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Jeff
Yeah - but my mind has often been called narrow so I guess I could fit into that category.
I really started racing because I bought a boat that had a decent interior. The teak floor and door sold me and I have a wife (the floor) and daughters (door to head - privacy). It looked yachty - esp when compared to the Paceship P23 (basically a Tanzer 22) we previously had. So I heard the boat sailed all right but liked the interior and the boat looked pretty solid. Then I sailed it and we started racing basically because we bought this boat and not something that was cruisier - LUCK. A friend bought a boat with nice interior - Aloha 26 but it had roller furling, Huge prop on saildrive, no sail adjustments, etc.. and guess what - he never got into racing at all ....
So now we are spending nights on a cottage on a beautiful beach. There is a sheltered govt wharf with suitable spar crane and ramp boat launch less than 1/2 km from this cottage. My friends launch their powerboats for the day - then anchor them just off the beach and bring them home at night on the trailer.
Meanwhile I drive 25 minutes to our marina witha car loaded with tools (hopefully I remember them all) and spend the day away from family, cottage, etc... (have friends at marina and cottage so that is still good) to work on boat for the day every fall and spring. When boat is launched and I am on vacation the idea of wading out to my sailboat is intriguing. The beach is shallow so currently the two or three times have done this is a long swim or a dingy ride (but it is nice to sit on the deck and see your own boat at anchor).
Narrow market yes - but the more I think about this the more I wonder why I have to pay for haulout, launch, winter storage and then drive to do pre and post season work. While neither the Laser 28 nor my Niagara are state of the art they are fun to sail - the S2 7.9 looks to be like that too - the Hobie 33 I never knew had a retractable keel and I like the look of that as a racing vessel ....
yes I am narrow minded in this category. Yes I know would be expensive - a used s2 7.9 typially sells for more than a similar size fixed keel. Would be many obstacles to overcome and likely no matter how good the concept and design seemed it would flop somehow. But these boats are designed to be shallower while entering channels, etc.. and at anchor not necessarily while sailing. That S2 still inerests me but I think if I bought one I would have to do a lot of work to make the interior something I like. Seems chopped up.
It is an interesting concept and an interesting design exercise as Jeff has mentioned. For all of us there is some time when it would be nice. If it sails decently then PHRF should compensate for some performance issues so long as it still sailed reasonably well and so long as the loss of performance over a fixed keel didn't make you want to shoot yourself.
fun fun fun ....
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