27' to 31' that does not pound

[chas5131]

Will be moving to bigger water when I get a few things taken care of.
Have some contempt for fat boats that pound in chop when going to windward.
What boats will not pound?
V shaped hulls seem to be getting hard to find.
An old boat is not necessarily bad but I don't want a project.

[blackbart500]

the bristols or cape dory looks good to me

[sarafinadh]

Originally Posted by chas5131

I don't want a project.

heh. no such thang...
; -)

[Architeuthis]

I want that perfect boat too! We spent a summer sailing a Contessa 26, very narrow beam, and depending on the conditions it would pound.

I do not think narrow is the boat you are looking for. You want longer but even then it will still depend on conditions its just that those conditions have to be worst. I was on a 160 meter boat and it pounded, mind you only once or twice and even then it was pretty tame.

Granted a wider 30' boat with the same displacement does get pushed around more but it is often dryer and more comfortable. I too hate having to pound for hours on end to get where I want to go but wouldn't trade the larger wider more comfortable boat for a narrow wet boat just to avoid those few hours or days of a bit more comfort in certian conditions.

[sailingdog]

Southern Cross 31, Hallberg-Rassy Monsun 31, Golden Hind 31, Elizabethan 31... are all possible choices... lots of older designs that would work quite well for you.

[sailingfool]

A friend advised that the key consideration to avoid pounding to to have no flat spot on the hull foward of the keel, as opposed to beam per se. Given the presence of any flat spot, the larger the flat area is, the worse the pouning characteristic.

[Jeff_H]

There is no easy answer here because almost any boat will pound in the right conditions. The worst boats when it comes to pounding are older IOR era boats from the 1970's through mid- 1980's. These boats typically have a hull that when seen in section have three flats and those flats will really slap the surface.

Older cca era designs with vee shapes in section (such as the Southern Cross 31, Hallberg-Rassy Monsun 31, Golden Hind 31, Elizabethan 31 mentioned above) tend to have full ends and so will colide with each wave, and tend to sail heeled further over and so will pound on their topsides as well.

In my experience least amount of impact with waves occurs in some of the early IMS boats which had very fine entries and long waterlines and some flare to the topsides.

Jeff

[tager]

If you are in the northwest, Haida 26's are pretty pointy looking. It also wouldn't hurt to look at some of the old cheoy lees, many had narrow beam for their LOA. Of course there is the columbia sabre!

[1Vagabundo]

First hand experience with a 31' Hallberg Rassy Monsun.

I'm currently on my third continuous year of cruising aboard a 1974 Hallberg Rassy Monsun. Having sailed from the East Coast of the US to the Eastern Caribbean, I've had the opportunity to work the boat in many different conditions including 4 Gulf Stream crossings.

Only time the boat really pounds is close hauled "WHILE" over powered - basically making too much speed and dropping off the crests of approaching waves. Otherwise THE BOAT DOESN'T POUND.

Not sure what Jeff's earlier entry means exactly about the Monsun having a "full-end" as the entry is pretty fine to my eye but he is right about it being narrow. So it's definitely more sailing on your ear then a flat bottom - but it's also a very smooth ride with incredible tracking. Friends with rounder bottoms in similar conditions were usually beat up.

The biggest downside is that you are living in a design from the 70's - simpler times so it's a simpler boat on the conveniences many sailors want today. Otherwise she's a dry boat, that is SOLIDLY built. I think for some people this is a bigger factor in "pounding". Go sail a 30' hunter, catalina or similar production boat - smack it into a wave and feel the shudder and how the boat stops...giving you time to pause and think - is the boat OK??? -

I've been in a couple spots that I was worried (i.e. size of waves, whales, etc) but I've never been worried because of feedback from the boat.

Here is just One example of the build quality that translates to less pounding -Deck to hull joint. Many production boats have some kind of mechanical fastener spaced every few feet that compresses a flat deck to the flat surface of the top of the hull. Maybe they use a good glue too (we hope!), the Monsun? Hull and Deck have a 100% glassed connection that is literally 3 inches thick with a substantial teak toe rail on top.

In my book - SOLID construction equates to less pounding.

Good luck in your search!!! And have FUN looking, it can be the best part ; )

[puddinlegs]

Originally Posted by Jeff_H

There is no easy answer here because almost any boat will pound in the right conditions. The worst boats when it comes to pounding are older IOR era boats from the 1970's through mid- 1980's. These boats typically have a hull that when seen in section have three flats and those flats will really slap the surface.

Older cca era designs with vee shapes in section (such as the Southern Cross 31, Hallberg-Rassy Monsun 31, Golden Hind 31, Elizabethan 31 mentioned above) tend to have full ends and so will colide with each wave, and tend to sail heeled further over and so will pound on their topsides as well.

In my experience least amount of impact with waves occurs in some of the early IMS boats which had very fine entries and long waterlines and some flare to the topsides.

Jeff

Maybe your talking about smaller IOR/MORC boats, but in my experience, there's nothing like an old S&S swan for that particular job.