G'day all.
My first post here as a wannabe sailor. I thought I may pick some brains as getting down to the local yacht club isn't the easiest thing to do right now (Highlands of PNG is as far from an ocean as I can imagine right now).
I guess a bit of background firstly... 40 odd and looking for a new challenge in life. Have had exposure to motor craft being around the military for 20+ years but only brief exposure to sailing vessels (hobicat and smaller whilst on holidays). I would like to transition to a livaboard vessel that is of size enough to take the missus and 3 kids away on trips - blue water eventually. Between these adventures I would more than likely be needing to do a lot of solo sailing.
Lets call it a 5 year plan.
I have spent many months looking at boats online, watching YouTube Videos, checking out blogs. Have started the RYA Shorebased Skippers Course via correspondence. Maxed out the town library's book borrowing once and am about to do it again. Picked up on ebay a bulk sale on cruising helmsman and the like and got in contact with the local sailing instructor to start lessons next month on their 20 ft yacht.
Ive come to the conclusion that Im after a 38 - 44 ft Steel or GRP centre cockpit to livaboard whilst learning to sail. Obviously I have a whole heap of "would likes" but in the end they wont mean a pinch of proverbial unless I can handle it (eventually) solo.
During my research I have seen a few must haves for solo sailing but would like to pick your collective brains if ok.
Most of what I've read point out many aspects that suit a single hander... ie tiller over a wheel, single backstay over double, strong solid mast over a mast furling main, wind vane steering system, self tailing winches, furling headsails, Electric anchor winch, lazy jacks...and so on.
I've just found a book by Andrew Evans online - Thoughts, Tips, Techniques and Tactics on Single Handed Sailing... Its very informative but as far as I can tell (just found it as I'm typing) its aimed at dedicated solo sailing so more talking about 25-30 footers.
Can you guys as a sailing collective pinpoint bottom line requirements that I should look for in a vessel closer to 40 foot? In particular what are the war stoppers that a few extra dollars cant over come ie addons vs overhauls. For example someone mentioned that its fair enough to bring the rigging back to the cockpit but if you have to leave the helm to run to the front of the cockpit then its a pain in the arse to a single hander... if winches aren't accessible at the helm is it a big issue??? Would you need to bring them to the rear of the cockpit? I imagine that's a big job. How many sheets/winches need to be accessible from the helm - leave the mainsail halyard on the mast - just run the genoa and jib back?
Sorry if this is at all sounding a bit novice but I'm hoping there's wisdom in knowing what I don't know. Id love to start to narrow down what I'm looking for in a boat.
Thanks... I hope...
Shamus
Welcome to the forum Shamus. A fine Oirish name if I ever heard one. 
Mixing you, wife and three kids on a yacht and the need to single hand a fair bit, I strongly suggest you have a yacht in the 30 to 35 foot range rather than the 38m to 40 foot range.
There is a big quantum shift between the two by way of manageability (most importantly) and cost (initial and ongoing).
There are 30 footers that will do the job quite admirably, a Lotus 9.2 such as I have being one of the best examples but I think a Van De Stadt 34 would suit you to a tee.
www.stadtdesign.com/designs/stock_plans_sail/van_de_stadt_34
Shamus, Welcome to the forums and welcome to the wonderful world of singlehanding. I'm the guy who wrote the book you mentioned above.
I'll agree with Cisco above that 38'-42' is getting to be a lot of boat when it comes to singlehanding. This is the reason why I concentrated on boats under 40' in my book. At that level you are dealing with a lot of forces that go beyond normal sailing. It becomes more like "managing" an aircraft carrier than "sailing" a boat. Especially as a newcomer to the sport, you will want something that is a little bit more nimble with regard to sailing handling. If you start to think of the size of a genoa or spinnaker on a 40' boat, you'll get the idea. Just think of the effort required to raise a mainsail on such a boat. Is this something you'll want to do when you leave the dock every day? And what will you do when you drop the spinnaker or the genoa over the side? Believe me that it WILL happen. In the published version of my book I did lengthy interviews with skippers of a Mini 6.50, Figaro II, Class 40 and IMOCA 60. After these discussions I have decided that the Figaro II, at 33' long, is pretty well the ideal size of boat for singlehanding. Small enough to be nimble and fun, but big enough for the type of ocean sailing that you are thinking of. (And by the way, while you dream of taking your little ones for long ocean voyages, in a few years they will reach puberty and want to have absolutely nothing to do with Dear Old Dad. )
In answer to your specific questions: Yes, you absolutely do want to have the sheet winches accessible from the helm position, even if that means stretching forward while you hold the tiller between you knees. As you know from my book, I have the jib sheet and the spinnaker sheet led across the cockpit to the windward side of the boat where I can give them the second-to-second adjustments necessary to make sailing efficient. But this also makes it more fun. Working the sheets is not so much fun if you need to get up off your bum for every tiny adjustment. You just won't do it. This is one of the key recommendations that I can make after 1,000 days of singlehanding. Moving winches is not as much work as you might think.
