Hold on a minute here..

Lars S. Mulford (mulford@bellatlantic.net)
Thu, 17 Jun 1999 21:57:15 -0400


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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Bernie, East Coasties, Web Gang:

First of all, lets clear the air a bit. It is known that the P15 and P19 will
perform better with weight in the nose. Jerry alluded to it in an earlier note.
On the Potters, you must let the fore chine do it's job and to do that, you have
to get the nose down and the stern up. Doing this allows a cleaner hydrodynamic
exit and the Potter presents a cleaner hydrodynamic planform overall, allowing
increases in performance. But this much is a given.

Having said that, here are some personal thoughts on all of this mess. First of
all, I rather take exception to Bernie classifying the P15 as some type of
recalcitrant wench... For what you get, the P15 is a great boat. It is capable
of many things, but the skipper is the one who must decide what the boat can or
can't do, within their own comfort zone. Would I take one offshore and sail
about the Atlantic? Yep, and I did it frequently in my lateen rigged P15. Is
this something I'd recommend to every P15 owner? Of course not. In this vein,
the sailboat takes on the personality of it's skipper, because it is the skipper
who will dictate what the boat can and can't do. If Bernie views his boat in
such a way, could this be a reflection of himself? I'm not sending a "dig" your
way Bernie, but I'm getting tired of what is looking to be a diatribe against a
very fine boat that has an extremely devoted following.

And Bernie, if I have read your account of the woes you've experienced with your
Potter thus far, you've got to take some responsibility for what happened. It
isn't ALL THE FAULT OF THE BOAT.

As for other incidents and whatnot, well... Look people, there comes a point
when we've got to use some common sense. I'm a guy who stands 6'7" and goes 230+
lbs, and when I had my P15 out the very first time, there were certain things
that were just a given.. One would be using EXTREME caution when moving about
because of my size.. Second would be that when moving about on the boat when it
is in the water, the board had better damned well be down.... We're talking
about a boat that goes under 500lbs, and you've got people half that weight
moving about on it... C'mon now.. Can someone of "size" move about on a P15?
Sure, but never forget some basic rules of physics when doing so and be sure to
pack your common sense as well..

As for Bernie wanting a Newport 16( or Neptune 16, they are the same), hey, you
are welcome to them! There are 3 for sale in my area. I've not sailed a Newport
16 yet that wasn't a wet ride in the cockpit in any kind of chop.. The P15 is
much drier in the cockpit. Also, the Newport 16's cabin is tiny, in some
respects, smaller than the P15s. The Newport 16 also generates significantly
more heel. Newport/Neptune 16 weighs in at just under 1000lbs too, so it is a
bit more to pull..And, when you begin to have centerboard winch problems, have
fun getting in there to fix it.. They aren't bad boats really, but other than
the fact that they are both trailerable, there are far more differences in the
Newport/Neptune 16 and the Potter 15 than similarities. Therefore, a comparison
between the two really isn't fair to either boat.

Bernard Johnson wrote:

> Mac, I have read October Potter. As I remember, Stanley Smith made quite a
> point about him carrying extra floatation, and there was something about him
> abandoning the boat in breakers because he felt the boat would not survive.

Bernie, if you were sailing the North Sea, would you not have extra flotation?
Smith wasn't knocking his boat, he was being safety conscious. As far as his
abandoning the boat in breakers, there is much more to that than what you mention
here.

> He doesn't advocate ocean cruising in small boats (and reading between the
> lines, I think he thought himself a damned fool for sailing the North sea
> himself).

This isn't exactly true. Smith did not advocate ocean cruising unprepared. And
according to Smith's nephew Colin (who the ECPA has been in regular contact with;
he has been most kind in providing us with information about his uncle) he did
not consider his North Sea delivery a foolhardy stunt, but a life experience.

> I do not buy into "The Gospel according to Stanley Smith". I think
> he was/is a neat guy, and I am sure he knew/knows more than I'll ever know
> about sailing but please don't let us beatify him!

What is this crap? Who says his word was/is Gospel? All I've heard on this list
is that people respect his written word because, after all, he designed the boat
to specifications of his choosing, and knew better than anyone what the boat was
capable of and what it wasn't. He doesn't pull punches in his writings as to
what his neat little sailboat can and can't do. If you consider the respect that
most of us give Stanley Smith to be upholding him to some Godlike status, well,
that is a loss on your part. You are not only wrong, but you are missing out on
great advice that pertains often times not just to Potters, but to many smaller
trailerable sailboats.

--
"Sea" ya!

--Lars S. Mulford, President East Coast Potter Association (ECPA) Come visit us at http://members.tripod.com/~SpeedSailor s/v Aqua (sailing the greater Chesapeake region) "Forgive, and live. Life is worth the challenge of living." --LSSM "Love is good; Love hurts; Love sustains; Love remains." --LSSM