Kevin...

Posted By: Tom Scott, P-18
Date: 2/25/05 3:44p.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: Re: Oh, good grief... I HAVE to comment... :( (Kevin, P-18, NJ)

...The P-185 centerboard is a steel plate encapsulated in fiberglass. (...same as your P-18, only the plate on the P-185 is bigger/heavier.) The P-185 I sailed used a multi-part purchase to handle the board. I have never seen a statement as to what the board (alone) weighs, but my guesstimate is that it weighs more than 100lbs, and less than 200lbs. The P-185 brochure only describes it as having a "ballasted centerboard". In the full up position, about half of the centerboard is resting above the waterline. (6" draft "board up"; 12" wide centerboard) Combine that with crew hanging onto the deck edge as the boat passes 90 degrees, and "quickly turning turtle" is clearly where you are headed. Also, if the boat is left on a mooring with the board up (or even down) ...and a roller furling jib is installed ...and a thunderstorm is nearby ...a capsize is not an a unreasonable occurrence - or even expectation. This isn't a P-185 issue - it's a "dinghy characteristic". A Snipe, Lightning, 470, Rebel, Interlake, Mutineer, Buccaneer, etc. etc. would all behave in a very similar fashion in the same circumstances. None of these "type" of boats should be left on a mooring with inclement weather nearby, possibly with boards raised, and furling jibs hoisted. Nor should they be expected to do anything other than turn turtle if knocked down with their boards fully raised, and crew hanging on past 90 degrees of heel. After one has decided to purchase a "performance oriented" dinghy of some type, this tendency to capsize is more an issue of "physics" than "design". Tom Scott, P-18 #129 "Alert"