Will this heavy boat work to windward ?

To the naval archtects and marinel engrs and those in the know

I hope I have attached some pictures here of a sail boat.

Do you think she would be a good sea boat ? 50 feet long 30 tons. Lots of sail area.

Would she work to windward in a gale with a total draft of 1 fathom?

I am looking for a friend of mine, if he doesn't I might.

Thanks

James

 

The simple "rule of thumb" for conventional full keel boats is the draft should be more than 1/7 of the LWL.

So on this boat if the LWL is about 42 ft ,,7 x 6 (("one fathom")) is about 42 and you should be OK with out help like a center board.

Most likely a cruiser would assist with the engine ticking over at 1200 to give better windward ability , but its NOT necessary, just helpfull.

Working out in a storm will mostly depend on weather the correct sails are aboard, not underbody shape or area.

A Storm trysail and storm staysail works far better than a heavly reefed main and usually useless roller furled sail 1/10 unrolled.


FAST FRED

 

It looks like steel, if it is, you can always add "leeboards" or fins of sorts as long as the sail plan is OK.

 

Jim
Change the single plate rudder to a double plate with a decent foil section, you may want to add a bit of depth to the keel.

This is a NZ Woollacot design, more common in this part of the world. I think you will find she used to be a centre boarder and has had a long deep shoe added already to the keel.

Try and find someone who sailed her in a gale, can be hard I know, but since she has been modified she may not stand up to her sail enough to work to winward in heavy weather.