Yes , I totally agree. This 285 will teach me a lot and serve for some short trips like to the Bahamas, and one day still have value towards a bigger home on the water. Thanks, Forest
I'm considering the purchase of a first 285, would this boat be safe for blue water passages?
- Thread starter forest gras
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How do you, and can you, prepare for the worst?
Many examples in All Is Lost (2013) survival at sea drama film with Robert Redford.
Water floods his boat while asleep; collided with a wayward shipping container; ripped a hole in the hull. Tilts the boat away from the hole. Patches the hole. Uses the manual bilge pump to remove water from the cabin. Navigational and communications systems damaged by saltwater intrusion. Unsuccessful attempt to repair the marine radio. Climbs the mast to repair an antenna lead; sees an oncoming tropical storm. Runs before the wind to bring the boat into a hove-to position, but crawling to the bow to hoist the storm jib, he is thrown overboard. Regains the deck after a long struggle. The boat capsizes, turtles after a further 180-degree roll, dis-masted, and most of the equipment is destroyed. Boat sinking, abandons ship in an inflatable life raft, salvaging whatever he can to survive. Learns to operate a sextant, discovers he is being pulled towards a major shipping lane by ocean currents. Survives another storm but his supplies dwindle. Learns too late that his drinking water has been contaminated with sea water. Improvises a solar still from his water container and a plastic bag. Passed by two container ships, which do not see him, despite his use of all the signal flares. Drifts out of the shipping lane with no food and water. On the eighth day, writes a letter, puts it in a jar, and throws it in the water. Sees a light in the distance, tears pages from his journal along with charts to create a signal fire. Fire grows out of control and consumes his raft. Falls into the water and allows himself to sink. Underwater, he sees the hull of a boat with a search light approaching his burning raft. He swims up towards the surface to grasp an outstretched hand.
Many examples in All Is Lost (2013) survival at sea drama film with Robert Redford.
Water floods his boat while asleep; collided with a wayward shipping container; ripped a hole in the hull. Tilts the boat away from the hole. Patches the hole. Uses the manual bilge pump to remove water from the cabin. Navigational and communications systems damaged by saltwater intrusion. Unsuccessful attempt to repair the marine radio. Climbs the mast to repair an antenna lead; sees an oncoming tropical storm. Runs before the wind to bring the boat into a hove-to position, but crawling to the bow to hoist the storm jib, he is thrown overboard. Regains the deck after a long struggle. The boat capsizes, turtles after a further 180-degree roll, dis-masted, and most of the equipment is destroyed. Boat sinking, abandons ship in an inflatable life raft, salvaging whatever he can to survive. Learns to operate a sextant, discovers he is being pulled towards a major shipping lane by ocean currents. Survives another storm but his supplies dwindle. Learns too late that his drinking water has been contaminated with sea water. Improvises a solar still from his water container and a plastic bag. Passed by two container ships, which do not see him, despite his use of all the signal flares. Drifts out of the shipping lane with no food and water. On the eighth day, writes a letter, puts it in a jar, and throws it in the water. Sees a light in the distance, tears pages from his journal along with charts to create a signal fire. Fire grows out of control and consumes his raft. Falls into the water and allows himself to sink. Underwater, he sees the hull of a boat with a search light approaching his burning raft. He swims up towards the surface to grasp an outstretched hand.
Actually, not true. Here are the numbers from Appendix I of the book Fasnet-Force 10.
Minimum length of Class (feet) versus Number Sunk (left versus rt columns).
55 0
44 0
39 0
34 2
33 1
28 2
Output of a Spearman Rank Correlation test:
The value of R is -0.83 and the one-tailed value [hypothesis that the boat does not sink] of P is approximately 0.039. By normal standards, the association between the two variables would be considered statistically significant (i.e., P <0.05). Therefore, the hypothesis that the boat does not sink as a function of its class assignment ("length") is rejected.
I will say, however, that the numbers of entrants to each class were not equal, and that the "longer length" class boats had very much higher finishing rates, which means that many escaped the worst conditions by being ahead of them. Finally, class assignments were by an IOR rating rule, not by strict measurement of the LOA. The total number of boats in the race was 303; the number in the three smaller-length classes was 180. So, I guess I would not bet my booty on the correlation being exceedingly trustworthy.
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With the excellent weather forecasting and communication systems that are available to Caribbean cruisers today, the odds of a prudent sailor experiencing a rollover in any keel boat is next to nothing. My wife and I cruised the Caribbean for 6 years in a 36' keel boat. Going to Puerto Rico against the trade winds is a tough motor sail. A long water line and strong engine are big pluses when beating for hours into 6-8 footers. Anything less than 30' would be slow and very uncomfortable. You need to also consider the reduced fuel and water tankage. If I were you, I would look for a larger boat and if money is a consideration, an older boat.
