Fat Ass Sterns of New Boats

[intubater]

Boy, do you guys whine alot. Why do you care so much about how you perceive what others feel about the way your boat looks structurally as opposed to just taking care of the boat that you do own and sailing it for the pure joy of sailing? Next thing you know you''ll all go off on a tangent about full keels vs. centerboards. Damn! Me and my big mouth.

[Jeff_H]

Actually I thought it was a very productive discussion that was comparatively free of whining, except for the whiny post about whining. 8^)

Jeff

[Jheavin]

We have one of those wide ass sterns and on top of that it''s a center cockpit. We think it sails great, is very stable and have had many,many compliments on the appearance. And, the fun only begins there, we can actually walk on either side of our island bed (standing up I might add). There are lockers, drawers and cubbys that you can use without being a contortionist. On deck there are stern seats and when we''re anchored or in a slip we pull out two of those oversized, comfy folding chairs, set them up on the deck area in back of the cockpit, mix a refreshing adult beverage, prop up our feet and watch the sun set. We can slide our dink right down the davit braces into the water, take 3 steps down our wide, fat stern and jump right in. I guess it''s each to their own but but we feel the pluses outweigh any perceived negatives.

[jparker11]

Great thread, people!!! A lot of useful information to consider in this lengthy thread and here is some more.

I have not seen the name Carl Schumacher in this thread. He is probably the father of the FA sterns. And he didn''t care RA (rat''s ass) for the double wide berth that was created, just wanted to go fast. Used in conjunction with his lightweight hull designs and fine entries (Jeff) he only created a half dozen Boat of the Year winners through his recent passing. Latest being the Synergy 1000 (no queen sized aft berth here!!)

Quoted from a tribute article on his passing "In 1973, he moved north to work for Gary Mull, spending four years in that Oakland office before growing weary of Mull''s philosophy of heavy boats, big rigs, and pinched sterns."

His thinking was with his lightweight hulls he could surf off wind, and, the FA sterns coupled with powerful elliptical rudders afforded more stability in these conditions. This design element showed up in 1977!!

So, I would have to say, the late Mr. Schumacher gave us FA sterns and the mass and limited production builders are only recently exploiting the extra space!!

Check out the Express line, Olson 911 and Synergy designs.

Sorry Denr......Form does follow "sailing" function on this one.

[Jeff_H]

I would have to agree completely about Carl Schumaker. Carl''s Express 34, 37 and Lightwave 39 were some of the best all around sailing boats of that era. (The 37 was number two on my list when I was boat shopping)

Jeff