TOPIC:

I'm trying to select a boat to get my young family (3 young girls) out on the water. A must have for me is some inner bench seats and a thwart and the typical choice would obviously be a Wayfarer. My big concern with a Wayfarer is the weight (and the fact that Dad will probably be doing the manhandling singlehanded) and so my attention has been drawn to an Albacore. In actual fact I love the shape of an Albacore and would hope to race it with them when they get older.

My big concern is stability and space. I would only do family sailing in up to a force 2 and maybe a 3 when they get more confident. I really can't afford to be capsizing, so the question is would an Albacore be stable enough?

I'm an experienced sailor and race a Phantom normally, so I wouldn't be doing anything silly to cause a capsize. What do people think? Would it fit mum, dad and 3 little'uns?

I would say the best thing to do is find a club that has Albacores close by. Firstly try an Alb yourself, then maybe with your wife. I'm sure that any club that has Albacores would organise a test sail. Do you live near the sea or lake (loch)? Where do you currently sail your Phantom? Oh yes how small are the girls, if they are very small it might be better to take them one at a time. As for the weight of an Albacore they are substantially lighter than a wayfairer, but not as stable in a blow. Make a list of what is important, on the sea or on a pond. Get used to whatever class of boat either as a crew or a helm then introduce the family when it's right. Any of the Committee members would be happy to chat and I'm sure you will get plenty of replies.
Good Luck Derek Gibbon Scottish Rep

Some good questions. The girls (triplets) are 2.5 years right now, but we wouldn't be attempting to take them out until they are 3. I live near the Thames(nr Hampton Court) and sail my Phantom on a London reservoir. Since the reservoir is concrete sided and pretty featureless I'm tempted by keeping the family boat on the Thames as it would make the sailing more interesting. They like ducks and other boats! Alternatively a club in a harbour on the South Coast, so we don't have to go into open sea.

What's important:
- Inner benches and thwart so the girls will be safely in the boat not on the boat
- Goes well in light winds (I can see us out in a lot of drifting days)
- Is easy to launch singlehanded
- The rig can be controlled from the helm
- Good mannered, so reducing likelyhood of capsize
- Could potentially fit an outboard (I've read the NA ablacore forums so I know Albacores are cruised with all the extras)

Probably the biggest challenge is finding the time to get used to a boat (or boats) in consideration, hence questions on the forum first.

Hi Derek again

Maidenhead would possibly be your first best option if you go to www.maidenheadsc.org.uk/main/ and see what is available, there maybe something closer but it will give you an idea, I'm also sure that someone would let you have a sail.

Cheers

Derek
There seems to be an error on their www try contacting John Woofinden, you will find his contact details on the committee page.

Richard, drop me an email if you want to try an Albacore at Maidenhead.

John
john{at}woffinden.net

Sorted Life full circle in a day!

Cheers Derek

Michaela & Tim Beck are speaking at Lyme this Sunday 27 November about their 1,300 mile cruise to the Baltic in their Albacore - so I guess they must consider the class to be suitable for cruising!
I will try to get them to come to the champs at Torbay to encourage us all.

Well that's the way we started. I well recall my Dad proudly turning up at the Club with his new Alb in 1970 so that someone he'd met could take him for a spin in it. My brother and I joined in too and the 4 of us set off in a good old breeze - far too much for someone who actually wasn't very good to take an inexperienced and new boatowner and two children out in April in a boat he didn't know.

Albacores do capsize, as inevitably did we. However they are as well behaved as any boat can be to sail, and recover from a capsize well. In lighter weather an experienced helm should have no problem at all.

Pulling up a slipway single handed might be a bit of a struggle depending on the slipway. An Albacore is considerably harder to pull up than a Phantom (and I speak from the experience of both!). Having said that, I can't off the top of my head think of a boat large enough to take the family out sailing that would be easier - and some would be considerably harder.

Jerry - I attended the Tim and Michaela presentation last Winter. They were interesting and I tried to get an article out of them for Alive. I even got an e-mail address but they were never to reply. At the time they told me they already had an article available so there was no work involved...

I used to have to pull our Albacore up the slip at Lyme with the "help" of 2 young daughters so it's not too bad - at least I didn't get a hernia. A jockey wheel on the trolley would have been a considerable help. We have Wayfarers at Lyme and there is no way I could pull one of those up on my own without the aforesaid hernia.

Norman:- I will ask the intrepid Albacore cruisers for an article for Alive or a champs lecture before allowing them out of the club car park

Marilyn and I have owned both a Wayfarer and now three different Albacores, so we can agree with all that has been written above.
I am always amazed just how forgiving an Albacore is when one make the occasional mistake, and for either boat we have found that a jockey wheel is an essential addition to the launching trolley and the combo trailer (usually interchangeable) unless you have some help.
For cruiing or the odd really windy day we recommend having a set of cruising sails - either purpose made,or a set of used Firefly sails - an Alb. seems to sail perfectly with these.
A picture is attached of our latest Alb. with the Cruising sails that Richard made for us several years ago, and which set beautifully.
The sail number is that of our older Alb. The actual boat pictured is number 8069 "MagicAL" which we recently purchased from Dermod and Marion, and is now kept at RHYC at Woolverstone.

I would like to add here an enormous thank you to Dermod for all the help and encouragement that he gave us when we went down to hamble to collect our Alb.

Incidentally,there are dozens of Wayfarers in our dinghy park, but most of them are rarely used. Could it be due to their weight, and our long slipway when the tide is out?

Do try an Alb. I shall be surprised if you are anything but impressed.

Here's part of a a message I had from Tim & Micki. I sold them some sails for the voyage. I have some pics too:

Hello Stewart

Back in April 2008 we brought a pair of sails from you for my aged Albacore that was being restored. Just to say thank you again they have done us proud for over 1350 nautical miles since then!
We have just returned from sailing the Albacore from Ostend (Belgium) to Stockholm. We left Ostend in the end of April and reached Stockholm 86 days later. Our route took us through the canals of Holland across the Ijsselmeer then out along the Friesian Islands before crossing the Danish peninsular via way of the river Eider and the Kiel canal. Once in the Baltic we sailed north to the Danish islands before reaching Copenhagen then hoped over to Sweden heading up the east coast through the islands to reach our goal of Stockholm.
It was a really successful trip with few breakages and great weather, camping in the boat worked well (more comfortable than we thought!) so much so that we plan on doing more dinghy cruising. but for now the boat is in for a rest and a bit more varnish!

If that's not evidence of the suitability of the Albacore for cruising then I don't know what is! Well done to them!
Stewart
A8072

Thanks for the responses all very encouraging. I'm fairly confident that I can play conditions well to avoid a capsize. I'm also convinced that the shape of the Albacore hull give it good stability against capsize, but still wondering how is it's initial stability at rest? Obviously not expecting to stand on the gunwales, but if the helmsman stood up from seated will there be significant movement.

Final question do GRP Albacores ever come up for sale??



PS. Found this great Kayak article that explains stability and hull shape very well:

www.guillemot-kayaks.com/guillemot/infor...sign/kayak_stability