Water ballast vs weighted keel

[alan]

Tender yes, dangerous in the North Atlantic...

...maybe, they don't dismast without hitting bridges. Daryl is somewhat correct on the issue of performance. These boats are trade offs to get maximal size, livability, "bang for the buck" and trailerability at the expense of speed closehauled. Other than that point of sail, because of windage and lack of deep weighted keel, they do pretty well. The rudder systems, well, work well with various mods., we all know that! As far as being safe, sailing one without the water ballast tank full is dangerous otherwise they will self right. These boats are not pocket blue water cruisers and are not built for that. Gary, I've sailed a winged keel 260 as well as a w/b one and my own 26. I'll say the keeled one is a lot less tender. We didn't think about reefing till 17+ knots while in the w/b at 12 knots with non sailors we had to. alan addendum: Daryl, you don't need to insult others to get your point across. Your first post was a hit and run and answered as such. If you review the archieves, you would find that many of the posters on this thread know the disadvantages of our boats. We got them for their advantages. It's all about trade-offs. In my case, the skinny but protected waters of the Great South Bay of Long Island. I don't even trailer (Bob only does at the beginning and the end of the season as do many others), but enjoy anchoring in knee deep water so that my kids can walk to shore. Try that with a deep fin keel. alan

 

[Kevin Bladsacker]

Who's not being nice here

Darryl's first post. Your WB is slow and unsafeDarryl's second post.If you've ever won in a PHRF race you may still be a loser anywayDarryl's third post.Your WB boat is uglyGary wants to trailor sail which is a wonderful way to learn the sport. Everyone is also fully qualified to judge the beauty of their own boat. I've seen these boats out with us on Lake Pontchartain, which is known for its hard chop. They do well. I'm sure I can outsail my neighbor overall, but I'm comfortable going up against Time on Distance in any race.

 

[Sean Coerse]

Daryl

Daryl in my PHRF fleet I often beat Catalina 25's and ODay 272's and Occasionaly a Catalina 27 tall rig boat for boat before corrected time in 10 knots or less on a windward leeward course. There is a nice advantage off the wind in being able to raise the centerboard. In heavier air I usually sail with a reef main upwind if I only have 1-2 crew and a full main off the wind. I'm curious if you have ever sailed a water ballest boat before to base your opinions. I've raced numerous small one design classes, have crewed on several large keel boats in phrf fleets. And delivered a Sabre 34 from Ct. to the bay. All boats are trade offs. Obviously a H240 doesn't sail like a J24 but I challenge anyone to rig a J24 and launch it from a trailer by themself in 45 minutes or less. My last post on the subject.

 

[Dan]

Its about the money

I saw the new Hunter 27 at the Philly boat show. It listed for almost twice the price of the 260. Hunter was selling a lot of 260s(low profit margin) probably at the expense of Its 30 foot Plus boats(high profit margin). I am happy with My 2004 260.

 

[Mark]

My bet Daryl is a 10 year old kid

who would "like" to own a yacht.Come on Daryl the dag I have sailed everything from 60' steel sloops on the Southern Ocean (if you know where that is) to little dingies on lakes and rivers.The 260 "water ballast" yacht is a fine yacht. In fact of all the yachts I own at the moment I prefer to sail the Hunter.