Ted Brewer developed a “comfort ratio” to help determine the comfort of
water sailing">blue
water sailing. It has been used to bash modern boats for years. It is, as I think he would admit, flawed. The formula essentially rewards
displacement and narrow beam. Looking at two boats for example, the Passport 40, a
classic blue water cruiser has a comfort ratio of 33.96 while the modern
Jeanneau 410, at almost the identical length, has a rather dismal comfort ratio of 22.57. The
Jeanneau has a waterline length almost 4.5 feet longer than the Passport and a beam a half a foot wider providing significantly more room and
displacement some 5,500 pounds less. Using the “comfort ratio” the Jeanneau could increase its comfort ratio to that of the Passport by simply decreasing the beam by about 3.5 feet to 9.7 feet. Hogwash!
I’ve developed a new measure of comfort at sea. I call it “ICE” or Improved Comfort Equation. It is
boat length times 1 if sailing downwind and down
current and times 0 if going upwind and up
current. I’ve owned 10 boats of which three I’ve sailed more than 1,000 miles non stop. A 33 foot
Santa Cruz, a 42 foot Jeanneau and a 50 foot
Beneteau. While all three were comfortable sailing downwind from
San Diego to
Puerto Vallarta, the bigger the
boat the more comfortable it was. A bigger, more stable platform for sailing, sleeping, eating and relaxing. Having brought them North against the
wind and current none were comfortable. At the halfway point one year I chatted with the crew of a
Pacific Seacraft 40 and they confirmed bashing to
weather is uncomfortable. So my formula rates the 50 footer, 42 footer and 33 footer as 50, 42 and 33 on the ICE schedule going downwind and they all rate 0 going against the
wind and current. Very consistent with my observation. I debated adding another factor, the crew factor, where a amiable crew multiplied the result by 2 and a group of jerks multiplied the results by 0, but decided to go with simplicity.
Are there other formulas you think are flawed or have you developed other formulas which can help in selecting one’s next boat?