Your Spring Editorial again brings up important matters for consideration by members. May I again make my comments?

You referred to the DCA "Uncapsizability Test". This term might be misunderstood by inexperienced people. In fact there is no such thing as an uncapsizable dinghy. As I was trying to point out, even a Drascombe will capsize in wave conditions. So would an RNLI lifeboat! Would not "Capsizability Test" or "Stability Test" be a safer and more descriptive term to use?

In the last issue I pointed out that many (perhaps most) reputable cruiser-racer dinghies could fail, or barely pass, the DCA stability test. Richard Petter has written to point out that many traditional work-boats would too! He wrote that he nearly submerges the gunwale of his 15 ft. "Shetland Skiff" when he puts his 12 stone weight on it. He added that he had, nevertheless, never capsized it in nine years of sailing on the North East Coast.

Incidentally, Eric Coleman was not entirely satisfied with the DCA Capsizability Test. Perhaps we should measure the weight at a specified distance from centre needed to capsize the boat and quote this as the stability rating?

May I now pass to the statement that the "uncapsizable hull is less likely to be swamped than the modern, light weight hull". I would have been inclined to agree, but the late Eric Coleman in "Dinghies for All Waters", took a different view. Eric wrote that, "with a light, buoyant hull (crewed by "experts"), less solid water is likely to come aboard". So much depends upon the specific design, the conditions at the time, and above all on the crew, that it is difficult to generalise.

STABILITY FACTOR = Weight required to capsize (W) (Weight is applied at a fixed distance 'd' from centreline of boat, regardless of beam). Could be applied to any boat from a canoe upwards.

This leads me to the statement that a "good boat should be capable of looking after itself and its crew in the chosen waters and conditions". There is a great deal of truth in this, but Joel Martin has made the point that "a good boat is no more seaworthy than her crew". This seemingly contradictory statement is also true, because a careless, foolish or ignorant crew can wreck the best of boats. We need to somehow reconcile the two different views to get at the whole truth of the matter. Here again Eric Coleman provided guidance. As is well known, he strongly favoured heavy, stable cruising boats, but in fairness, made it clear that light cruiser-racers which might be "unseaworthy" by his own definitions, nevertheless "may exhibit superior survival capabilities in the hands of experts". He pointed out that in the hands of experts, the cruiser-racer could better claw off a lee shore. It could also run faster for shelter in deteriorating conditions, possibly planing over following seas which would be broken by a heavy boat, even if reefed. If the wind was off-shore, the light boat might be beached, and if the mainsail was damaged, a light boat might sail "well enough" under jib alone.

Of course it must be borne in mind that when Eric used the term "expert", he meant really expert and not just experienced. Skill and experience, plus strength and stamina, are needed, and an awareness of one's own limitations. For instance, Denny Desoutter's book on safety quotes the case of a couple sailing into rough water off St Alban's Head. They capsized, but immediately righted their dinghy and sailed on. They capsized again, and righted their boat again, but persisted in sailing on. When they capsized the third time, they were too cold and tired to do more than hang on and hope for rescue.

In conclusion I would like to put this matter in its proper perspective. Sailing a cruiser-racer in sheltered waters such as are used for our South Coast rallies, IN ANY WEATHER WHERE OTHER MEMBERS ARE LIKELY TO TURN UP, requires reasonable skill, experience and judgement, but no great degree of expertise. In fact, if both are under sail and oars alone, the light cruiser-racer might well get there and back more easily than the traditional heavy boat. I am certainly no "expert", but have never yet failed to sail my fairly extreme cruiser-racer to South Coast Rallies because of wind and wave conditions, nor have I noticed other lightweight boat members to be weather-shy. On the other hand, I would certainly prefer something more stable than my 14' Leader for a Channel crossing!

Isn't it a case of "Horses for Courses"?

Len Wingfield

PS: In my last letter I referred to a dinghy which seemed to meet all DCA criteria, but which had been unenthusiastically received in the DCA Bulletin. I have been asked to name the dinghy concerned.

Ian Proctor's 14' Wanderer seems to have high stability, reasonable freeboard, an easily lowered mast, good sleeping space and stowage room - PLUS HIGH PERFORMANCE! The snags are:-

(1) that she is only available in GRP; and, (2) she is expensive - about £1,800 cheapest second hand price!

If anyone knows of a damaged boat going cheap, or an equivalent cheaply available, please let me know! Len