Well built?

[sharkbait]

Ericson made a pretty good boat back in the day and like all used boats they are going cheap.

[Gus]

I'd love to get me an Alberg 30 (I'm thinking in moving aboard) but go find one... That's why my second choice was the Pearson 30.

[Captain Smollett]

Ugggg, this thread just shows me how far I have to go to get a respected boat!!!  :(

Some day... I'm trailer sailing yet, so I can't expect to have an Alberg 30....  :D

The beauty of this discussion of the boat is that we (except for Oded) have completely ignored what most people consider the single most important 'safety' item on board - the crew.

Just about any boat will handle more than most crews want her to have to handle.  Please don't take this discussion to mean that any one boat is not as "good" as any other (my point in showing the numbers was to illustrate how similar most of these boats really are, at least in terms of design safety-at-sea numbers, which completely ignores crew capabilities, rig condition, state of repair, etc).

As the saying goes, the best boat is the one you own now - the one you are using now.  The experience you gain with any boat is worth more than theoretical equations that predict 'safety.'  Right now, I'd take my little boat (with CSR well over 2.0) out singlehanded in rougher conditions than my Alberg 30, only because I have sailed her more and have more confidence handling her.

Though intellectually, I know the A-30 is the more seaworthy boat, but I admit that I am still a little intimidated by the larger sails, longer hull, etc, etc.  That's just because I have not sailed her enough to have that confidence, whereas my little boat and I have bonded a lot, gotten beat up more than a few times and even bloodied each other on occasion.

[AdriftAtSea]

Well said Capt. Smollett..

As part of that, I'd be your reactions or how you handle the boat  in some situations are almost instinctive on the smaller boat, since you have much more time on her, than on the relatively recent Alberg30. 

[oded kishony]

Hi John, & Company,

Mr. Vigor  adds 12 points (high score is negative) out of 131 (boat not a likely candidate for ocean crossing) to sailing experience.
His categores are:
Have skippered across an ocean (1)
Have crewed across an ocean (4)
Have skippered on coastal sailboat trips (6)
Have skippered dinghies extensively (7)
Have crewed on coastal sailboat trips (8)
Little or none (12)

I recently watched a gripping movie called "Deep Waters" about a solo circumnavigation race in the early 70's. One of the competitors had no, zero, sailing experience. Literally did not know how to sail a boat.

He dropped out of the race but got surprisingly far. He went on to later circumnavigate the 'wrong way' on a small sailboat.

Oded Kishony

[Frank]

Joe-

Spoken like a true Alberg fanatic. :) Not that I'm disagreeing. :)

..........Alberg?? Who is he?? ;D