Waking Up on a Pogo 12.5.

I recently had the privilege of crewing on "Fusion", ShaggyBaxter's Pogo 12.5, on the delivery voyage from Brisbane to Hamilton Island prior to Hammo Race Week.

Waking Up!!?? That boat woke me up to to what modern designed performance cruising yachts can deliver by way of exhilarating sailing performance with ultimate safety.

Even old Joe Adams said the safest boat is the fastest boat!!

The Pogo is fast as you will see. It is so easy to get her on the plane.

Safety?? This is a 40 foot yacht that displaces 5.5 tonne. That is half what my previous Peterson 42 IOR 2 tonner displaces and it was a hot yacht for 1982.

The owner of Pogo Yachts was a specialist in composite materials before he started building yachts so he has the science. Everything on the Pogo is "light as but strong as" except for the rubbish bin tilt door, but that is another story.

The space below the forward double bunk is foam filled as is the space below the port cabin double bunk. I think that is the case with the starboard double bunk too. This renders the boat as unsinkable. I am thinking about doing the same thing to my Lotus 9.2 which is not too far from the Pogo in design concept.

Monday morning early morning departure.




Craig with his colourful shorts.



This is the grand tour.

The Pogo 12.5 is the cruising version of the "Open 40".

Re comfort:- I have said it before, any vessel on the ocean less than 1,000 foot in length is going to be uncomfortable and even then the 1,000 foot length and comfort are debatable.

For me comfort in a cruising yacht is getting to the anchorage in as short a time as possible.

The Pogo has a seakindly motion and does it quickly but at $600,000 it is in the realms of a rich man's toy. The Pogo 30 at half the price is a real tempter. If I had the funds I would own one today. Check the vids.

This is really exciting.

Definitely not classic lines of beauty. I will sacrifice that for speed.

Glad you enjoyed it Cisco.
TwoDogs, have to agree, compared to Jode's Hanse she is Spartan by comparison, but that was my fitout, when they have the cockpit table, centre grab rail, dodger and deck cushions they look completely different. I must admit I like the uncluttered look.
Jode, love to hook up one day, your boat looks regal under sail, be great to look over her one day!

Hi Cisco, just a minor correction. The hull mould is shared with the Pogo 40s2, which is a Class 40, as compared to the Open 40.
The class 40 is one of the more successful classes in modern times, I think with over 220 active participants globally.
The Open 40 tried to create a more radical racing class, and died a rather tragic death quite quickly.
Not trying to split hairs, but there is a bit of a difference between the two design concepts.
The newer Class 40 Pogo, called the S3, is even more fuller in the bow sections than mine, you can see the hint of the scow bow concept becoming more popular. Problem is the freeboard in the stern quarters is nuts smaller removing a lot of space that is benificial in a cruiser, so the 12.50, being the cruiser model, will stay with the 40s2 mould.
Bit of trivial info for ya.

Sorry shaggy. I do remember you saying on the trip that the Pogo is the cruising version of the Class 40 not the Open 40.
Cheers.

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dralyagmas said..
Photos of inside ie: cruising features?

It is pretty much all there in the vid I posted. If one wanted to take a Pogo longer term international cruising I think it would need some upgrading by way of bigger food storage lockers, increased water carrying capacity as well as fuel capacity.

From memory I think the fuel tank carries only 40 litres and water capacity is 200 litres per side. The space for the fuel tank could possibly have a bigger tank, say 60 litres but the whole configuration of the boat does not allow for much in the way of tank modification. The lazarette locker is huge and could probably contain a dozen 20 litre containers,which puts the weight aft where it would be better than forward.

We carried 300 kg of grog in the stbd aft cabin which didn't seem to slow her down much.

The cockpit table and centre grab rail option would be good as long as long as it is easily removable. The huge open cockpit is a perfect place to inflate a 3 metre or more dinghy, put the outboard on it and just slide out the back. The centre post for the stern lifelines is removable and has a socket for it on the stbd side where there are two more sockets for the boarding ladder. The post is then handy to grab to assist when climbing the ladder.

The Pogo is an extremely well thought out boat. For such a performance yacht the ergonomics of getting around on it, especially the companionway is excellent. Not hard to tell that I am in love with it is it??

Looks stacks of fun, really neutral helm - heat it up, soak down, repeat... no constant trimming required.

Hi Southace,
Each to their own, I'm never professed my boat is the epitome of a cruiser, or anything of the sort.
I like the Adams 12.8, congrats to you, I just prefer a different style of boat.
Btw, anything will sail at 7.5 in 10-15 knots mate

G'day Twodogs,
No issue at all mate, I enjoy your posts.
Dralyagmas, here is a couple of pics to give you an idea mate.
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This is the fuel tank area that Cisco was referring too.
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It is a fine looking vessel shaggybaxter.
Lydia I never said it looks like a straight race boat what I have said is it is much more a racer than cruiser.
Still plenty of cruising cats about and people who like multi hulls will always want multi hulls.

Shaggy, have a look at this vid and pause it at 1:15. This one looks like the spreaders are not swept back and it has a set of running back stays each side.

Is this the earlier version of your boat??

Edit:- Closer examination of the mast step and chain plate positions does indeed show that she has swept back spreaders but no boom bag and it think she has a topping lift.

Obviously you have become quite obsessed, not sure if this vessel sited in the Bundaberg distillery reach is really a Pogo 30 though!! The rig looks completely wrong.

Hi Donk,
Yes, but not this year, the crew and planning aren't at that level yet.
I've been talking with a bunch of gurus of late to help me with my prep plan for a Hobart .
There is a surprising amount of detail that needs to go into a Hobart prep to mitigate blowing up gear and sails, and I'm still fitting all the knowledge together, this alone will prevent me from this years

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shaggybaxter said..
Hi Donk,
Yes, but not this year, the crew and planning aren't at that level yet.
I've been talking with a bunch of gurus of late to help me with my prep plan for a Hobart .
There is a surprising amount of detail that needs to go into a Hobart prep to mitigate blowing up gear and sails, and I'm still fitting all the knowledge together, this alone will prevent me from this years

Also according to Lydia a $100,000 expenditure to comply with safety and other rules for the race such as stability table among other things.

Cruiser/Racer?…may be timely to remind people of Web Chiles' latest (5 th +/- ?) circumnavigation…currently in or just left Durban, South Africa, after visiting Australia on his latest 'wrong way' round the world voyage. Is his Moore 24 the Pogo 12.5 of the 80's or vice versa…albeit in a much more compact form. Any of the Moore 24 videos on u-tube are just so entertaining! As are those of the Pogo…and for those hard core racers, Cisco's thread is 'Waking up on a Pogo', not 'Wanking up on a Pogo'!
Greg