Have fun out there. My book has pretty well all of the recommendations that I can make with regard to design and setting up of a boat for singlehanding. Take a close look and let me know if you have any specific questions.
When looking for a secod hand boat also if you want to go cruising is that boat you are thinking of buying fitted out for have the necessary things inside that
you need . Some boats are and so are not there there's a upgrade costs to get her ready .
Water volume ( water maker) instruments , auto pilots , solar capacity and or wind generators . fuel volume shade for the tropics just to name a few.
Then there's B.O.A.T
B = Bring
O= on
A= Another
T = Ten Thousand
Cisco told me about boat hes right 
Good luck
General running cost for larger yachts increases marina fees. lift out. anti foul . cost costs rigging costs many things
If your not in a big hurry charter a yacht fora week with the family . It will give you an idea of what you require and what you and your family will have to compromise with.
I chartered a yacht in the whits a few years ago took my kids and there friends. They soon realized that water didn't grow on trees and because they had used so much we had to return to port to top up,
Ive lived on a seawind 24 which is very very basic gives you some idea of what you need
Gents,
Thanks so much for your reply so far and I ack all of what you say... however...
One thing that I am/must be very aware of is that especially in the initial stages of this plan I have a feeling I will be static rather than getting out on the water often. This idea although brewing for many a year (since the old man was building a Mauritius 43 in the 80s) has gained impetuous as a need for an abode for myself due to some of those 'life changes' that we go through.
I am in particularly aware that by putting the handling of a vessel above the features/space, may remove a massive amount of what I need, especially in the initial stages of the plan- think of going from 1/4 acre with shed space to livaboard. One reason for gravitating to a centre cockpit is I envisage the need for a workshop on-board to satisfy my need to tinker and I see that walkthrough area towards the rear cabin.
Please don't be thinking "oh no here's another landlubber not willing to listen to advice and think he can do it all". I guess my thoughts are that I'm not going out there to single hand, more so - I will "need" to single handed and when doing so I need to make sure that the vessel/I am capable.
I'm about to get on a bird to head back to Oz and have copied your book over to my phone Andrew and am looking forward to getting into it during the flight. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post.
I'm I too fool to think that the aircraft carrier can be learnt upon? Below are links to a couple of examples of what I was "dreaming?" about... the second noting the wheel setup... it that peculiar??
Cheers gents...
Shamus
yachthub.com/list/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-monohulls/dudley-dix-38-pilot-house-running-free/182551
www.boatsales.com.au/boats-for-sale/dealer/used/OAG-AD-12357107/1996-STEEL-CENTRE-COCKPIT?cr=1&psq=%28%28%28%28%28BoatType%3DSail%26%28%28%28SiloType%3D%5BDemo%20and%20near%20new%20boats%5D%7CSiloType%3D%5BDealer%20new%20boats%5D%29%7CSiloType%3D%5BDealer%20used%20boats%5D%29%7CSiloType%3D%5BPrivate%20used%20boats%5D%29%29%26Price%3Drange%5B40000..90000%5D%29%26LengthInFeet%3Drange%5B40..44%5D%29%26BoatAll%3Dkeyword%5Bsteel%5D%29%26Service%3DBoatsales%29&pso=0&pss=Premium
When you sail with your family , regardless of how you call your boat, you must be able to handle alone.
under any condition.
Sure there are many options and gadgets cost thousands you can upgrade your boat,
In my case I replace cheap autopilot and add reverse mainsail halyard, having a lazyjack,
sometimes mainsail hazitate to drop instantly, just pull it down.
I used to have boat with all fancy self tailing winches etc., now all stock standart and happy with.
