Yachting and Boating World forums: What do you mean "Modern yacht designs are uncomfortable"?

Once again you are basing your observations on hearsay. For example, in a Bavaria the bulkheads are not normally bonded to the hull structure, so how can you say that it has parted from the hull. Being able to see through a GRP hull is not a measure of strength. I ccould see through the hull of a "heavily constructed" 1970s boat that I sailed on regularly - but this is simply because the grp layup (which was nearly 1 inch thick), was transluscent. I used to lie in the forecabin watching the water rush by! Would pigmenting them black so you could not see reassure you?

Please, please look carefully at where the materials are used in the construction of boats. A hull does not have to be thick to be adequate for its main role - keeping water out. It does however, need to be strong in the parts that take the loads of rigging and keel. It should also be made such that it has high impact resistance in vulnerable areas which is why Bavarias, Jenneaus and no doubt others have Kevlar in the laminate in the bow section.

In an earlier post I compared my Bav 37 with an HR 36 on the weight issue. If you take out the ballast weight and the extra weight of the heavier equipment to drive the higher displacement of the HR you will find that the weight of materials in the basic hull/superstructure are not very different. What is different is that Bavaria can give you more volume because it uses the material in a different way.

Keel damage is almost always (by observation) the result of hitting something such as a rock, not from loads under sail. This is indeed a weak point of fin keel design. Therefore if one were planning to sail in areas where contact with rocks or coral was expected you might want to choose a different design. I remember Nigel Calder writing an eloquent article on this very topic. However, most cruisers never go near this sort of situation, so have no need to accept the compromises in design to cope with something they won't encounter.

I could not agree more about the paucity of information about failures. However, we have statutory bodies that are required to investigate incidents that result in foundering or loss of life, and they are the primary source of independent data on failures. We are also living in a world where consumers have no compunction about pursuing manufacturers that produce substandard product. By definition people who buy yachts worth many thousands or hundreds of thousands of pounds, dollars or euros know the price of fish. If there was a serious problem with substandard products, the yachting community would know about it.

Instead, as these fora show, you find more praise than complaint. The major manufacturers in Europe produce between them close on 10000 yachtsof 30 ft plus a year, probably more than the total number of "traditional" yachts of similar size in use at any one time!

As to your last comment, I could not agree more, but please don't rubbish other peoples' choices to support yours!