properly if one filled it with helium and strapped on Thunderbird 2's stabiliser rockets !

LOl - i did that in a Lark once. Sailing in rather heavy breeze at uni on a downwind leg and had managed to drain all the water that we had accumulated on the previous upwind leg. Round the mark onto a reach ( we were sailing round an island) right infront of the club house when lightweight ( but attractive) crew slips when coming up to the windward side, lee bow digs in and the very broad foredeck plunges into a small wave, stopping us like an emergency parachute, boat somersaults to lie with her mast along the water, Stern straight up, myself and crew thrown clear. To us, the stern sat up like that for several decades before she eventually flopped down to port.

Friends in the clubhouse paralytic with laughter ( in a supportive way i was later assured.) and told me later that we were awarded 5.9 for artistic interpretation and 6 for technical difficulty.

What was even funnier was the the boat that was behind us also capsized on rounding the mark so we didn't even lose a place

 

[Halcyon Yachts]

Sorry gentlemen but this thread seems to be only concerned with dinghy's
No mention of anything over 26' Does this mean anything over 26' sails like a dream

 

[wully1]

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

HA! Brings back memories.. They were fine until you capsized and let her go just too far over- then that steel centre plate went thumping back into the case leaving not a lot to lever against to get her back up. In Pompey harbour. With no wetsuit. No dry clothes ashore and a long, wet walk back to Fareham.

 

[Seajet]

Well HY I can think we can safely say you've won that competition; I presume the skipper has to stand in the corner with a pointy hat on at ' Who's got the ugliest boat ? ' parties.

Then there's a Macgregor at my club; an artist friend who has a good eye for form but almost no sailing experience took one look and exclaimed " What TF is THAT ?! "

On the moorings it skates around all the time, completely unlike the monohulls, cat's and tri's around it - still I'd happily sail it across the Channel in any weather; if I was escaping the Nazi's in a Dunkirk situation for instance.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

OK the worst a Westerly Seahawk with in mast reefing pointed like a non pointy thing was instantly christened the Shitehawk.