M15 is larger and more expensive

Posted By: Harry Gordon, WWP14 #234, Manatee, Mountain View, CA
Date: 11/2/08 12:13p.m.

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In Response To: What the other forum says: M15 vs P15 (toller)

They are both great boats, but the M15 is bigger and costs more, so they aren't exactly comparable boats. The WWP was sold as a 14-footer until a new owner took over the company and increased the overall length to 15 feet through the magic of advertising and the addition of a built-in motor mount. Early brochures give the waterline length of the WWP as 11.5 feet. Current brochures round that off to 12 feet. Montgomery specs show a waterline length of 13 ft 3 inches. With almost 2 ft more length at the waterline, one would expect the Montgomery to be faster, and this has generally been demonstrated at the Cruiser Challenge races, although some P15s have beaten some M15s. I haven't sailed a Montgomery so I can't speak from experience about its stability. Typically, round-bottom sailboats are more tender initially but stiffen as the heel increases. A relatively flat-bottomed boat like the Potter has more initial stability and sails best with only 10 to 20 degrees of heel, but they can reach a point of no return if heeled extremely. I think that happens when the CG gets outboard of the hard chine. I haven't had that experience yet, but I've only been sailing Manatee for 38 years. My lateen-rigged P14 seems to point as well and possibly better than the standard P15. I'm not sure how it compares to an M15. The track below shows Manatee in a Cruiser Challenge a few years ago. Note that the first few tacks off the start are close to 90 degrees, indicating we're pointing 45 degees off the wind. (Current is not a factor in Monterey Bay.) Further out, larger waves and swells reduced the pointing ability somewhat. A boat built for racing would do much better (as would a better skipper), but I find the pointing ability of the Potter is quite acceptable for a mini-cruiser. And, no, I didn't miss that Lovers Point mark. Matching my track to a printed chart was less than 100% accurate. Honest!