Recreational Vessels

Articles in sailboat magazines sometimes have a Jimmy Buffet theme. Jimmy is the “son of a sailor” who is “just glad” he doesn’t live in a trailer. The comparison of a boat to a trailer home is a natural one and Macgregor yachts specifically points out that its powersailers can be used like Recreational Vehicles (RV)s…

Competing Hull Forms Bethwaite

The competing hull forms in Murrelet (displacement in the bow and planing aft) bring up some interesting aspects in sailing the cruiser. Because the manufacturer built so many pocket cruisers, the best hull form and ballast configuration was extensively studied. For example, one contemplated factory modification in 2000, involved adding a platform to the transom…

Planing vs Displacement Sailing

There are four modes of sailing. Displacement mode, forced mode, planing, and the 4th mode. Obviously many ocean sailboats do not plane and hence there is no reason to learn sail planing techniques on those boats. In fact it is just the opposite. There are good reasons to learn how to prevent planing on displacement…