Geoff
I recently tested that. Having just returned to the ramp float and after
raising the centerboard, I stood on the rail at the widest part of the
boat, holding onto a side stay. (I was using the gunter rig, not the
lateen.) The boat listed slightly, but not much happened. No, it wasn't
held up by the dock lines. I do have 90 lb of batteries in the belly, which
makes the boat a little stiffer, and my first generation Potter is heavier
than the new ones. I weigh about 180. I don't recommend doing that with
the sails up in wind and chop, however.
When Dave Kautz, Jon Hunolt, and I sailed our Potters all day to visit the
Estela in the South Bay, we covered 32 nautical miles. We departed about
8:30 or 9 AM and returned to the ramp at sunset. I was singlehanded and
sitting the entire time. When I stepped off the boat onto the dock, my legs
just folded under me and I went down. Despite my advanced age, that is not
a problem I normally have. So now, if I'm out very long, and conditions
allow, I stand up once in a while, just to keep my legs functional. The
flat-bottomed, beamy, hard chine Potter is not a tippy boat.
I agree with you about people use to larger boats. I once exchanged boat
rides with a neighbor who had, as I recall, a Pearson 26. Returning on a
run down the Oakland Estuary, my neighbor, who weighed 200+, chose to
recline on the cabintop. A wake or my carelessness or something caused us
to broach and round up, and Manatee went over far enough to dunk my
passenger's feet but didn't take in any water. He managed to stay on the
boat. (So, okay, it is a little tippy with a 200-pounder on the cabintop.)
Harry
P14 #234, Mantee
Mountain View, CA