Looking for a Input on a new boat

[Boat]

How many boats could you pick that would be more suitable for open water? In real conditions, not just on paper?


"On paper" and "as equipped", "as provisioned" can be very different things. "On paper" and hitting the bottom of a trough, going backwards, at two and half times hull speed are very different.


Face it, on one end of the scale, trawlers are the new houseboats. Some trawlers are ocean going boats and, on the other end of the scale, some are more like houseboats.

 

[Mako]

I'm going to assume that you're basing that on it's apparently high COG but without actual numbers & no indication of the hull design below the waterline you're just guessing. I remember reading an article about beamy boats with a high COG & it was stressed that they were difficult to knock down due to the center of bouncy which created an immense righting force. Regardless, Benford was a well regarded designer & the boat appears to have been built to a very high standard.

Carl, I agree that Benford is extremely well-regarded. My point is not to criticize the boat, but to emphasize that it is designed for a purpose. That purpose is definitely NOT as a bluewater heavy-weather vessel. You don't need numbers and lines plans to see that with just one glance. But it was never designed as a North Sea trawler.

Of course don't tell that to the salesmen and brokers who just want a sale.

Regarding extremely beamy boats, I learned from a Turkish builder and his naval architect about those characteristics. Very stable. Designed for ocean service. But there are tradeoffs... quick motion (short roll period); fast accelerations in roll; poor tracking needing an oversized keel to try to correct for; heavy seas from astern or quarter pushing it around; shallow angle of vanishing stability (capsize angle) of 72 degrees, etc. On the other hand, how often do most people find themselves in survival conditions - likely not very often - so the boat would provide an excellent fun platform for 99.99% of the time it is being used

Everything is a compromise. I hate that part about life

 

[Carl Martin]

Carl, I agree that Benford is extremely well-regarded. My point is not to criticize the boat, but to emphasize that it is designed for a purpose. That purpose is definitely NOT as a bluewater heavy-weather vessel. You don't need numbers and lines plans to see that with just one glance. But it was never designed as a North Sea trawler.

Of course don't tell that to the salesmen and brokers who just want a sale.

Regarding extremely beamy boats, I learned from a Turkish builder and his naval architect about those characteristics. Very stable. Designed for ocean service. But there are tradeoffs... quick motion (short roll period); fast accelerations in roll; poor tracking needing an oversized keel to try to correct for; heavy seas from astern or quarter pushing it around; shallow angle of vanishing stability (capsize angle) of 72 degrees, etc. On the other hand, how often do most people find themselves in survival conditions - likely not very often - so the boat would provide an excellent fun platform for 99.99% of the time it is being used

Everything is a compromise. I hate that part about life

I'd say very few people on this forum have boats designed for the North Seas but I get your point. I think the funniest thing about it is the Port-a-bote dinghy. All that room & they end up using the same dinghy that any small cruiser could carry. I also thought it interesting that, considering the really large amount of money spent building this vessel, they went with Westerbekes for power.