The world of yacht design went through a major upheaval in the decade of the 1980s. Following the di

Sailing should be fun and owning a boat is a large part of that fun, but choosing a safe sailboat that suits you and your family should history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco take the top spot on your priority list. Sure, you have a surveyor on your side , but there are many factors to take into account which go well beyond a boat s mechanical history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco condition. One assumption those looking for a new cruising sailboat often make is that the larger history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco you go, the safer you will be. That s a mistake. Size will affect speed and seakeeping abilities, history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco both of which are safety factors, but there are many small cruising boats that have sailed long and competent voyages while their larger counterparts remained securely moored in the marina. If the small cruiser is well found and fitted out, and if it is sailed competently, it can offer its crew the world−though it will be a world bereft of hot showers, ice cream, and a large library.
For most sailors, a 26-footer would be the bare minimum for long voyages. Moreover, for most, a boat of that size would not offer the speed or the comfort to make offshore sailing a pleasure. On the other hand, a large, expensive history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco yacht can strain the budget, forcing other compromises. Somewhere in between most sailors will find the cruising boat that suits their wants, their needs and their financial and maintenance abilities.
history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco To make the right choice, it s important history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco to find a boat that you fall for like a ton of bricks history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco — the boat should be a vision of beauty and function. But, once you ve found a boat — or several — that fill the first requirement, it s even more important to stand back and judge the boat as dispassionately as possible. To do so, you need to evaluate the overall design, its construction, and its detailing. A sailor looking for the right boat, the safe boat, must therefore be somewhat schizophrenic. He must be a surveyor with a real twinkle in his eye.
The world of yacht design went through a major upheaval in the decade of the 1980s. Following the disastrous Fastnet race of 1979, so well documented and analyzed by John Rousmaniere in his book Fastnet Force 10 , many leading designers and sailors began to question the direction of design trends.
During that race, a Force 10 gale (48 to 55 knots) and very large, confused seas hit the fleet of 303 boats that was racing from the southern England, around Fastnet Rock off the southern tip of Ireland. From surveys taken by race organizers and from interviews performed by Rousmaniere in preparation history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco for writing his book, some very disturbing statistics came to light.
It s estimated that at least 18 boats were rolled a full 360 degrees. Twenty-four boats were abandoned, five sank, and approximately 170 were rolled over until their masts hit the water. Also, it was reported that five boats became inverted — turned turtle — and remained history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco upside down for periods between 30 seconds and five minutes. Lastly, and tragically, 15 sailors lost their lives to drowning or hypothermia. The Cruising Club of America, which was preparing to run their biennial Newport-Bermuda Race in the spring of 1980, took a hard look at the Fastnet race and began to study what could be done to prevent such a disaster from reoccurring.
The CCA s Technical Committee joined forces with the Technical Committee of the Measurement history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco Handicap System to see what caused the Fastnet disaster. Several experts in the field of yacht design and marine engineering became central players in a study that was to last for five years. The primary focus of the study was to determine how and why so many boats capsized.
In 1985 a final report was issued by USYRU and SNAME s Joint Committee on Safety From Capsizing. The 66-page document details the research undertaken by the joint committee and offers several broad conclusions that help illuminate what is safe and what is not in hull and yacht design. While the focus of the work was primarily to assess the capabilities — the likelihood of capsize — on boats designed under the various racing rules, IOR, IMS, and the old CCA rule, the conclusions should affect the way all sailors think about design.
Some boats designed to the IOR rule, or any designed to be particularly beamy, may remain inverted following a capsize. Boats with a stability range under 120 degrees may remain inverted for as long as two minutes.
Boats lying sideways history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco to a sea, particularly light, beamy vessels, are more likely to capsize than boats that are held bow to the sea or stern to the sea. It follows, then, that boats that are sailed actively in gale conditions and breaking seas are more likely to avoid capsize than those left to lie untended, beam to the seas.