Friend of mine....from landlubber to sailor in one week...
he crew on delivery sailboat from Aus to NZ
Can I suggest something on the learn to sail side of things??
Go racing!!!!
Not in your own boat but start crewing on local boats in twilight races ASAP as you learn alot quicker racing than cruising.
Why?
Because when you are cruising you can say...."the weathers a bit bad today, we'll stay home" or "just wait to this gust pasts and we'll tack/bear away"
Where as when you go racing you have to do these things and by doing these things you learn so much faster.
From watching an experienced skipper drive his boat in and out of a marina berth in 20 knots to watching how a good mainsheet hand gybes the main in 20 knots without crashing the boom across the boat.
While racing every week with other people you can formulate more and more about what sort of boat might suit you.
My suggestion is a Mottle 33
If I was 20 years younger, here's what I would queue up for www.morganscloud.com/2014/08/31/twenty-adventure-40-core-principles/
regards,
allan
Rumble... my thoughts exactly. That's how the old man came to the Roberts 43... he got the bug from the boaties up in Gove then went crewing out of Freo when we were back in Perth... the stories of night sailing down to Cape Nat and the like still pop up now and again.
I'll be looking at the opportunities out of Lonny this month...pity it doesn't seem to have the activity that Hobart seems to have down there.
My thoughts exactly Rumbles... that's how the old man got onto the Roberts... after catching the bug from the boaties up in Gove he went crewing out of Freo. Still stories of night sailing down to Cape Nat and the like pop up occasionally.
I'm just hoping there may be some opportunities out of Lonny in the future.
Addit.
****e! Your out of Lonny... you are still???? Same here. Maybe I can pick ya brain over a beer at the TYC!?!!
Select to expand quoteSemusMcgilicoty said..
My thoughts exactly Rumbles... that's how the old man got onto the Roberts... after catching the bug from the boaties up in Gove he went crewing out of Freo. Still stories of night sailing down to Cape Nat and the like pop up occasionally.
I'm just hoping there may be some opportunities out of Lonny in the future.
Addit.
****e! Your out of Lonny... you are still???? Same here. Maybe I can pick ya brain over a beer at the TYC!?!!
Yup, still in Lonny!! Sailed my Etchells single handed last night at TYC in town!!!
There is a winter series in town at TYC coming up and I'm leaving my boat here for that (it usually lives at Beauty Point). You are most welcome to join me for a sail and a beer!!
I also work at Brierley Hose/Brierley Marine in Invermay so you are most welcome to drop by and ask for Ben!!
Hi Semus, welcome to the forum.
As a newbie to sailing myself, I have to tell you boats can be TOO BIG. I have a 28 footer and when
a decent blow gets in the sails, by crikey, even my boat can be a handful. Mind you I'm a lot older
than 40.
However, you have probably been looking around the forum for a while and know the wealth of
knowledge here. These blokes really know what they are talking about, but, If you have faith in
yourself and you've really got to do what you want to do, then go for it. Just listen to good advice
though.
Personally, with family in thought and a safe boat paramount.....I'd go for a S&S 34.
Hi Semus, pretty hard for somebody as new as me to this forum to welcome you to it, so I'll just say hello anyway.
My dad taught us to sail (four kids under four, mum needed a medal) in a 10'10'' mirror dinghy in the mid sixties, a boat he built under our house. He was part owner of the boat that won the first Brisbane to Gladstone, he was also a champion surf boat sweep for a club on the Gold Coast and was pretty handy when it came to the water. I am very grateful for the stuff dad taught us when it comes to the water and the sea. Hope you can do well with your children.
Learning to sail in a dinghy as opposed to a cat or a keel boat teaches you what has to be done to make a boat sail and it will happily tip you in the drink if you don't get it right which a yacht or even an off the beach cat won't. I'd get your family a little dinghy and teach yourself and your kids to sail it while your looking for the yacht. Your kids will be able to handle the size of the gear on a little boat and learn what it all does, all of which translates easily when you get onto a bigger boat. If my mum and my wife are any indication (both non sailors) if the ladies know your children are competent swimmers and they have watched them handle a small boat well they will be less concerned when things look like going off the rails on the bigger boat later on.
Some of the advice posted above mentioned racing, that is where we learned heaps. I've still got my last race dinghy (FD) and my current other boat has been set up to sail on my own with every thing I could get from Andrew (Foolish), his stuff is excellent.
