The big day has come

[Pandy7]

The big day has arrived, well in about 24 hours it will. I am looking at the propossed yacht for the second time...is this the one, I hope so.......it has been over a year and 2 boat shows later maybe tomorrow is the day!!!.As previously posted it is a "Martzcraft"35 by Bruce Roberts and built in Sydney by a local shipwright. I will continue learing on this vessel and in about 2 years ..............as we say on the footy show Goooorn!

I hope to learn a lot over the next 2 years enough to be able to be at ease with waht ever the sea and its elements dish out, there is to much to see out there and I most deffently want to see as much of it, its places and people b4 I ............... I hope to meet many of you out there as possible so when im 900 years old and in a wheel chair and dribbling I can remember those good times.....remeber there are no second chances in this world and this life is not trial run for the next.....

Pandy7

[Jeff H]

While I am not familiar with the Martzcraft, I do know Bruce Robert's work. Bruce Roberts is popular source of do it yourself boat plans but I am not a fan of his. It is not so much that I do not like his work per se. I think that for the most part Roberts designs conservative simple boats, but to me they are dated. His Spray series have less than no appeal to me. Having read about the original Spray and the sailing ability of some of the so- called copies of her, I have come to believe that Josh Slocum made it around the world despite the short comings of Spray rather than because of her sterling virtues. Josh Slocum was the consummate seaman. Spray was a coastal oyster boat. Why anyone in this day and age would want to use her as a model for a whole line of boats is completely beyond me. But I emphasize this is only my opinion and Roberts has sold a bunch of these things so my opinion is not shared by everyone on this.

Roberts more modern designs were probably good designs in the 1970's but a lot has happened since then. To me his design ideas have not advanced as well. Almost all of his designs are very much over weight and weight, in and of itself, offers no inherent virtue but can be a very serious liability.

Roberts did a number of 34 and 35 footers. One was part of his Spray series and others were modern original designs. He did a nice canoe sterned design called a 341 which if carefully built could be a half way decent boat. That said, I would say that for the most part these all would make a really bad choice for a first boat, especially if you are intent on learning to sail well enough to sail around the world someday soon. The sailing ability on all most of these boats is worse than mediocre and for someone new to the sport, it would be hard for you to make a sufficiently informed decision. My best advice is to look so that you can learn about different designs but what ever you do don't buy one of these.

Respectfully,
Jeff

[RPC]

I have just sailed half way round the world in my Roberts 44, a large and heavy(ish) boat. She proved a fantastic sea boat when we got into a couple of strong blows. One of which had heavy breaking seas all night (steady force 9), the other was topping out at 55 knots (force 10) for two days, several yachts in the same area had their sea anchors out. Our Roberts took it all in her stride, a very sturdy and capable boat. The boats with sea anchors were light weight boats.

On the other hand we sailed thousands of miles in trade winds from light upwards, her average speed in lighter conditions was 5.5 knots, not fast but she was very comfortable and we knew she would look after us in a blow.

Her performance was not stunning, max of 7.5 knots under normal brisk conditions, but she was chosen as a good and reliable ocean cruiser, and she proved herself over thousands of miles.

As they say, horses for courses. I have sailed light fast boats, and heavier ones on ocean passages, by far the safest and most comfortable in bad weather was the Roberts above. I would choose a medium to heavy boat for long hauls when short handed (just the 2 off us on our circumnavigation).

See the Roberts and brief write up here www.onpassage.com/Admin_pages/About_us.htm

At the end of the day you can sail long distance in just about anything, we have cruised with such a huge variety of dissimilar boats that I was not entirely surprised when a boat not much bigger than a dinghy sailed with us up the Red Sea at the end of a circumnavigation with 3 people onboard, one of them 5 years old! (It was a dayboat with a very small cabin).

We all have different tasts in the boats we sail, the most important thing is to be out there doing it.

Rod

[Joyce GVL]

Pandy, sounds like you are going to have a lot of fun. Don't be discouraged by personal opinions. the eastern seaboard is a different type of sailing environment. Jeff sounds like he has a lot of different experiences than some of us have had, and is a good judge of many vessels. We all have our favorites. Let us know how she sails & all the details. Wish I could come sail your seas sometime.