Mulling all this over as if I have nothing else to do I awoke to the conclusion that it is simply a reincarnation of the well-plied debates over heft & stability versus speed & agility. If you're going to cross the ocean in a sailboat with your wife only, or otherwise a small crew, what strategy? A heavy, proven, albeit slow, cruiser that can take care of itself (and you) when the sea asserts its relentless forces; or a lighter, faster, more agile cruiser that potentially minimizes your time of exposure to those same forces, but one which you have to take care of with more crew work, weather reading & forecasting, & course planning, etc. Hunker down and let the sea wash over me while I sit below in my safe 25,000+ lb cocoon with its full, deep keel; reading, or employ the more active tactics of avoidance, running off, trailing drogues or whatever, because I MUST. My light, fin-keeled, flat-bottomed boat with its spade rudder and high free-board will not heave-to or lie ahull well, or suffer well the pounding of the seas; but, it will scream down the face of waves with great speed and agility away from the trouble. The only problem is: someone has to be up there helming the thing in two-hour shifts, etc.
In the histories of war of which I'm familiar, speed & agility have triumphed most of the time over heft & stability. Mobile armies have brought down walled cities; the Sherman defeated the Tiger, Spitfires crushed the Messerschmidt, PT's sank cruisers; hell, even the Bismarck was ultimately defeated by a wooden bi-plane carrying a primitive torpedo.
It's either take what comes or get the hell out of the way. That is the question (choice)!! People buy a 380 Island Packet to cross the San Pedro Channel (22 n.mi.) to Catalina Island twice a year in summer; others buy a Catalina 27 to go around the world. Go figure. Your money, your boat, your choice. I just hope you understand what you're signing up for!!
