Adrian

The conditions you describe sound pretty robust! It's good to hear that the boats will cope with prudent handling; it must be good to have a variety of reefing/sail options when the weather pipes up. Although sailing would be my primary interest I am still curious how fast a Core Sound 17 would go with a motor on a flat (ish) sea and what might be a good size motor to get out to the fishing grounds at a reasonable speed? Thanks, Adrian Ps. I have just seen the photos of your Sucia Matia trip, good scenery, good weather and with the family too, that's what it's all about!

Mmmm, that's got me thinking. I would probably only use the motor to motor out before the wind kicked in and for emergencies, but I would certainly face regular swells topped off with a healthy wind chop. Come to think of it though I tend to fish so that when the wind gets up I have a down wind run/reach home so I probably wouldn't be running directly into the chop very much. I definitely take your point though, a heavier boat would certainly be more comfortable, but I want to be able to launch, retrieve from a beach singlehanded and be able to pull the boat above the high tide mark, so a light boat is a higher priority (I think). Given this scenario, how does the boat handle a following sea? My tinny (aluminium boat, 14' long) is decidedly dodgy in these conditions and even worse into a chop and I was hoping that a Core Sound would be more seaworthy and stable, especially under sail. Thanks for the input, Adrian

G'day, I have read the previous posts about the what size outboard would be most appropriate for a Core Sound, but I am still a tad confused and have couple of quick questions: Does the Core Sound series plane under power or are they really displacement/semi displacement designs? What sort of speed are we talking about here? What size motor would be needed to move right along in a Coresound 17? Would putting a 9.9 or 15hp mtor on the back adversely affect the boats sailing ability if that's what is needed to get the boat to semi displacement/planing speeds. I ask as I am looking for a rough water fishing boat that I can use in SW Western Australia. Typically I would like to motor out to the fishing grounds 2-8 km down the coast in the morning (swell normally 1-3 m) and then fish until the inevitable stong easterly comes up 20kts + (with the associated wind chop) and then run for home under sail. Do you think that the boat would cope with this sort of useage? I ask as it seems that this boat might be able to do all this and still be rowable, a rare combination indeed! Thanks in advance, Adrian

G'day, As a newbie to the forum who is trying to decide what boat to build next, I was attracted the the Core Sound design because of its good sailing ability and apparent simplicity to sail. I think it would be a shame to complicate the boat and introduce booms as a potential hazard. If the need is for a shorter mast and easier reefing it might be worth looking at the sail/rig of Wabi which is purportedly a very fast boat: http://www.chantiermer.com/pressewab1.htm The design seems very easy to use and rig and the bottom of the sail is simply unzipped and rolled up to reef. It seems simple and efficient, a good combination in my book. One other thought, if a 3 piece carbon fibre mast (like in the Norse boat though I believe that breaks into 2) was used you could always remove a section of the mast when really reefed down. On a cosmetic note I drew Wabi's sails on the Core Sound and I thought it looked way cool! What do you reckon, am I getting carried away? Regards, Adrian