Thinking of buying the beneteau 423 Bluewater Curiser
Richard Dube
considerable off shore curising. I would appreciate anyone opinion on the
boat
Thanks Richard
Bumper7
shoal draft keel that runs as deep as the rudder. A big bulb is at the
bottom of the keel which will help it stand up in a breeze. The
woodworking and finish are excellent. But then it's a Beneteau and they
are easy on the eyes. Of course, I haven't been sailing on it, but with
a short cruising mast, it should be easy to handle for a few people.
Since Beneteau forbids sanding of the hull, we use non-sanding primer to
adhere the bottom paint to the gelcoat. It's worked in the past, and the
application is best left to those who know what they are doing.
Mike Cobbe
> considerable off shore curising.
My advice would be don't do one or the other. Beneteaus are not designed
for offshore work - they are too lightly built, have poor handholds,
rarely have a decent sea berth etc etc etc. However, they are excellent
weekend caravans, also good for the charter market - but nothing else.
Mike
nippy
Sarah & Tony Boas
"Mike Cobbe" <m...@cstnet.dontco.spamuk> wrote in message
news:memo.2003013...@MC015A0176.www.blueyonder.co.uk...
Look at http://www.maib.dft.gov.uk/sd/9902/31.htm for a report of a
Beneteau Oceanis 390 being knocked down with loss of life in the Bay of
Biscay. ''Yachts are designed for particular conditions and should not
be deliberately placed in situations for which they are unsuitable.
There is a world of difference between a craft suitable for summer
cruising and one designed to cross oceans in all weathers. ''
Tony Boas
Sadler 34 - Bold Warrior
Henk Meuzelaar
Don't be discouraged by the previous answers. The problem is that you
apparently don't know enough yet to formulate the right question that
will help you get the proper answer. Just think of Usenet as a giant
search engine. The quality of the search terms you enter is directly
related to the quality of the answers you get. In IT jargon: GIGO
(garbage in garbage out).
Few experienced cruisers would dare to answer your question without
first finding out what kind of offshore cruising you do have in mind:
(a) sailing inside the tradewind belts (outside the hurricane season);
(2) all-season, all-weather sailing in the variables; or (3)
high-latitude sailing above 50 or 60 degrees (e.g. rounding Cape
Horn).
Unless you do have a cool half million $$ or more to spend you are
unlikely to find a vessel that is equally at home in all three of
these zones by combining superior strength with light weight and
upwind capability though the use of high-tech materials and
composites. It is certainly true that a conventionally built heavy
vessel strong enough to withstand the rigors of high-altitude sailing
should be able to sail anywhere in the world. The flipside of the coin
is, however, that we see the limitations of such vessels here in the
South Pacific Tradewind belt where the South Easters typically blow at
15-30 knots (accompanied by heavy swells because of the long fetch).
This forces the heavy vessels to stay in sheltered anchorages until
the occasional depression blows through, thereby temporarily changing
the wind direction, or to try and motor from anchorage to anchorage
during the wee hours of the night when the Trades often calm down a
bit.
Properly rigged and handled your Beneteau will be able to sail circles
about most of the heavy, full-keeled vessels on upwind courses
(assuming that they are outh there sailing upwind at all, even with
the help of big auxiliary engines). In fact, with proper preparation
your Beneteau could well be the best vessel for off-shore sailing
there.
However, you might say, how do I get back East without going to the
higher latitudes? Is my Beneteau built for the classical return via
New Zealand (in the S. Pacific) or over the Pacific High back to the
North American mainland? In my mind, the blanket answer should be
"probably NOT; even though many have successfully done it". The point
is, however, that you will just have to stop thinking like a square
rigger of yore and ignore the dated cruising guides of Bruce Van't
Sant or even Jimmy Cornell. Your Beneteau (or Jeanneau, or Hunter or
Catalina or Dufour or J-boat) can simply sail back against the Trades
while staying within the Trade belt. OK, you may have to sit out the
30-35 knot days, but there is nothing wrong with the 20-25 knot ones
(depending on seastate, of course).
In fact, time and again, your biggest challenges will come when you
are sailing up or down the East or West Coast of the US or Canada.
THEN you do have to pick your way gingerly and with a weather eye for
what is coming down the pike in a few days. Not to mention the
traffic, lee shores, harbor bars etc. which tend to make coastal
sailing in the variable latitudes in a lightly built vessel far more
demanding and hazardous than cruising in the tropics.
The long and the short of it is: go ahead and buy your Beneteau (if
she is properly maintained), then equip her and yourself till you are
ready to do some coastal sailing. If you can handle that at your own
latitude, you are ready to sail South till you are getting close to
the Tropics and make your break for the bluewater cruising grounds of
your dreams. If -- by then -- your dreams lie in the higher latitudes
you will probably want to switch to a heavier built vessel.
Success!
Flying Dutchman
"Rivendel II" (Hunter Legend 43, hull #1)
Port Vila, Vanuatu
"Richard Dube" <richar...@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message news:<Qs%Z9.436$Xf7....@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca>...
