pearson 424 vs. passport 40

[neworlsailer]

Been shopping for cruising boats for a few months now and am beginning to narrow the search...of course ''till something totally unexpected comes along to seduce me again.

Anyway, the Pearson 424 is a boat I could love and afford, except that I wasn''t happy with her sailing performance the afternoon I spent sailing one. Seems that pointing and light air in particular are issues, which maybe is to be expected with the short rig. As someone said in another string, I want to take my refrigerator, but go fast also.

I have my sights set now on the Passport 40. I understand it is a better performing boat, but, if my calculations are correct, the sail area to displacement ration is about the same as the Pearson 424: 15.2 for the Pearson and 15.36 for the Passport. I used the very groovy calculators at www.image-ination.com/sailcalc. I suspect that the hulls are very similar, though I''m not sure about that.

Am I using the right yardstick here?

It''s difficult to get to the point in this process to take a prospective boat for a test drive, and I don''t want to waste anyone''s time.

Anyone have thoughts to share about these two boats, the SA/D yardstick or boat comparisons in general?

Philip

[neworlsailer]

Jeff H.,

You haven''t weighed in!
Where are you when I need you?

Philip

[SailorMitch]

Philip,

OK, I''m not Jeff. And I don''t have much to tell you, but first a disclaimer: I own one Pearson (it''s for sale, but is only a 27) and am about to buy a bigger Pearson.

One way to compare boats, as far as it goes, is to look at PHRF ratings. According to the PHRF New England site, the Passport 40 rates 138, the P-424 rates 168. That tells you a little something about comparative performance.

One of the glossy sailing mags recently had an article about Dawn Riley and her Passport 40. I doubt Dawn would buy a dog of a boat.

To even the score, hunt around on here and find the email address for a fellow named Jack, who goes by the name Whoosh. He owns a P-424 and currently is in London if I recall correctly. Jack is a serious sailor and can tell you the good and bad about the 424. I also can put you in touch with a couple of other current P-424 owners if you''re interested.

[neworlsailer]

Thanks,
I have exchanged a handful of emails with "whoosh" and you''re right, he was extremely helpful.

I also happened upon the article on the Passport 40 in Sail.

At your suggestion I spent an hour or so hacking around some very informative sites on the various rating systems, and for the first time i have a general understanding of how they work.

thanks for taking the time to weigh-in,

Philip

[WHOOSH]

Philip:

If I forgot to mention it, the basic underbody of the Passport 40 and the P 424 are quite similar. (I can hear both designers grinding their teeth...). The dimensions are not that far off, either, altho'' the rear end of the Passport is more balanced and therefore offers less room in cabin & storage. My impression is also that the build quality is higher on the Passport. Sorry I didn''t mention these things when replying to your email.

However, I''m wondering if you''re stacking up some apples against organges. For boats comparably equipped, isn''t the Passport significantly more pricey than the 424?

Jack

[neworlsailer]

Dear Whoosh,

Thanks for the (as always) valuable input.

You may be right with the apples and oranges analogy. My rough survey of yachtworld and elsewhere indicates that a comparably equiped early to mid 80s Passport 40 is roughly 75% to 100% more than a similar aged and equiped Pearson 424. Personal economics would dictate that my Passport be sparsely equiped. I would then need to outfit it over time to my dreamboat status.

My fixation on the Passport 40 and Pearson 424 is a result of my lack of knowledge of the myriad cruising boats out there and my unsystematic, anecdotal experience picking up boat leads here and there from friends, magazine articles, internet sites, brokers, ne''er do wells and the ususal cast of characters.

I would appreciate, and hereby solicit, suggested alternatives. Anyone familiar with these two boats knows generally what I am after: comfortable aft-cockpit cruiser, with two staterooms around 40 feet, performance also important (taking into account the other constraints here), cost around $120K or less.

Thanks from Philip,
the master of anecdotal evidence

[lawjon]

Hi,
I live in Eleuthera Bahamas an islan wih a rich sailing history.Unfortunately most of the traditional sail sloops were replsced in the 1950s by motorboats.We are looking for photos of old sail sloops from that era that might have been taken by visitors or indeed any first hand recollections.This island once had a U.S. Navy base hence there is a long association with Americans.
Thanks for your help.