Re: The "Ra"

TillyLucy@aol.com
Wed, 12 May 1999 10:02:24 EDT


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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Bernie

Premier Products is a supplier of styrofoam packaging materials to industry.
I am familiar with them as a custom molder of beaded styrofoam, but they may
also provide bulk shapes.

I did have one comment on your idea which I kept to myself thinking that it
was obvious - If you cut openings in the hull of your boat water will enter
when you sail in chop, through wakes and the like. The notion of sailing a
boat with gallons of water sloshing about inside doesn't appeal to me at all.
I think there will also be issues of wetness, dampness and mold in the cabin
which would make it inhabitable. Picture yourself asleep on the bunk, a
powerboat motors by and the next thing you know, quantities of cold water
enter your sleeping bag.

Boats like the 505 that have an open transom function in the way I think you
have described. Since everything under the deck and the tanks functions as
flotation, a swamped cockpit simply drains out the back.

In my opinion, if you don't plan to use the cabin on your Potter, you might
be better off selling it before you destroy it's resale value by perforating
the hull and then getting a self-rescuing boat like a Laser, Force 5 or
Banshee. A Capri 14.2 or a Lido can also be recovered after a capsize, though
some bailing may be involved.

Best regards,

Dave Kautz
P-15 #1632 Tilly Lucy
Palo Alto, CA