Be careful not to sacrifice comfort for small single handed sailing ability. 40ft boats can single hand well and may even do it better than a smaller 30-35footer. Moving around the deck and in the cockpit with ease without stubbing your toes, bending, squeezing and tripping through the rigging helps massively with the single handed sailing ability and comfort especially as you get older and less supple. A larger deck gives a better platform for lashing down a dingy, life raft or extra fuel cans and still allow access around them to the bow. Much can be said for a 12m boat compared to a smaller 10m.
Hey Semus
A bit left field, but one way to gauge the family's suitability for the sailing life may be to do a bare boat charter. Essentially you hire a yacht, provision it, get the safety low down and a sensible plan of where to moor and off you go. I did one with the family out of Airlie Beach about 12 years ago. As a novice sailor I was pleasantly surprised how easy the conditions were over there. It eliminates the WTF factor, but gives you an idea if you and the missus and kids like the seaboard life. I discovered that I get a little claustrophobic in a stern cabin...... It did though confirm that we would indeed be suited to the boaty life. I went down the stink boat path, mainly because Perth waters and particularly Rottnest is simply magnificent for stay aboard living, and a power boat suits our make up.
We spend a couple of weeks at a time living on the boat. We haven't spent a weekend in Perth since mid November. It aint fancy, but we have it set up so that it is comfortable for us......, and we get the same view as those big floating palaces.
I can recall South Ace and what he eventually chose He had cruising in his end choise
And seems to be working out well for him
Hi Shamus,
I'm a bit like you in regards to my boat is multi hatted. I can vouch for a 40' being another level compared to say a 34-36' for single handing.
Foolish' book is excellent, and you will get a lot of good advice on this forum.
I have a new boat that is optimised for short handed, and I can singlehand it quite comfortably, but the loads are another level , I'm always thinking of how can I recover if the weather gets nasty. From a budget point of view, a smaller boat that leaves you money to cover contingency is much better than a bigger boat with no funds available.
Regards,
SB
Was looking at a VDS for sail on Syd H. It mentioned having a "CWS". Central winching system. Made it sound great for solo... or were they just wank words to sucker me in?
Select to expand quoteFoolish said...
Shamus, Welcome to the forums and welcome to the wonderful world of singlehanding. I'm the guy who wrote the book you mentioned above.
I'll agree with Cisco above that 38'-42' is getting to be a lot of boat when it comes to singlehanding. This is the reason why I concentrated on boats under 40' in my book. At that level you are dealing with a lot of forces that go beyond normal sailing. It becomes more like "managing" an aircraft carrier than "sailing" a boat. Especially as a newcomer to the sport, you will want something that is a little bit more nimble with regard to sailing handling. If you start to think of the size of a genoa or spinnaker on a 40' boat, you'll get the idea. Just think of the effort required to raise a mainsail on such a boat. Is this something you'll want to do when you leave the dock every day? And what will you do when you drop the spinnaker or the genoa over the side? Believe me that it WILL happen. In the published version of my book I did lengthy interviews with skippers of a Mini 6.50, Figaro II, Class 40 and IMOCA 60. After these discussions I have decided that the Figaro II, at 33' long, is pretty well the ideal size of boat for singlehanding. Small enough to be nimble and fun, but big enough for the type of ocean sailing that you are thinking of. (And by the way, while you dream of taking your little ones for long ocean voyages, in a few years they will reach puberty and want to have absolutely nothing to do with Dear Old Dad. )
In answer to your specific questions: Yes, you absolutely do want to have the sheet winches accessible from the helm position, even if that means stretching forward while you hold the tiller between you knees. As you know from my book, I have the jib sheet and the spinnaker sheet led across the cockpit to the windward side of the boat where I can give them the second-to-second adjustments necessary to make sailing efficient. But this also makes it more fun. Working the sheets is not so much fun if you need to get up off your bum for every tiny adjustment. You just won't do it. This is one of the key recommendations that I can make after 1,000 days of singlehanding. Moving winches is not as much work as you might think.
Have fun out there. My book has pretty well all of the recommendations that I can make with regard to design and setting up of a boat for singlehanding. Take a close look and let me know if you have any specific questions.
Wow Andrew... I printed out the book today for the trip home. Didn't realise it's size/depth by looking at it as a PDF...there's alot to be said for the quality of reading a real book these days. Thanks for making it available online. I'll get into it before I ask you specifics. Cheers mate.
