Re: M_Boats: range of stability

[ron and cathryn goodspeed]

Ahoy Mates!

The subject of yacht stability and the greater subject of overall yacht design is really fascinating as it a weighting of compromises to bring forth a boat for a specific use, ie. light displacement ,wide beam and low wetted area may be fast but will it be seaworthy? A full keel will track well but is slow to tack and may trip the boat while surfing down a big wave. A couple of websites that I have enjoyed are: "www.tedbrewer.com" and "www.johnsboatstuff.com". Ted Brewer came up with the idea of " Motion Comfort" numbers and points out the extreme range of numbers possible between dinghys and full keel cruisers and that these comparisons are really only valid between boats of similar size. Holtrup has applied "fuzzy logic" to sorting which boats are "blue water boats" based on the designs of noted naval architects, Lyle Hess included, and then comparing those numbers to a range of affordable older boats. The "Capsize Ratio" came about after the disasterous Fastnet race,when many lives were lost, in an effort to improve safety and eliminate fast but unstable ocean racers.

For those who find this subject interesting, I hope you enjoy these websites. I've found the stability solution for "hula pie", I'm giving Cat a Trapeze Harness for Christmas, ha ha. Boy will she be surprised!

Ron Goodspeed


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