There are no bad boats, just wrong owners
I've had 9 fiberglass boats ranging from a Cal 20 to my present Huner 380. The worst boat for me was the Pearson 27. I thought at the time it was poorly designed and years later I realiize that I didn't know how to solve and overcome some of the problems I had with that boat. It was also high maintainence boat for me but I've heard from others who loved it. I teach sailing for a local charter company and get to sail on a number of different brands and models of sailboats. They all sail differently and I do have my biases. Today I sailed on a Fast Passage 39 teaching the new owner some things about his boat. However, his boat taught me much in a short time. Bill Garden, a well known designer, designed the boat some years ago. It is a heavy modified full keel cutter rig probably designed to cruise around the world. I found it very difficult to steer and to control. How do you say nice things about the boat to the new owner (who would only hear the good stuff) when you are cursing under your breath because the boat will not respond like others I have sailed. There were five winches on the mast, two on the cabin top and four in the cockpit. And those were BIG winches because you had a big genny to get this heavy boat moving. The new owner wanted his wife to learn how to control the boat and trust me we had problems. Under sail the boat tracks well but under power it wanders around. There is one small locker in the cockpit and no place to put the five or six large fenders, so the owner leaves them on deck which get in the way. And yet, this is a boat that many on this web site and other web site would say is a blue water boat--get it! It is probably the forerunner to the Valiant 40 (same interior and Bob Perry worked for Bill Garden in his youth) I was so happy to get off this boat and go see my Hunter 380. But it is a matter of choice of what you want. Those in the club house that don't like Hunters may very well like standing on their head to get into a locker or to fix some part of their boat. I like my hatches to be large enough for me to do the work that needs to be done. This Fast Passage needs to have a holding tank installed (it has a rubber 6 gallon type and the rubber seems shot) and it looks like the owner will have to cut away parts of the deck to install a new holding tank. On my Hunter 380, I remove six screws and the hatch comes off--I can replace the fuel tank or the holding tank. And I know with the Catalina line, such things are also possible. The newer boats have better engineering, better designs and better back up systems. So I still say, if the owner likes his boat, it is a good match. While it may sound like I'm knocking the Fast Passage 39, it is a good boat with great lines even though I can't get the damn thing to back down in a civilized manner. I suspect this owner will take it to Mexico and be very happy. But I still like my H380. (Trevor, are you listening?) Forgive my rant, I've had a hard day on the water. Les
I've had 9 fiberglass boats ranging from a Cal 20 to my present Huner 380. The worst boat for me was the Pearson 27. I thought at the time it was poorly designed and years later I realiize that I didn't know how to solve and overcome some of the problems I had with that boat. It was also high maintainence boat for me but I've heard from others who loved it. I teach sailing for a local charter company and get to sail on a number of different brands and models of sailboats. They all sail differently and I do have my biases. Today I sailed on a Fast Passage 39 teaching the new owner some things about his boat. However, his boat taught me much in a short time. Bill Garden, a well known designer, designed the boat some years ago. It is a heavy modified full keel cutter rig probably designed to cruise around the world. I found it very difficult to steer and to control. How do you say nice things about the boat to the new owner (who would only hear the good stuff) when you are cursing under your breath because the boat will not respond like others I have sailed. There were five winches on the mast, two on the cabin top and four in the cockpit. And those were BIG winches because you had a big genny to get this heavy boat moving. The new owner wanted his wife to learn how to control the boat and trust me we had problems. Under sail the boat tracks well but under power it wanders around. There is one small locker in the cockpit and no place to put the five or six large fenders, so the owner leaves them on deck which get in the way. And yet, this is a boat that many on this web site and other web site would say is a blue water boat--get it! It is probably the forerunner to the Valiant 40 (same interior and Bob Perry worked for Bill Garden in his youth) I was so happy to get off this boat and go see my Hunter 380. But it is a matter of choice of what you want. Those in the club house that don't like Hunters may very well like standing on their head to get into a locker or to fix some part of their boat. I like my hatches to be large enough for me to do the work that needs to be done. This Fast Passage needs to have a holding tank installed (it has a rubber 6 gallon type and the rubber seems shot) and it looks like the owner will have to cut away parts of the deck to install a new holding tank. On my Hunter 380, I remove six screws and the hatch comes off--I can replace the fuel tank or the holding tank. And I know with the Catalina line, such things are also possible. The newer boats have better engineering, better designs and better back up systems. So I still say, if the owner likes his boat, it is a good match. While it may sound like I'm knocking the Fast Passage 39, it is a good boat with great lines even though I can't get the damn thing to back down in a civilized manner. I suspect this owner will take it to Mexico and be very happy. But I still like my H380. (Trevor, are you listening?) Forgive my rant, I've had a hard day on the water. Les