Select to expand quoteHG02 said...
I can recall South Ace and what he eventually chose He had cruising in his end choise
And seems to be working out well for him
What was the go there HG? Was he bucking the trend?
42 foot is really on boarder line for solo sailing. More like a floating caravan now for me.
firstly most 75k 40 foot plus boats will need a extra 25k at least to get it up to real standards ,
secondly with out the help of electric winches or a good rig set up for ease of reefing and main sail hoisting you may get lazy and just stick with iron horse and headsail.
thirdly parking/docking without a bow thruster can be a challange.
finaly the bigger the boat the more crap you seem to acumulate and the easer it is to loose stuff if not well organised.
i do miss my 37 footer it sailed much better and far better to solo than my new 42 
but enjoy having the perks of a washing machine/aircon/coffee machine and a tonne of fresh water.
i wish you all the best with your dream.
regards southace
Select to expand quoteSemusMcgilicoty said..HG02 said...
I can recall South Ace and what he eventually chose He had cruising in his end choise
And seems to be working out well for him
What was the go there HG? Was he bucking the trend?
No No he just sat on his perch till the right boat came a long 
Select to expand quotecisco said..
Welcome to the forum Shamus. A fine Oirish name if I ever heard one.
Mixing you, wife and three kids on a yacht and the need to single hand a fair bit, I strongly suggest you have a yacht in the 30 to 35 foot range rather than the 38m to 40 foot range.
There is a big quantum shift between the two by way of manageability (most importantly) and cost (initial and ongoing).
There are 30 footers that will do the job quite admirably, a Lotus 9.2 such as I have being one of the best examples but I think a Van De Stadt 34 would suit you to a tee.
www.stadtdesign.com/designs/stock_plans_sail/van_de_stadt_34
Was looking at a VDS for sail on Syd H. It mentioned having a "CWS". Central winching system. Made it sound great for solo... or were they just wank words to sucker me in?
Select to expand quoteJolene said..
Be careful not to sacrifice comfort for small single handed sailing ability. 40ft boats can single hand well and may even do it better than a smaller 30-35footer. Moving around the deck and in the cockpit with ease without stubbing your toes, bending, squeezing and tripping through the rigging helps massively with the single handed sailing ability and comfort especially as you get older and less supple. A larger deck gives a better platform for lashing down a dingy, life raft or extra fuel cans and still allow access around them to the bow. Much can be said for a 12m boat compared to a smaller 10m.
That's what I am worried about Jo. If I'm going to have the kids visiting/living with me when I'm moored down at the marina I'm going to need to give them their own space. At the mo they are between 5 and 10 yo. The last thing I need is for one of them to be sleeping in a common area. Fair enough the two girls sharing a vberth at this stage. Then there's the issue of me killing time during long drawn out Tassie winter weather... doing without a workshop ... I may as well go live in a caravan (which is what my mother is advocating...lol).
I have heard what your saying before... even the "I sail my 50ft SH with no issues". Don't get me wrong...I'm not advocating a novice can do it but it is obviously done.
Lots of variables in your situation. My ex-boss sailed a 52 foot steel cruising yacht single handed, included taking her in and out of her berth by himself, but he was more an exception to the rule, people race 60, 70 footers single handed. Nice things to have if single handed are obviously a good auto pilot, lines run to the cockpit, a centre cockpit with high combings can be nice, smaller sails, more reefing points, keep it simple stupid systems are a good way to go to combat fatigue and reduce effort. I think if your planning to sail extensively with a number of bodies on board you need to take into consideration sailability but also liveability. Some people thrive on close quarters others need their own space, there's always compromise, larger means more space for all and even at sea wives and kids are going to want to have space for hobbies and some home comforts, so I guess it can just come down to what you feel comfortable single handing and how much space all need to happily sail together. Maybe try a few sail charters, on different yachts in different locations if possible, prior to work out what everyone needs and wants.
