David,
If you are no longer racing, have you considered a Freedom. One of my
racing crew has a Freedom 38. This summer he and his wife (both late
60s) cruised from Bristol, RI to the coast of Maine, all the way to Bar
Harbor (Acadia). They only dropped one day of sailing by staying in
port due inclement weather (drizzle & fog).
I have avoided sailing on his boat, because my wife would want to come
along. That would be a disaster for me since I am still racing my boat.
I'm in my early 80s, sail as the helmsman and try to avoid
grinding/tailing. That's for the racing crew, all over 55. I do cruise
with wife, flying just my only roller furl sail (135%).
Don Kern
/Fireball/, C&C 35 Mk2
Bristol, RI
On 9/26/2025 1:14 PM, David Knecht via CnC-List wrote:
I have had my C&C 34/36 WK for 12 years and I love the boat. I race
it frequently single or double handed and cruise with my wife for a
week or two every summer. But at 72 and not getting any stronger, I
am starting to think about my next/last boat. Perhaps I need to be
talked down by more experienced sailors because this issue was
precipitated by our last cruise. I am by nature and experience a
dinghy sailor and only came to keel boats late in life, so I have
limited experience on different keel boats aside from mine and
Caribbean charters. I don't have much of a sense of how different
designs and sizes of boats perform in challenging conditions.
Last week, my wife and I cruised from New London to Cape Cod and back.
On the first day it was blowing 15+ from the east (so upwind route)
when we left and I had a 110 genoa and a single reef in the main. All
was well until we left Fishers Island Sound (relatively protected and
calm) and entered Block Island Sound (essentially the Atlantic-chop
and large waves). First the main reefing line broke and I was able to
stow the main so we sailed the rest of the way with just the 110
genoa. It was rough enough for my wife to get seasick, but the boat
was doing 6+ knots close hauled, so no big problem. However, the
thought I kept having was that it was "only" blowing 18 knots true.
If it had been 20-30 knots it would have been much worse and much
more difficult to control the boat single handed and no way to further
depower. We ended up motoring part way, but that was no fun either.
I have never tried furling the 110 partially and it certainly is not
designed with that in mind.
Thinking about this experience afterwards I was reminded of a charter
we did in the Caribbean on a Jeanneau 50DS years ago. I was sailing
the boat myself in nearly 30 knots of wind with main and genoa under
total control, healing a bit, and having a great time. The water was
not rough, but I was confident I could sail that boat in much stronger
winds and waves and be fine. I had never really understood the
concept of a "stiff boat" but I presume this is what it means. The
Jeanneau was a stiff boat and mine was not.
On the return trip, it was all downwind and I had just the main up,
and it was supposed to blow 10-12 but by the time we hit Block Island
Sound it was blowing 20-30 with large following seas. It was a real
challenge to steer the boat in those conditions and I was running on
fumes from hand steering for hours by the time we hit Block Island. I
didn't think the wheel pilot was going to be able to handle it and
never tried. I don't know if any type of boat/keel/rig makes that
situation easier to handle.
Obviously the 34+ was designed to have 4-6 people on the rail for
ballast and sailing it single handed is going to have some
compromises. Up to 15 knots, it is no problem, but as it approaches
20, things get more challenging. So I am thinking that I might need
to start looking for a different boat for the future. Something
stiffer (is that the right term?) so I don't have to be concerned
about going out when it is blowing 20-30 (beyond that I just won't go
out by choice). But I am unclear on what characteristics to look for.
Is it mostly sail area/displacement ratio that determines this? Is
it possible to have good performance in various conditions and not be
overpowered in 20-30 knots? How much of a factor is size or design?
Can a boat be "stiff" and reasonably fast in a variety of conditions?
I still want to race and PHRF should compensate somewhat for
performance, but in my experience, "slow" boats lose to "fast" boats
in PHRF racing. Perhaps that is just the price I will have to pay.
Anyway, I would love to hear the thoughts of the group on any aspect
of this issue. Thanks- Dave
David Knecht
S/V Aries
1990 C&C 34+
New London, CT
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