Had to laugh, most of my boats were easily rated, popular huls or hulls with lots of local racing comps, my new/old boat model has NEVER been rated but I'd love to still do
offshore long distance racing seeing that I'd get killed in Wednesday night
beer can racing.
Now if they can just rate it......
Sent it in awhile ago but haven't received a rating, I do feel for the committee though, I'm not sure too many people want to
race a 47
Center Cockpit, 40,000lb boat. Do I get compensation for the 6KW
generator? Does it go faster with the icemaker turned off?
My last boat I made the guys bring minimum
gear and kept just enough
beer (and almost no water) to get to the
destination since weight was so critical.
It's all a matter of perspective, what makes a boat successful in round the bouys racing doesn't necessarily make it a long distance winner, especially in a long distance
race. My previous boat, a
C&C 38, re-ballusted and with a custom
keel was great in light winds and a capable offshore
racer, but was less radical in design than some of her contemporaries which made for a better all around boat. That's why my wife and I were able to use her for cruising too, but, and there's always a but, it was also more demanding due to the performance edge and huge sail area for it's
displacement, great in light wind as long as you reef early and carry a storm sail on an inner forestay.
The
price for that light wind performance? It is a more fatiguing boat to sail short handed over a long distance, with a couple of extra crew for a
passage, no problem, but with short crew you'd reef early and often, therefore losing the performance edge.
Our
current boat may not accelerate out of a tack very quickly but I would be willing to bet it will perform much better over the long haul.
How do you rate a boat on it's ability to prevent crew fatigue?
I agree that PHRF can give you a basic feel for the potential for speed from a given
hull but there are so many other factors to consider, especially when sailing short handed.
If I were racing to
Bermuda with a crew full of buddies? The
C&C hands down, fast, confident, solid. Going there with my wife and two boys? Our
current Cheoy Lee CC, fast enough, sea kindly and stiff. I can't afford another divorce, it's just too damn expensive. Cuddling up in a wet bunk with your drunk racing buddies just isn't the same.