Many sailors tend to steer clear of yachts dubbed as cruiser-racers when they’re browsing classified ads or brokerage lists in search of their first (or next) cruising yacht. I often wonder if they’re missing out on enhanced sailing fun by following this route.
Much of my early sailing experience was based on cruiser-racers such as the Nicholson-designed South Coast One Design (SCOD) and Nicholson 26, a Holman-designed Elizabethan 29, a French Samouraï quarter tonner and an Oliver Lee-designed Hunter 19 and Hunter 701. In their different ways all these yachts mixed cruising (admittedly cramped in the Hunter 19!) with above average performance and handling.
And then there’s the social side of the sailing clubs that are at the heart of our sport. Whether you enjoy a cruise in company, a social get-together, occasional sessions at the bar, low key club racing or high-octane regatta weeks, sailing clubs come up with the goods. Without these clubs and the volunteers who help administer them, our sport would have less to offer and provide fewer opportunities to get together with like-minded sailors.
Social and cost-saving
Over a lengthy sailing career I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy countless happy hours – mainly pulling sheets – on all sorts of club races. And in the process I’ve made many friends. That’s the joy of cruiser racing. Whether it’s as up-market as Cowes Week, as huge as the Round the Island Race, as muddy as Burnham Week, as chilly as a winter or spring series or as low key as mid-week summer evening racing, it guarantees splendid sociable sport.
And you don’t need to own an expensive modern yacht to join in the fun. Cruiser racing can encompass anything from a modest 22-footer up to a sumptuous Swan. Splitting the fleet into separate divisions takes care of size variations and the results are calculated using a variety of handicap systems.
When assessing a yacht’s likely performance, motion and behaviour at sea it’s important to take account of its displacement, ballast ratio, DLR (displacement to waterline length ratio), SA/disp (foretriangle and mainsail area to displacement ratio) and Ted Brewer’s Comfort Ratio (a complex formula that assesses a yacht’s motion at sea based on waterline beam and weight etc). Lower DLR and Comfort Ratio and higher SA/Disp indicate faster sailing.
The day I asked David Thomas to design a new Hunter cruiser-racer was – with the benefit of hindsight – the day that Hunter Boats’ fortunes took a dramatic turn for the better. It was also the day that David embarked on his career as the leading British designer of One Design cruiser-racers: although One Design racing was not part of my initial brief.
I simply asked for a boat of around 22ft that would have more beam and offer better accommodation than other cruisers of its size, look attractive, handle nicely, take strong wind in its stride and win races under its IOR handicap.
