Small boats & new materials

Listmates, My post this morning got chewed up by my computer, at least as it arrived back in my inbox (three times). I'll try again by quoting myself, since the reference to our old friend Rog Jones got left out as sent: > As the owner of a 20-footer and a 26-footer, I respond to Jerry's > lament. WoodenBoat magazine just published the winners in their > latest design contest---can't remember exact criteria but they were > essentially a small, light boat capable of cruising (i.e., with > certain minimal accommodations). There are 8 or so cool little boats > among the winners. The idea is that you can have adventures in small > boats. Then I reflected on the guy I met the other day while hauling > my other boat for the winter. He was going to talk to the broker > about selling his 43 foot boat so he could buy a 49 foot boat. Why? > The 43 foot boat was too much to handle for an aging guy and he only > sailed with the jib as a result. So why buy a bigger one, I asked. > Answer: the 49 footer had in-mast mainsail furling. I wanted to > scream "BUY A SMALL BOAT" but I was too polite. Somehow we got the > notion that cruising boats have to be these immense floating palaces. > That's great if you've got a paid crew but they can be tough to sail > short-handed, especially when the disabilities common with aging are > tossed in. > > I heard a commentator discussing the poll showing that younger people > expect to live less well than their parents, a break in a tradition of > previously assuming they'd do better than the previous generation. > The commentator said it's all a matter of how you define "better." If > you mean bigger houses, bigger cars, and all that, then there's > obviously some limit on how long that kind of "better" can proceed. > But if you define better to be measured by other quality of life > factors (health, longevity, learning, access to information and > entertainment, for example), then maybe we should expect to live > better than the previous generation. > > It seems to me that it's the same way with boats. If "better" means > only "bigger," then there are natural limits to our aspirations. But > if better means more efficient, stronger for a given weight, more > durable, faster, more sea-kindly, or things like that, then maybe we > can expect progress into the future. The WoodenBoat contest shows the > kind of progress we can expect. I naturally tend to be a bit > resistant to change. "My [boat/car/phone/computer, etc] is good > enough." But when I see the creative uses of new materials and ideas > built on old knowledge, as revealed in that contest, I'll concede that > new can be better. I love my Cal 20, a sweet boat, but imagine what > fun it would be to build a new Cal 20 using newer materials and > engineering ideas! Look at your own boat and wonder what improvements > you could make if she were built today! And remember Rog Jones, our > kindly participant until his death, who was busy re-engineering his > Cal 29 with carbon fiber and new ideas. > > Chris Campbell >