<< Does anyone have any thoughts on how seaworthy a 19 is? I'm considering
buying a 19 but I live in southern Oregon and the seas are pretty rough which
makes me hesitate. I plan on using it almost exclusively for coastal sailing
and don't have plans to use it for lakes, etc. I would appreciate any
comments. >>
You didn't say what your sailing experience is, so please excuse me if you're
a seasoned coastal cruiser and are looking to "downsize." If you have
extensive experience, you can probably already guess what the limitations of
the P-19 are compared to a much larger cruiser.
I don't have the seamanship skills to confidently do coastal sailing with our
P-19 "Red Wing," but the previous owner did. From what I've been told, Bruce
Little sailed her all up and down the West Coast. In the June 1996 Potter
Yachter Newsletter, Bruce was called "one of the better, most daring Potter
sailors... a legend..." We bought his boat three months ago.
Not too many Potter sailors would do what Bruce did. One thing to keep in
mind is that a lot of beginners buy P-19's because they're very forgiving
boats and they're not expensive. (On the other hand, a used P-19 is hard to
find and commands a higher price than most comparable used 22-26 foot
trailerables in the San Francisco Bay area.)
Bruce had "Red Wing" fitted out to ride out serious storms -- upgraded stays
(Norseman terminals and 5/32" SS stays), 2 reef points that allowed him to
reduce the mainsail area by either 40% or 75%, and a Harken roller furler that
can handle twice the working load of for a typical 20' boat. The boat also
has a backstay, which I consider a necessity for SF Bay sailing, and it's
adjustable, which is a nice feature for taking the draft out of the mainsail
in heavy winds.
Bruce was so cautious that he also cut the roach off the mainsail, which I
personally think was unnecessary since it had reef points to reduce mainsail
to about 20 square feet for riding out storms. (By the way, if you do get a
P-19 and you want a "storm" mainsail, let me know -- we're waiting for our new
mainsail to be finished and have no pressing need for the old one.)
The San Francisco Bay can dish out some pretty heavy weather, and the better
Potter sailors like Jerry Barrilleaux have been known to go out in 25-30 mph
winds. Jerry's boat has a reef point that reduces mainsail to about 50% (the
reef point is 4' 9" from the foot of the sail) and the standard "working jib"
from International Marine that I measured at 32 square feet. His boat has no
headsail furler, but it does have a jib downhaul so he can strike the jib from
the cockpit.
I've sailed SF Bay on my windsurfer in conditions like that and I know that
gusts can reach 35 or 40 when it's blowing a steady 25-28. (That was in my
younger, more durable days. Nowadays, I don't go out when the gusts are
likely to exceed 30 mph) So the P-19 can handle at least that much of a blow.
As soon as I get to know my boat better and have logged a lot more hours of
practice on the water, and when we have finished refitting her (some 13-year-
old parts are looking a little tired on Red Wing), I plan to be out on the Bay
in those conditions. There's a good reason NOA issues "small craft
advisories". That means proceed with caution. Intermediate skippers and
boats with deferred maintenance should stay home on those days.
I don't know squat about coastal cruising, but I don't think the P-19 was
designed with that in mind. She can handle it with a skilled skipper, but
like most trailerables, that's not what she's optimized for. I think she
would pound a lot with her flat hull in stormy conditions, and the cabin
accommodations are more suitable for weekending or extended camping on
protected waters than extended coastal cruising.
If what plan to do is coastal cruising, where you will encounter gales far
away from home, maybe a "pocket cruiser" like the P-19 isn't the right boat
for you. If on the other hand, you can just stay home for the day if the
weather looks nasty, and you want a trailerable that can be launched from a
trailer (without a hoist at the marina), you can't do any better than the
P-19.
Considering the occasional hair-raising experiences I've had windsurfing and
dinghy racing on San Francisco Bay and Buzzard's Bay and Cape Cod Bay in New
England, the P-19 will have to prove herself to me (and I will have to prove
to myself that I'm skillful enough) before I take her out on the open ocean.
I prefer to head for home when Mother Nature says it's not a good day for
sailing.
Just my 2 cents. YMMV.
Judith Blumhorst, DC
WWP-19 #266 (1986) "Red Wing"
San Francisco Bay Area, CA