At one point, American Marine & Sail Supply, which I owned was a Beneteau dealer as well before moving to North Carolina in the late 90"s.
Recalling from memory but could be wrong being an old fart now, there were about 120 of those boats built at the Marion, SC plant. Although I no longer have my records being retired for a long time, I purchased I believer a little over 20 of them. Therefore this is what or how I represented that boat.
The boat was presented as a couple's boat with an occasional second couple or single for a short sail and duration as a weekender or week only in the rivers, lakes, bays and so on. Based on the information from those who designed the boat and those who used to work at Beneteau, it was not designed as a true blue water boat. However, it was up to the owner should the boat be based at the coast. I concur that this is not a blue water boat to be sailed off shore.
Recalling from memory but could be wrong being an old fart now, there were about 120 of those boats built at the Marion, SC plant. Although I no longer have my records being retired for a long time, I purchased I believer a little over 20 of them. Therefore this is what or how I represented that boat.
The boat was presented as a couple's boat with an occasional second couple or single for a short sail and duration as a weekender or week only in the rivers, lakes, bays and so on. Based on the information from those who designed the boat and those who used to work at Beneteau, it was not designed as a true blue water boat. However, it was up to the owner should the boat be based at the coast. I concur that this is not a blue water boat to be sailed off shore.
?????
That seems like an overly broad statement.
I can think of plenty of examples that buck that trend.
Go ahead. But here the current thinking on the matter.
When is your boat in danger of being knocked down or rolled by a wave? A study conducted by the University of Southampton’s Department of Ship Science and a similar study by the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) along with US Sailing have shown that three conditions usually have to exist:
1. Wave height must exceed a certain percentage of the boat’s length. At this point the wave becomes dangerous and contains enough energy to overcome a boat’s righting moment.
2. The boat is broadside or oblique to the wave. The more a boat moves from being perpendicular to a wave, the greater the chance of a knock down. If the boat is bow or stern onto the wave, the chances of being rolled are greatly reduced. Yes, a boat can be pitch-poled (tossed end-over-end), but the size of the wave needed to do this greatly exceeds the size of the smaller wave needed to knock a boat down when broadside to a wave.
3. The boat is struck by a breaking wave. Unless the wave is breaking, the boat should ride up and over the wave regardless of the wave height in comparison to the boat length and the boat’s orientation to the wave. That is not to say that it will be comfortable or possibly cause the boat to go out of control. But without the wave breaking on the boat, the boat itself should not be knocked down.
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As one example, I would feel comfortable taking a tiny little 18' Cape Dory Typhoon out in seas that I would hesitate to launch a 30' Etchels into.
Blue water is a myth imo. The ocean has no equal or competition. To pretend one has mastered the elements is to lie to yourself and mock the sacrifices given to appease gods that cannot be satisfied.
Boats designed to defend freedom from gobal tyranee have met worse fates than weekend bass boats that broke free from anchor and circumdrifted around the world.
Whole island chains are populated with critters that have no idea what a boat is.
If you are a badass survivor thats not accident prone you could buy any boat and flip posiden the bird and tell great stories. If you are some wuss that likes warm showers and cant sleep at night without a gentle backrub, or you are absent minded and cant remember what color cans or nuns are, maybe stick to catching docklines.
The correct bluewater boat is the solution to the problem...whats the worst that can happen. Blue water is a myth since if we plan for the worst it wont be a boat anymore. In addition you get to a point where the boat will float under 95% of global ocean scenerios, but is the crew bluewater. Can the crew handle the worst that can happen using the available resources?
Boats designed to defend freedom from gobal tyranee have met worse fates than weekend bass boats that broke free from anchor and circumdrifted around the world.
Whole island chains are populated with critters that have no idea what a boat is.
If you are a badass survivor thats not accident prone you could buy any boat and flip posiden the bird and tell great stories. If you are some wuss that likes warm showers and cant sleep at night without a gentle backrub, or you are absent minded and cant remember what color cans or nuns are, maybe stick to catching docklines.
The correct bluewater boat is the solution to the problem...whats the worst that can happen. Blue water is a myth since if we plan for the worst it wont be a boat anymore. In addition you get to a point where the boat will float under 95% of global ocean scenerios, but is the crew bluewater. Can the crew handle the worst that can happen using the available resources?