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Blue water capability


Guest Bill Paxton

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Guest Bill Paxton

The Core Sound 17 is said to be blue water capable. Just exactly what does that mean? Does it say something about its stability, or ability to sail across the open ocean? I'm not quite sure, and I'd welcome some enlightenment.

paxton_consulting@yahoo.com

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Guest Graham Byrnes

Blue Water means differnt things to different people. Frank and Margaret Dye among others have made many ocean passages in a 16' Wayfarer dinghy, including England to Iceland and across the North Sea. I believe the CS series would be even better for such passages, assuming the boat was properly set up and with appropriate safety equipment and the crew are competent. What I had more in mind was adventures like John & Lynn's Baha cruise. I have had the CS 17 outside of the sight of land a couple of times but have not had the opportunity up to now to do more. The boat has good initial stability but like all small boats they can capsize. When capsize testing, one person on the centerboard could right her. To make her self-righting, I think, would take away some of her other qualities. It is important when sailing off alone that all gear is properly stowed and hatches are watertight, and the CS has plenty of stowage. When laying on her side, the waterline is below the inboard edge of the seat tops and when righted the only water that stays aboard is what lays between the seat top and the side deck, say about 5-7 gallons. Because the water goes to the bottom of the boat and is captured between the seat sides you don't have that drunken rolling that you get with open layouts and is quite stable. After climbing aboard you can just lay ahull with the sails flagging out to the lee side where she sits comfortably, you can bail her out or open up the bailer and sail the water out of her. We prefer not to have a self draining cockpit as it raises the cockpit too high but instead using an Anderson automatic bailer to keep the boat dry. It is a dry boat but if you sail any boat fast in rough conditions you will have some spray flying around. I might add that after 6 Great races I have never capsised or felt like I might, and neither have any of our boats sailed by other people. In the 7 Great races sailed so far our boats have won all 7.

gallons.

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Guest Gordy Hill

Bill,

You don't say where you're thinking of sailing.

I've had my CS17 in some rather heavy condictions on Pemlico Sound. We were close-hauled and it was certainly wet. Of course, if we wern't racing we'd have reefed. However, I never felt unsafe.

I've found that rolling the main around the mast and re-positioning the mizzen to the center mast step works great, and it sailed beautifully in very windy (sheltered) condictions.

If you're considering day-sailing on a large piece of water and use a little common sense you should have no problems.

I've been on the Gulf Of Mexico a few times and will definately log many more hours there.

If you're planning on a sail to Hawaii, you might want to re-think.

sirgordy@peoplepc.com

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Guest Bill Paxton

Graham & Gordy,

Thanks for your responses. They answered my questions nicely.

Living in the Minneapolis area there are lots of places to explore, some more adventurous than others. There are very large inland lakes studded with countless islands near the Canadian border. Then there's the Lake Superior shoreline and the Apostle Islands off of the northern tip of Wisconsin. All of these areas are great places for camp cruising.

But swinging trips like that would only happen a couple of times a year for me. Most of the time it's daysailing (or impulse sailing) on our local inland lakes. The priority here is easy launch and retrieval, and quick setup.

Sounds like the CS 17 would handle it all.

Bill Paxton

paxton_consulting@yahoo.com

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Guest Gordy Hill

Bill,

You might like an article I wrote for Bill Sergeant's "SMALL SAILBOATS" website.

Try this address and click "Cruising Logs and Articles"

http://www.btinternet.com/~w.serjeant/

I usually launch my boat off a causway and the water isn't deep enough to get any of the boat wet while it's still on the trailer. I bought a new, but not top-of-the-line trailer and it came with bunks covered with carpet. It used to require two of us and a lot of pushing to launch.

I replaced the carpet with 5/8 inch plastic somewhat like cutting boards are made of.

Now it's simple for me to launch and retrieve the boat by myself in a foot of water.

I roll the sails around the masts and have a large sailbag to store them in. The whole thing rests in PVC crutches that fit into the mast steps.

With two of us we can usually be sailing in about five minutes from the time we arrive at the causway.

I attempted to attach a photo, but the text disappeared. I'll try to send a message of the photo alone.

Gordy

sirgordy@peoplepc.com

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Guest Joe Nelson

I hear a lot about blue water capability. The fact is that here in Oregon, specifically the larger rivers that lead to blue water are often more difficult to handle than open ocean swells.

I fish in an area that between current and tidal flow can exceed 8 knots near structure. Waves become stacked and standing. I would like a sailboat that will also double as a power boat when conditions necessitate it. Will the core sound's plane under power and move you through the current?

joe_nelson22@hotmail.com

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