Shot Across The Bow

[Lady Captin]

My wife and I are on a smaller budget , but not poor ! We are researching sailboats for a purchase down the road , several years in all likelihood! At this point in our research, time and again the Pearson 323/ 365/367 keeping giving us good reason to think seriously about them .

As newbies, with almost zero experience, although we have purchased a Tanzer 22 to learn on this summer . We started looking for full keel , heavy , save our souls boat in the beginning, lol. We however find this less the case , as we become more knowledgeable.

So one thing I wonder and would love to hear back on , form those who have real life experience. The 323/365/367 . What are theirs abilities to heave to ? When the sea gets the better of you , and you have chosen this tactic , how did the boat fair , given that it is a fin keel , with skeg , rather than a full keel tank like the Westsail32 ,

Realize that there are real fans of these boats , but would love some real life experiences regardless, thank you very much for those that take the time and effort to reply.

[GordMay]

You might be interested in this older thread: “Heaving To With a Fin Keel...”
➥ https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...l-73714-3.html

There are numerous other heavy weather strategies, you should also consider, including reefing & running, fore-reaching, lying a-hull, etc.

[Lady Captin]

Yes this is all very true, and we plan to learn all we need to learn before leaving the safety of shore . However, it’s just one of the small details that we want to learn about the boats that make our final list . As you can imagine , it’s always going to involve compromise, so you need to know all you can know about a particular boat you want to buy .

Have read John Kretschmer sailing a serious ocean . So have a very small idea of what Mother Nature can do . We adhere to his advice and experience as a base, when It comes to our future boat , at least as a place to start from .

[Copacabana]

No experience with the Pearson models you mention, but I've always thought the 323 is a lot of (good old) boat for the money. They seem to sell for very fair prices.

[Mike OReilly]

I came very close to buying a Pearson 365. Probably would have had we came across one that ticked all the boxes back when we were looking. I never got to sail one, but spent a lot of time studying, and crawling around on the ones we looked at.

Good, solid, well-designed boats for a cruising couple. They'd certainly be on my list should I ever go back into boat-buying mode again.

[Stu Jackson]

There were two Pearson threads over the course of the past two weeks. Have you done a site search on Pearson 365?

[Lady Captin]

Still learning to navigate the sight and how to find things . Yes could not agree more , the Pearson 323 seems to be a good boat at a very fair price . High on our list at this point for sure as a result . Not a ton for sale , they apparently made like 385 of them according to sailboat data.com . So worth dreaming of , lol .

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Lady Captin

Still learning to navigate the sight and how to find things . ...

It's actually easier to do than sailing a boat!


You go to the search tab, and choose the box for simple searches like this one (i.e., Pearson 365), or better yet scroll down to the Google search.


Every single forum on the internet has a search engine, so does everything you buy on Amazon! I think the the days of "I'm just learning this site..." should have been over with in 2001.

[grantmc]

OP I'd focus a little less on storms and the need to heave to. Modern weather forecasting plus better knowledge and understanding of weather patterns has made the life of the sail boat cruiser much more comfortable.

That said, sometimes bad storms happen. In my view the test in a storm has far more to do with the minds of the crew than than the design of the boat.

Changing tack I read the brand name Pearson and that always brings to mind James Baldwin's travels in his Pearson Atom. James provides a wonderful resource, developed as he sailed the world. Here's the link.

[Mithril Bham]

I had the opportunity to put in a lot of time on various Pearsons'. Good, solid boats.
Are you planing on crossing oceans?
When coastal cruising I find a good engine the most important thing to have if caught in a major storm. When caught in an 80 knot blow in a 39ft. SC I wasn't about to heave to but rather hoped that engine kept running long enough to get me into Victoria.
When dealing with the currents and rocks we have here a solid engine is critical. Heaving to won't keep you off the rocks.

[s/v Jedi]

I think they are an excellent choice. Jedi was built by them as well

[zstine]

Pearson made good boats, until they didn't. I Forget the exact details, but in short the company started to fail as many did in the 80's and in the end years they compromised quality to try to keep the company afloat. The company went through several owners/management toward the end.. not sure on details, but before you buy a late model Pearson, I'd look into that. My parents had one. something mid 80's around 32ft and had keel problems. The keel bolts wouldn't stay torqued and they were faced with dropping the keel but decided to sell it after just 2 years of owning.



As for heaving-to. I've been sailing 30yrs and never had to heave-to because weather. Only do it to have a comfortable lunch, usually between races. I'm sure a pearson will heavy-to fine. But unless you F'd up a passage plan, it is unlikely you will need to. you need not heavy-to in 40knts... Heaving-to in bad weather is, in my opinion, a last resort kind of tactic, like laying a-hull. I think you are best to actively sail through weather and keep moving.

[George DuBose]

I have a Pearson 1973 36-. Most of the important parts are marine bronze, the keel bolts are 5/8" bronze "J" bolts, the rudder post is bronze, the seacocks are bronze.

Skylark carries a Jordan series drogue and I have never had the need to lie ahull or heave to.

Uma, another P36-1, frequently heaves to, but I have never seen them do it in a storm.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by zstine

Pearson made good boats, until they didn't...

Pearson Yachts History ➥ https://www.pearsonyachts.org/pearso...s-history.html

[Sailshabby]

There’s the old saw: Buy as much boat as you can afford. Keep in mind when the weather gets sketchy, it’s often times the engine that saves the day; a big boat with a small engine is going to make for a long day trying to pound through waves.