Vigor - The seaworthy offshore sailboat : a guide to essential features, gear, and handling

A GUIDE TO ESSENTIAL FEATURES, GEAR, AND HANDLING

JOHN VIGOR

To June, my best friend, my love.

Copyright 1999, 2001 John Vigor. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-170607-0
MHID: 0-07-170607-0

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WARNING: This book is not intended to replace instruction by a qualified teacher or to substitute for good personal judgment. In usingthis book, the reader releases the authors, publisher, and distributor from liability for any injury, including death, that might result.

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Where credit is due, it is mostly given in the text. But there are at least three sources who are worthy of special acknowledgment.

My thanks go to Patrick Childress, who generously shared with me his work list for the conversion of his Catalina 27, Juggernaut.

Also, I must acknowledge the contribution of Dave and Jean Parsons, whose courage, seamanship, and skillful handling of Overture saved their lives when they were overwhelmed by a storm in the Bay of Biscay.

Finally, Id like to thank Jonathan Eaton, Editorial Director of International Marine, for his valuable guidance, patience, and professionalism.

That splendid voyager and author Eric Hiscock maintained that remarkably few vessels used for ocean voyages were actually built for that purpose. He said a study showed that most of the small boats that had crossed oceans were old, or at least secondhand. They were, in fact, just whatever would-be voyagers happened to possess at the time they decided to cross an ocean or two.

Or else they were just as much boat as they could afford. The majority of long-distance cruisers, Hiscock noted in of Voyaging Under Sail, had difficulty making ends meet.

Yet a large proportion of them succeeded in doing what they set out to do, which emphasizes once again the truth of the saying: Its not the ships but the men in them.

Nevertheless, a suitable vessel suitably rigged and fitted does increase the chance of success, and will undoubtedly make the voyage less hazardous and more enjoyable

But what is a suitable vessel suitably rigged and fitted? You must have pondered that question if, like most of us, youve occasionally found yourself dreaming of sailing over the horizon. You must have wondered if your standard production sailboat is sound enough to cross an ocean, or if your proven cruising design has all the gear necessary for a successful passage to foreign shores.

That deep-seated urge to sail over the horizon and keep going can be very strong. It even affects those who dont yet have boats of their own. Every day, some potential buyer looking at a boat somewhere is assured that shes capable of sailing around the world. If youre that someone, and youre not an experienced deep-sea sailor, treat the information with reserve. There is a great deal of emotion and misinformation bound up with buying boats. Its very difficult to get good advice and trustworthy facts, even if you pay for them. But if youre going to trust your life to a boat on a wild ocean, and perhaps the lives of your family and friends too, you badly need that advice and those facts.

Thats where this book comes in. It will tell you, without pulling any punches, if your present boat (or the one youve got your eye on) is ready to take on the sea. And if shes not, it will tell you what you have to do to put her right. There is no mumbo-jumbo here, just proven facts and the old-fashioned, tested principles of safe boat design and handling. This a simple book for practical sailors, expressed in down-to-earth terms.

Most boats built today are standard production boats, many of which could be classified as coastal cruisers. They are greatly influenced by racing designs but are modified for greater luxury and more accommodations. They have many of the basic elements of ocean seaworthiness, but not all those elements. And the ones they do have are often not sufficient.

In these pages you will find simple, understandable explanations of the most important elements of seaworthinesswhat naval architect and research scientist C. A. Marchaj calls The Forgotten Factor in modern boat design. And just so we know exactly what were talking about, youll find a simple definition of that much abused word