Yes, I’m in Maine. The CC 23 is a John Marples design. One was built at the WoodenBoat School in the early 90’s as part of a class given by Jim Brown on composite construction. I think Russell was there as well. I inherited the panel mold in disrepair many years later. John Marples’ Searunner site is still up and running and offering plans. I believe John is in Maine as well.
Hey, I am 65+ and love my Weta precisely because it is very thrilling, especially 3 sail sailing downwind in strong winds and big seas. And, one gets the thrill without trapezing. In fact, I find the Weta to be very comfortable and ergonomic for a small boat. The most thrilling boats are gonna be wet. But, I suspect there is no love for the Weta in this thread because it is strictly a single hander. Weta performance suffers greatly if you load it up with people or any other source of extra weight.
The Weta is a gateway boat. Yeah, yeah, comfy, fast and stable. But I put my SO on it for a race and she whined about how slow we were compared to the single handers. And I of course couldn't say we were slower because of her 105 pounds of extra weight. So I bought a Sprint 750 and she loved it. Chain reaction, though, hence the gateway boat. I think every other Weta sailor within 100 miles of me ended up with a Corsair within a year or so.
Comfy? I don't find it comfy to be firehosed with high pressure 50 degree water. Exhilarating maybe, but not comfy. But it points out the basic question...why do you sail? It's been on my mind the past 3 months or so since I seem to have lost the "jones" for sailing. Partly it is covid messing with my head, but mostly I think it is 71 and feeling less adventurous. Too much of "been there, done that, got the t-shirt".
Ran across this thread again whilst on the elliptical- you could ditch the center hull & turn the L7 into a catamaran, with a lighter (Hobie 21 was it?) mast- figure out a central spine to house the sliding beams & other stuff, folded it might get close enough to 8 feet beam, keep the mast step at the same level as the hulls? With 14-16 beam, might be fun. I’ll post a pic of the general idea-
I don't doubt it, but what I can't figure out is how anyone in the market for a boat could be that far off the mark to begin with. A Weta and a Sprint 750 aren't even remotely similar, other than having 3 hulls. How did someone that would be happier with a 750 even consider a Weta at the outset? Or did the Weta get them hooked and then moving on to a larger boat?
I’m hitting the 7-oh next year, and wondering the same. Gotta get the K1 out and see if the stoke is still there, but next spring- fucking construction at the house…. And maybe COVID not be hanging over us so much. Wearing a mask working on the boat at the marina sucks…
I used the term as a joke. Kinda. I think pretty much everyone had owned multiple boats before. It seemed to be a cascade or domino effect once people sailed a Sprint or Dash. And I think SOs, potential SOs, and having children played some role.
A 31 is a big boat with big sails. As long as you have crew to do the hard stuff (like short tacking against a current), shouldn't have to worry about losing your sailing jones as you age some more. Since i single hand mostly, I've always preferred a roller furling jib and now, I especially enjoy the ease of a self tacking jib. As an aside, though, if you change the jib (move hounds up) to start at the screacher halyard exit, you might not sacrifice too much power switching to a roller furled self tacker.
Nice comparison. Missing a couple like the Sardines, but laudable to putting them altogether. I'd also change the performance index to something more like Texel or AUS ratings. L**0.3 times SA**(0.4) divided by Weight**(0.325)...not that either are actually very accurate in describing performance. Good luck with the W17. Hope the weight is beach do'able for you.
That satisfies the OP request for a self standing rig. The addition of the Ljungstrom rig (double mainsails) would make it easy to go downwind sans spinnaker. Not sure why the mizzen is needed, but it is cool looking with the wishboom. Certainly would get folks to stare as you sail along with those Newick lines. Personally (I'm an aging boomer), prefers a boat with a spinnaker since, "by golly", I spent years learning how to sail with one and don't want to admit I'm too old to play with it
