Opinions on Bruce Roberts designs

[surfingminniwinni]

We have a Roberts Designed South Coast 36.
They were built in Australia in the 80's solid Fibreglass.

[cooper]

Thanks Glenn ,
another interesting variation. i notice that they where built in both sloop and ketch as well. It seems that BR increased the stern sections a little after the offshores. (but still less than the "sprays"). Nice boats.

cheers

[surfingminniwinni]

Thanks Cooper,

They are great sea boats, the hard dodger makes things comfortable. They might not be the fastest boats on the block, but they do get you there nice & dry.

[cooper]

Hey Glenn wheres Lake Tabourie ? Does it have any water in it ? !

[surfingminniwinni]

Funny you should ask, its about 12 klms south of Ulladulla NSW, yes it has water in it. Just enough for a hobie cat or sailboard. The attraction for me is the beach & the surf in the area. Have a look on Google Earth or Maps. Dandenongs? are they the mountains in Vic?

[cooper]

Hey Glenn
yep "the blue Dandenongs" some times know as "the dandyflaminbloominnongranges" The land of Puffing billy. The wonderfull geographic feature that helps to cause the tempreture inversion that traps smog over Melbourne for days at a time. Considered one of the most dangerous places in the world for bushfires. A place where the speed of trafic drops to 35 km per hour due to rubber neckin sight seeers on weekends....A lookout that reaches the dizzy height of ...gasp...600 metres above sea level. need I say more... : )

[freetime]

Annons Bil - Annonsbörsen

This boat is not for sale anymore. My friend bought it, take a look at the pics....

[Brent Swain]

In Roberts latest book he states that he designs the skegs to fall off if they hit anything. A friend had cracks around his Roberts 53 skeg by the time he reached Aussie. Another Roberts 53 sank the night before he arrived due to skeg failure. On metalboatsociety.com this is discussed at length.
The Roberts spray is to be avoided at all cost.
People tell me that the Roberts 38 was the best design he ever came out with.

[AudreyK]

Originally Posted by Louis Riel

In Roberts latest book he states that he designs the skegs to fall off if they hit anything. A friend had cracks around his Roberts 53 skeg by the time he reached Aussie. Another Roberts 53 sank the night before he arrived due to skeg failure. On metalboatsociety.com this is discussed at length.
The Roberts spray is to be avoided at all cost.
People tell me that the Roberts 38 was the best design he ever came out with.

Why is the spray to be avioided? It does not have a skeg hung rudder, its keel hung.

[cooper]

Now Brent.....

. In Roberts latest book he states that he designs the skegs to fall off if they hit anything.

......

As a member of the MBS you are correct, obviously, in stating the "problems" and our discussions with fixing what is a major defect.

However it would be unfair to suggest that this is still a position he holds. As a designer yourself, selling plans, I am sure that you would want people to recognize you by the opinions you hold NOW not by designs that where drafted in the 80,s .

It is right of you to point out the problems with unstrengthened skegs.
It is important that you acknowledge changes of opinions.

As posted the spray is a high volume, heavy displacement cruising boat with a keel hung rudder.

[richink]

thanks for your considered reply to my query MidLandOne.....will definitely have alook at this boat if its still for sale when we go looking. plenty to be aware of in this yachting business !! glad we've got plenty of time...............Rich

[one_day35]

My take on Roberts designs is that there are a lot on the market, simply because there were and are a lot built. Kinda like thumbing through the classifieds for a used Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon. Without being an expert, or even an armchair expert on these designs specifically, I have read many reports an articles from happy owners/ builders and others who had an opinion, and I can`t recall one which was overly damning. Sure, they have a reputation as being a good allrounder, but not really excelling at anything, but (ahem), at the risk of being `called` I believe ALL good cruising yachts should be just that. A good blend of comfort, space, stability and sea-keeping, while at the same time being nimble and slippery enough to actually get to one`s destination, without having to take long service leave to cut through 500nm. (For those of us who haven`t the fortune yet of retirement). Also, I will stand corrected if this is not true, but unless BR`s `spray` design differs greatly, I believe it was actually a fellow by the name of Slocombe, who came up with the first `spray`, and by ether good design or good luck, or perhaps even a combination, stumbled across something very close to the best long distance cruising hull design, which is still admired and emulated by boat builders and marine engineers today, even with the current benefits of C.A.D. and other modern design methods.

For mine, a reputation like BR`s doesn`t happen by accident, nor does so many years of success in the industry.

Cheers

[one_day35]

Oops, just read in detail the previous posts stating that BR`s ealier `spray` designs, had flaws in the keel design in that if one lost the keel, one lost the rudder. I`ll bet he wished he didn`t do that, and I`m sure it wasn`t what Mr Slocombe had in mind when he built the first `spray` from timber I might add. Again though, that was then and this is now, and I`m sure that this design flaw has since been rectified.

Cheers *hic*

[thruska]

With all the conjecture here, I suggest that anyone needing really absolute information on this particular subject, go to Bruces website and simply ask him yourself ! He WILL reply.

[thruska]

Btw, the Ford Faicon has somewhat of a cult following, and production was more than any single boat builders/designers numbers that I'm aware of, thus , that analogy, I find hard to swallow. However I may be missing something in translation... not that that's ever happened before, hehe ! Just saying.