I've lived happily on a 42 foot steely and a 32 foot double ender, I could single hand both if need be, both were set up to be simple to sail to make the sailing more of a pleasure and less of a chore. If your sailing with your wife or partner you both need to develop the skills to be able to 'single hand' the boat so if one of you go down the other can cope and get everyone safely ashore. I once knew a couple, she always took on the 'female' roles onboard, cooking, cleaning, etc. he alway took on the 'male' roles onboard, maintaining the engine, sailing the boat, anchoring, etc. her husband was hit in the head by the boom, she had no idea how to sail the yacht or use the radio, luckily they weren't far off shore and she was able to phone in a rescue, he didn't survive. If they had been mid ocean the scenario would have been vastly worse.
I used to sail a 10m yacht which was not a great problem single handed....but with my son from the years 6 to about 12. I would not sail without someone else on board – even if they were not experienced sailors
I could handle the risk of being single handed and me having a mishap, going overboard etc.(read die) But I could not handle my young son being left alone on board. While even if he could start the engine,as he had been shown. Then get the sails down – imagine what state he would be in? Searching a for lost cause...and trying to get the boat back...in a remote location. This was in northen PNG.
By the way there is a Yacht Club in the PNG Highlands...The Goroka Yacht Club, it much be 100's Km from the water...and the only boat is a dinghy set in concrete out the back!
the back.
I recon if single handing a yacht over 36 foot in a marina , a bow thrust-er would be a must .
Or even with crew ,if there is wind blowing the bow off line , there is no way two or three people can fend off 15 ton !!!!
Cheers for the input guys. I'm getting the feeling that my best chance is a series of compromises based upon most likely vs most dangerous...
Having the need for a livaboard is 100% required, for me this means having space to keep the mind and body busy. Living in Tassie means a heater of some type would also be nice. Needing the kids to be comfortable (which varies in requirements from having an xbox set up or a couple of fold up bikes stashed away). All these needs/wants push me towards the idea of the "floating caravan" (thanks ace).
From there I guess the compromise would consist of boat setup and secondly steering away from getting out on the water (especially as a novice) alone.
So I guess my aim would not be to have a vessel dedicated to single handing in the main but one that can be SH in a pinch.
So the list of requirements I guess wouldn't vary much from what people have said ie sheets to the cockpit, bow thruster a nicety. A fractional rigged sloop to minimise sail area? Would a in boom furling main be a prerequisite also?
I'm still getting through "tips and tricks" so there's a possibility much I'd covered in there but getting a variety of thoughts I still think is worthy.
Cheers olgeta.
Select to expand quotenods said...
I used to sail a 10m yacht which was not a great problem single handed....but with my son from the years 6 to about 12. I would not sail without someone else on board – even if they were not experienced sailors
I could handle the risk of being single handed and me having a mishap, going overboard etc.(read die) But I could not handle my young son being left alone on board. While even if he could start the engine,as he had been shown. Then get the sails down – imagine what state he would be in? Searching a for lost cause...and trying to get the boat back...in a remote location. This was in northen PNG.
By the way there is a Yacht Club in the PNG Highlands...The Goroka Yacht Club, it much be 100's Km from the water...and the only boat is a dinghy set in concrete out the back!
the back.
Im look fwd to getting up here one day on the water. It's such a beautiful place with amazing people, I can only imagine adding the serenity of doing it on a yacht.
Select to expand quotesouthace said...
42 foot is really on boarder line for solo sailing. More like a floating caravan now for me.
firstly most 75k 40 foot plus boats will need a extra 25k at least to get it up to real standards ,
secondly with out the help of electric winches or a good rig set up for ease of reefing and main sail hoisting you may get lazy and just stick with iron horse and headsail.
thirdly parking/docking without a bow thruster can be a challange.
finaly the bigger the boat the more crap you seem to acumulate and the easer it is to loose stuff if not well organised.
i do miss my 37 footer it sailed much better and far better to solo than my new 42 but enjoy having the perks of a washing machine/aircon/coffee machine and a tonne of fresh water.
i wish you all the best with your dream.
regards southace
Ace, you mention that she doesn't sail as well as the old girl. From what I can tell the varience in sail ability of a boat comes down to hull characteristics, rig setup etc not necessarily length.
What's the go when looking at buying a boat in reference to finding out how she sails? You all for a day on the blue as a test sail? A couple of hours? Seems that it would be hard to put get through her paces to get a good idea of sail ability in a short time.
I remember using the inlaws tiny up in Darwin... she looked a beaut... got on the water and she was impossible. ..balance all wrong...bordering on dangerous. Can only imagine making a big investment only to find yourself fighting to maintain a heading at all times.
