William Garden gulf vs rawson pilot house boats

[Faster]

Originally Posted by sailboy21

...The 26 is very similar to a T-bird ....I beleive they even share the same cast iron keel. T-birds are still a blast to sail and having a glass version would be that much better I suspect. Kinda like the old plywood vs. glass Lightnings.

The TBird class has done a good job of keeping the various versions class-competitive, with the glass boats having no real performance advantage over the older wooden boats when equally well sailed.

We did the '99 nationals in Victoria on a wooden bird that had been fitted with a fiberglass deck.. great idea, since most problems with the woodies stemmed from problems in the wooden deck's joints and cabin seams.

(sorry to get off topic here....)

[sailboy21]

Originally Posted by Faster

The TBird class has done a good job of keeping the various versions class-competitive, with the glass boats having no real performance advantage over the older wooden boats when equally well sailed.

We did the '99 nationals in Victoria on a wooden bird that had been fitted with a fiberglass deck.. great idea, since most problems with the woodies stemmed from problems in the wooden deck's joints and cabin seams.

(sorry to get off topic here....)

Way off topic but interesting none the less. I didn't know TBirds had glass variety's. I have only sailed on a wooden TBird. I was basing my comparison on lightening classes where it seemed like the older wood boats were at a handicap. Could be other factors, water absorption, hull deformation, maintenance in general. The fleet was about a dozen boats, the 3 glass ones dominated!

[Faster]

There were 3 different deck versions in glass - one that closely mimiced the original wood deck plan, the "Seattle" deck, with a racier look, and the final "Booth" deck with a larger house and a bit more room inside. There were also several sanctioned builders, Booth in Victoria for one. The glass hulls in all versions were identical in shape, of course, and were to weigh in the same as the original woodies.

[rawsonnut]

I have to agree with sailboy21 about how rugged the Rawsons are. I have one of the rare ketch models. I managed to "bump" a sea wall at about 5 kts with the only damage being to the paint and a gouge in the rub rail. Don't ask, it is a long and painful story. I would recommend a Rawson to anyone, anywhere.