Our Sort of Sailing

First I must admit that I hate doing anything requiring courage or endurance and I insist on sleeping in a real bed. Our sort of sailing is to launch in the morning for an exciting beat to an isolated cove, or preferably an island, where we have a picnic (strictly without alcohol) before sailing back to base, hopefully with a following wind. Then, with the boat safely ashore, we can crack open the wine.

Such a scenario requires a particular type of boat:

(a) She should not be too heavy for easy launching and hauling out.

(b) A good turn of speed is more important than ultimate seaworthiness, as long as both boat and gear are capable of standing up to deteriorating weather.

(c) As this type of expedition is popular with the family, we need space for a large crew and proper seating for all, without making the boat too big.

(d) Oars, anchors and an outboard engine are essential, as are lockers for stowing anchors, warps, petrol, picnic and so on.

(e) Although we prefer to anchor off the beach at midday, the hull should be tough enough to withstand beaching. In my book this means that it should have bilge keels as well as a reasonable depth of central keel.

This specification eliminated many excellent boats, the Wayfarer being too heavy, the Mirror too small, the Enterprise apparently unavailable in a cruising-version, the Laser 13 lacking bilge keels, and so on. The GP14 fell foul of my dislike of flat bottoms. Soon we were down to a list of three: Topper Cruz, Wanderer & Comet Trio.

Sloop or Ketch?

If we had wanted a ketch there would have been no contest, as only the Cruz is available with this rig. Although I like the ketch’s ability to lie head-to-wind while you reef the mainsail, and in my experience no sloop will do this, sloops have other advantages:

(a) Handling the jib-sheets gives the crew something to do. As I am often the crew, I find this important.

(b) When sailing single-handed, I leave the jib furled, resulting in a suitable reduction in sail-area as well as less work.

(c) In strong winds the sloop’s sail can be reduced to nothing but a close-reefed mainsail, which does not spoil the balance of the rig because it is set just forward of mid-length. In contrast, the ketch’s mainmast is further forward. If the reduced rig is not to be unbalanced, canvas must be set on both masts, resulting in less drive (area for area) and more drag.

(d) Two short masts are inevitably heavier than one longer one.

The Choice

If we had chosen the Cruz, it would have had to be the Classic, but Topper International seemed to adopt a take-it-or-leave-it attitude, as if the excellence of their product allowed them to ignore the customer’s wishes. When I asked a salesman about optional changes to the standard specification, such as protecting the bilge keels with metal, he seemed not even to understand the question. Both Anglo-Marine (Wanderer’s builders) and Comet Dinghies were much keener to please.

I admire the Wanderer, and I treasure the memory of my conversation with Margaret Dye at Earl’s Court, but I rejected her boat, for three reasons:

(a) There is significantly less room in the Wanderer’s cockpit than in that of the Comet Trio.

(b) The Wanderer cannot stow oars longer than 7ft-6in compared with 9ft in the Trio. 7ft‑6in is really too short for a boat with 6ft of beam.

(c) The Wanderer’s engine is hung on a bracket well abaft the transom, and I think this is too far aft.

We arranged a trial-sail in the Comet Trio, which impressed us in several ways, and these early impressions have been confirmed by closer acquaintance.

(a) She is a light boat for her size (295 lb compared with 285 lb for the Wanderer and 290 lb for the Cruz).

(b) As befits a Morrison design she is fast and, more important, good progress is made with a smoother wake than usual. Obviously the hull is easily driven.

(c) Though the deadrise of the bottom of the hull is less than in the National 12, it is more than in most dinghies. As the boat heels you have a reassuring feeling that she has ‘plenty to lean on’.

(d) Her handling remains precise and well-mannered even at large angles of heel.

(e) As she is virtually an open boat, though still unsinkable due to foam-sandwich construction, her cockpit is enormous considering her 15ft length.

(f) Comet Dinghies offer a good range of extras, including spacious lockers at bow and stern, a tabernacle for the mast, hardware for mooring and anchoring, and really useful oars. They also try to be obliging to awkward customers like me who want extras which are not on the list.

Surely she must have a fault? Well, yes, I think her sail-area is too great at 135 sq ft excluding the spinnaker. Andy Simmons (boss of Comet Dinghies) weighs nearly twice as much as I do, and this leads him to think in a different order of magnitude. In spite of that he agreed without a blink to put an extra set of reef-points in the mainsail free of charge and, having sailed her in some strongish winds, we have not yet been overpowered.

… so we bought one, but did we make the right choice? While we have no complaint so far, only time will tell. Craving the Editor’s indulgence, I hope to report again next year.