Great Minds Think Alike

[Cmdr Pete]

Interesting to note what prominent sailboat designers chose for their personal boat.

Capt. Nat Herreshoff designed for himself the 26' "Alerion III"

When Capt. Nat was in his seventies and living in Florida, he sailed a 30' K/CB "Pleasure"

Joel White sailed a Bridges Point 24 named "Ellisha" after his grandaughter

Phil Rhodes sailed a wooden 25 footer named "Nixie"

Carl Alberg sailed a 26' Pearson Commander named after his wife "Alma"

Bob Perry sails a 26' Cirrus called "Perrywinkle"


"Pleasure"

[AdriftAtSea]

Not really all that surprising.  The technology back then didn't lend itself towards larger boats.  No electric winches, no self-tailers, no roller furling, no roller reefing, no laminate sails...

What you've got to remember is that BigBoatitis is a recent phenomenon, and that until about 15 years ago, most of the sailors who were cruising long distances, especially single-handed or as a couple, were doing so in boats in the <30' range for the most part. A quick look at Henderson's book on singlehanded sailing will show that as well.

[Frank]

Ted Brewer was last seen on a 25fter too!!! Adrift...They ALL designed BIG boats..they ALL could sail ANY boat they wanted and ALL of them had a multitude of their own designs built.. Alberg alone had 27's,28",29's,30's, on up to a 37 or 38...yet even with all those to choose from...he and the others chose small. Really had nothing to do with 'bigboatitis not taken off yet',electric winchs and such...all were there long before they made their choices.They chose small because...like 'most' of us as we age....'simple=fun'...I think that is the point of the original post.

[s/v Faith]

Not really all that surprising.  The technology back then didn't lend itself towards larger boats.

::)

  I think the (valid) point of Commander Pete's post was that each of these had designed / built / sailed much bigger boats (most that I know of) yet had chosen sailfar sized boats for their own.

Edit by Captain Smollett: fixed quote tag

[Captain Smollett]

I think another point to interject here is that the "modern" view of longer hull, less overhang, wider beam being "the market" is that what the current crop of racing rules encourages.  The Alberg 30 (among others designed around the same time, iirc), for example, was designed to fit a specific set of criteria within the rules at THAT time.

In other words, one important thing that has changed in sail boat design is sail boat racing rules.  Every thing in design is a balance, and designers try to push on the rules as much as possible.  That's why you see mid-20's Hunters and Benney's with SA/D and L/B numbers more like the big open 60's, rather than (safer, imo) design numbers that we associate with offshore level seaworthiness.

What's strking about the post that started this thread is that these designers presumably had the WHOLE CROP of boats from which to choose - the whole spectrum of design ratios.  What they chose was what we here seem to value most - seakeeping and safety, as well as not just a smidgeon of beauty.

Thanks for the pic of Pleasure, Cmdr Pete.  I will say that is an aptly named boat.  :)