2airishuman
Anarchist
The majority of cruising boats out there have poor sailing performance on a beat. While design and blown-out sails play a role, from what I see the culprit more often is windage and weight..
Most cruisers would rather have radar, beaucoup solar panels, a big dinghy on davits, outboard on the taffrail, a reel of line, jugs of diesel and gasoline on the lifelines, scuba cylinders, radar, SUP, etc etc.
Rarely, a cruiser (usually with a racing background) will outfit their boat so as to achieve good upwind performance. The three examples I'm aware of are custom builds and achieve this in part through longer overall length to reduce the need for on-deck stowage.
My real question is whether the tradeoffs are worthwhile, in light of the discomfort and poor Vmg that can be achieved in practice. I am also curious as to what those of you who have made upwind performance a first priority have done about safety-related items such as radar, a liferaft on deck, and throwable PFDs.
Most cruisers would rather have radar, beaucoup solar panels, a big dinghy on davits, outboard on the taffrail, a reel of line, jugs of diesel and gasoline on the lifelines, scuba cylinders, radar, SUP, etc etc.
Rarely, a cruiser (usually with a racing background) will outfit their boat so as to achieve good upwind performance. The three examples I'm aware of are custom builds and achieve this in part through longer overall length to reduce the need for on-deck stowage.
My real question is whether the tradeoffs are worthwhile, in light of the discomfort and poor Vmg that can be achieved in practice. I am also curious as to what those of you who have made upwind performance a first priority have done about safety-related items such as radar, a liferaft on deck, and throwable PFDs.