One of the paradoxes of
boat design is that the boat that seems to be tender initially will likely be
more seaworthy than the one that is stiff to start with. That’s because most
capsizes are caused by wave action, not wind, and when a boat is upside down she
will recover more quickly if she is reasonably narrow and has a deep, heavy,
ballast keel. A wide shallow boat, while stiff to start with, tends to remain
upside down a long time if she is capsized by a wave.
Liveaboard cruising boats
often lose stability imperceptibly as their owners gather possessions over the
years. This causes a boat’s ballast keel to become an ever-smaller percentage
of displacement.
The situation can be
improved substantially by lowering weights wherever possible. These include
internal ballast, books, water and fuel tanks, batteries, outboard engines
clamped to the aft rail, life rafts, dinghies, provisions, and anything higher
than the boat’s center of buoyancy.
Keep your spars and
rigging wire as light as possible. That goes for the sails and fittings, too.
Hanked-on foresails improve stability more than roller-furling sails because
they can be lowered in bad weather.
Incidentally, it pays to lessen
weight aloft. Because of the effect of leverage, every ounce off the top of the
mast is worth a pound added to the keel.
Today’s Thought
Remember that there is nothing
stable in human affairs ...— Isocrates, Ad Demonicum
Tailpiece
Some of us believe a girl’s
family tree doesn’t matter, as long as she has the right kind of limbs.
(Drop by every Monday,
Wednesday, Friday for a new Mainly about Boats column.)
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