By borisheir on Skatehive
SAILING / LIFE #5 My life is going through s patch of “rough weather”, just now – so of course this means it’s time for me to say a few words about hull form, speed, stability and safety. Bear in mind, the optimum cruising boat isn’t the fastest or prettiest. It is, rather, the boat most likely to get one to one’s destination, in spite of the hazards that may be encountered en route. So for the time being let’s focus on those characteristics of a sailboat’s hull that affect one’s cruising experience. To do this we need to define a few terms. Length - There are a number of ways of specifying a boat’s length. Most common of these is Length Overall (LOA) that includes length extensions like pulpits, bowsprits, and pushpits. Then there is Length On Deck (LOD) whose name is self-explanatory. Still more interesting than these measures, for our purposes, is the length at the waterline (LWL) to which the hull is submerged. Although oceans have been crossed in boats little bigger than bath tubs