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To BCC e-group members.
I sent this response to Coffincatcher, with a cc to the BCC e-group, yesterday from my office but apparently it did not transmit properly. So, if you receive a second copy, please accept my apologies as it is not intentional.
Tom Walker
ALOHA
BCC 95
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To Coffincatcher...
You are entitled to your opinion, and I will defend your right to state it. That being said, I'm a little concerned with your qualifications to make such sweeping and grandiose statements, particularly, as you openly state that you only have "some experience on these wonderful boats". I've been on a 12-meter but that doesn't qualify me to say how it handles or sails. The BCC has its warts, but I don't think the items you've chosen are truly among them. It's a matter of perspective. The BCC is cramped? We owned a Catalina 30 for over 11 years prior to buying the BCC. If there was ever a small boat with a capacious interior, the C30 is it. Yet, after 2 years of coastal cruising and offshore sailing, we have no problems with the living space in the BCC. While I wholeheartedly agree with your statement that one would not want to face heavy seas with too much open space below, cramped is a not a term that I would use to describe a BCC. Maybe if one has a big family, it would be cramped, but no reasonable person would consider a BCC for a big family. Slow in light air? We sail in the light air capital of the US, the Chesapeake Bay, and to a degree, you are right - the BCC, at 14,000+ lb, is no light air sled. Distorted conceptions notwithstanding, we've passed more than one 40' boat in what many people call light air. It just takes practice and experience. Tradeoffs have to be made - no boats excels in all conditions. YOU buy the boat that suits the type of sailing YOU want to do. When we were 50 miles off Long Island and the breezes were over 25, and the seas were up around 10', we were dry and comfortable. That's the kind of sailing that we want to do and that's why we bought our BCC. And I didn't even think about going out on the bowsprit. That problem is solved with a high quality roller furler and, short of a catastrophic failure, there should be no need to go onto the sprit at sea. And what does being over 50 have to do with anything? Age is a restriction only when you let it become one. My comments are intended only to point out that broad-brush criticisms serve no purpose. Own or sail a BCC for more than "a while". Until then, please refrain..... And I will include my name. Tom Walker ALOHA BCC #95 Free Web-based e-mail groups by www.eGroups.com |