The issue of whether or not a boat will capsize, and when and how it might suffer such a fate, is a key point for any sailor contemplating safe extended coastal or offshore cruising. By analyzing history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco a boat s stability range, you can get a very good reading on how the boat will handle a gale at sea and how best to plan you own gale tactics. The Joint Committee sought a simple way for boat owners to arrive at a usable measurement of their boat s stability range.
The best approach is to have your boat measured history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco by a professional. From the measurements, the boat s stability range can be calculated. USSailing also has a record of many production boats, so it may be possible to obtain the information for your chosen boat.
Another approach is to use the simple Capsize Screening Formula, derived history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco for use by average sailors who do not have access history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco to measurements and do not own a boat already on the USSailing list. The formula, which assumes that the vessel in question is of a fairly standard type and of a size suitable history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco for offshore sailing, gives a general guide to a boat s stability. The number played out by the formula is the result of comparing the boat s beam with its displacement, for excessive beam has been shown to contribute to a lack of ultimate stability, while displacement can be a determining factor in improving stability. The formula is as follows:
In English: take the boat s gross displacement in pounds, divide it by 64 and then take the cube root of the quotient. Now, divide the boat s maximum beam in feet by the cube root figure. The resulting number should be 2 or less. In general, if the number is over 2, the boat fails the screen. If the number is under 2, the boat passes. Again, history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco the formula is a very general guide, and does not take into account a number of other important design factors that might lessen or increase a boat s tendency history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco to capsize. Use the formula  to get a quick idea of a boat s stability, history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco but also explore the boat s full capsize characteristics before you decide to purchase it and set off sailing in open waters.
The trend to light, fast hulls that has dominated cruising and racing boats since the late 1960s has provided sailors with boats that offer a high level of performance and ample accommodations. The evolution of hull design away from full keels with keel-hung rudders has been a function of building materials and engineering as much as it has been due to innovation on the part of designers. history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco Traditional boats of today, boats with full keels, keel-hung rudders and their propellers in an aperture, are descendants of working craft from years ago. The full-keel design is noted for its seakindliness, its ability to carry heavy loads, and its slow and deliberate motion through the water. The design history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco type evolved at a time when all boats were built of wood. The simple engineering dictates of constructing a seaworthy sailing vessel in wood led designers and builders to craft the full-keel designs we know today.
There is little argument that the split keel and rudder configuration produces boats faster than configurations of the more traditional type. If speed is the first prerequisite in a boat, then lightness, minimum wetted surface, and a spade rudder/fin keel design history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco is the way to go. Yet, for those who will be sailing in conditions other than pure drag racing around the buoys there are other considerations that must go into the selection of the right boat. The sailor who is contemplating sailing long distances along a coast or making offshore passages must look for design qualities that enhance history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco seaworthiness, stability, the ability to carry the loads of gear, water and fuel, and the ability to be handled by a small — often two-person — crew, as well as speed through history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco the water.
Lloyd s of London has for many years been the largest broker of marine insurance for both commercial and private vessels. As an insurer, history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco Lloyd s developed a set of standards for commercial shipping history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco that were used worldwide by naval architects and shipbuilders. In the same fashion, Lloyd s also developed a set of standards for the construction of pleasure yachts yachts which it would also insure.
The highest Lloyd s certification for a yacht is called Lloyd s A1. Such a certification means that the hull and deck of a yacht have been built to the Lloyd s highest standards, and that a Lloyd s surveyor or inspector has been present at critical junctures history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco of the building process. While Lloyd s has other levels of certification, the only one seen in yacht construction is A1. For obvious reasons, no boat builder would built to or advertise the fact that he was building history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco boats to a lesser history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco standard.
While the Lloyd s standards history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco have proven useful for the consumer, the standards also have suffered from random use and from missing some of the major technological developments in fiberglass construction. Most builders of pleasure sailing craft do not register with Lloyd s, nor do they adhere strictly to Lloyd s standards. This is largely because the builders of modern production and custom sailing boats are years ahead of the Lloyd s standards history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco in the development and understanding of composite, fiberglass construction techniques. Today, history of the fairmount hotel in san francisco Lloyd s offers builders, designers, and boat owners conservative standards for boat construction. A boat that meets the A1 certification will, by