Larry Brown'sthoughts on 'small boats' link. Note:long read

[Frank]

http://www.quietboating.com/small.html

[AdriftAtSea]

Thanks for the link... I find that the smaller boats do get sailed a good deal more than the larger ones. :)

[sailorflo]

 After owning several small boats over the last 7 years, I think that weather a boat gets sailed more according to its size is not true. While I was coming south one time in a 25ft Coronado there were three other boats that we were traveling with. Not one was under 34 ft they did say that they envy ed me because i could move in winds under 12 kts.
We own a 37 ft boat now and sail it on a whim. So is it the boat or the owner? I have seen alot of boats under 30ft that looked liked they had not been moved in years, Wear your heart lays is not the size of your home,But just to know that you are home

[Frank]

Hate to disagree...but I think smaller DO get sailed more.We just came across lil Bahama Bank last week on a beam reach with the flicka.It was a great sail.A large center cockpit left the same anchorage after us and finally past us...under power.Later another crossed our path..again under power.This was a good wind day and Rick and I both chuckled.These type of scene has repeated itself in the north channel, lake champlain, lake huron,chesapeake bay,buzzards bay right down to the Florida keys.I am very happy you sail often...but my experience is that a LOT of people get lazy with sailing as the boat gets bigger.Just 'my opinion' based on what I've seen 'out there'.

[sailorflo]

I do agree with you, I have seen bigger boats under power,But as I said before they{the bigger boats} did envy me for being able to move in light air.
But now that We are on a bigger boat I think they were just lazy cuz we sail in very light air and enjoy the it

[CapnK]

A lot of it does have to do with the owner, and there are *always* exception to the rule, but at the same time - a bigger boat does take more work, period, from the size of the fenders, to getting underway and going sailing and hauling up/in on larger lines - so I think that is probably why you see smaller boats getting sailed more. They're just easier to go sail with, especially short-handed, and people are naturally lazy. :D If you have a boat that it is easy for just 1 or 2 people to take out, it'll get used more if for no other reason than because you don't have to wait for crew to get out there.

A friend of mine who joined here a few days ago, Capt Rick from St Auggie (username "twolegdawg" - say Hi, Rick ;) ) is looking to sell his Morgan OI41 and go down to a ~30' boat because it is just too much work for him to singlehand the Morgan. Not that he *can't* do it - but a smaller boat will make it easier and quicker for him to get underway, so he can go more often.

Flo, not including you, think about what or who you regularly see on Winyah Bay during a typical summer, not including the charter boats (the Rover or the Beneteau):

Gary on his Catalina 22 and a couple other boats of the same size whose owners I don't know, Hugh on his Triton, Jose on his Scanmar 31, Marty on his H23. The Islander 36 over here by me has left the dock twice this year, but I've not seen the sails raised. That Hinckley 51 that used to be on the outside - it never went anywhere, not for an afternoon or a day (they did/do make longer voyages). Same for the Beneteau 48 on C dock. The Gulfstar 44 over by you - they do go out from time to time, but always with guests, never just the two of them. The bigger boats over on front street rarely move, that I see. When I was up in Little River, and with the exception of the racers, boats over 30' were generally marina queens, including a few which I never saw go anywhere, in 3 years. Those of us on the smaller boats knew each other by sight in the anchorage by Bird Is., if not by name.

So, it's not set in stone, but I do think there is some evidence that points to the general idea being true.

I haven't had the chance to finish reading the article, so I realize that I may be speaking out of turn, but I wonder at this, too: Are small boat sailors more likely to get out because they are more intimately in contact with their environment when they do, and thus they 'get more out of' going for a sail? In a small boat, the water is right there, the boat does respond quicker to wind shifts and waves, you're much more "in" the marine environment, it seems, than you are when you are perched up in a center cockpit 5 or 6 feet above the waterline. Just a thought. :)

[CapnK]

The original website/link has disappeared, so I dredged it up from the Wayback Machine. Text follows in 2 formats due to length; RTF (Rich Text format), and an image of original page. Thanks again for this, Frank!

[Frank]

Classic article

[CharlieJ]

many years ago  I was building my Cross 35 along the ICW in F lorida. A Searunner 31 came to anchor, witha couple of guys aboard. oNe of them came to wh ere Iwas and we talked about the construction. The young fellow told me my dad does it this way , and that way. I finally asked him- who's your dad?  He replied- Jim Brown

and that's how I met Larry :)

[CharlieJ]

On another occasion  I was attending a seminar in mid Florida, with many designers present. Jim Brown was talking about his Simple Sib design. He had a small model of the center hull

At one point he joked it could be used as a hat
and held it over  his head. I took a picture and mailed a copy to Joanna (His wife) Told her some husbands get drunk and wear lampshades as hats-Hers stayed sober and used a boat hull!!

She got a kick  out of it!! :)