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Originally Posted by Mkfcdl
Yeah, a few strategic handholds, jacklines, harness tether attachment points in the cockpit, etc. However, the hull shape is still the same...  |
And there's nothing wrong with the hull shapes these days. 40 years of taking the best ideas from racing designs has made for a good range of production cruiser hulls that are very forgiving on most points of sail. But they really shine in lighter airs, because the vast majority of customers for production cruisers *irrespective of their other qualities* are daysailers and coastal gunkholers with a fair chunk of Caribbean island hoppers in there. Single-handing a Catalina 400 across open water prone to squally weather is relatively rare...but I can certainly understand why you do it.
When you think of it, single-handing for 24 hours is akin to passagemaking with a short-handed crew: when the off-watch is sleeping and you are clipped in with binoculars and your toes on the wheel, you are in effect alone: if something goes seriously wrong, you won't have time to wake people up, short of "abandon ship!".