Brewer12.8/44

[Dking59]

Would like to hear from someone who has had experience sailing a Brewer 12.8/44 I''m looking for a comfortable cruising boat, shoal draft and reasonable speed. There is no doubt that the Brewer has plenty of volume and a practical interior, but I was curious about it''s sailing abilities. With a D/L somewhere around 270 is it approaching "crab crusher" status.

Second question is the centerboard. Do people find that they actually use the board or tend to just leave it up. And has anyone had any bad experiences with the board.

[Jeff_H]

My father has a 12.8. These are spectacularly good boats. I was very skeptical of thier sailing ability until I spend some time sailing his. They are really quite quick for a fairly heavy displacement 42 footer. The centerboard is a wonderful feature. It gives extremely shoal draft when raised and it allows the 12.8 cutters to point quite well when the CB is down and not all that bad when raised. The CB can be partially raised to balance the helm when power reaching in a strong breeze. The first dozen 12.8''s were built for a group of very knowledgeable yachtsmen and were spec''s out with really robust and cleverly laid out gear. Dad has had his boat for close to 10 years I would guess and has not had and problems with the CB.

Jeff