jpb wrote:What do you think about the seaworthness of PocketShip vs. Adelie 14/16?
I've looked at the Adelie 14 and 16 in the past too. Looking at the study plans, there are some similarities to the cockpit and cabin sizes, but I think the PocketShip will be drier to sail. The description of the Adelie 14 is...
"a coastal cruiser but a very able one. She is virtually uncapsizable. Thanks to her high sides, full width cambered deck and 250 lbs. of ballast; she has a positive righting arm up to 135 degrees. Fill the mast with foam and it gets even better. She will recover from a full roll over very fast: her high profile cambered deck makes her very unstable upside down. "It goes on to say...
"the boat can be made unsinkable with the addition of buoyancy foam"That makes it sound like it isn't unsinkable without that addition. Looking at the Pocketship plans, at a guess, there must be something like a cubic metre of foam in watertight compartments... i.e forward of bulkhead #1 (pages 116 & 117 of the manual), and in the cockpit seat backs (page 151). I thought there was a mention of foam under the floor towards the transom, but can't find it at the moment. I couldn't have imagined it as page 116 mentions "four large watertight compartments". Can someone point me point me to the page number if it exists? A searchable PDF copy of the manual would sure be nice!
The Adelie 16's 250 lbs of ballast is an amount comparable to that of the PocketShip, but the Adelie places half of it in the centreboard, which could be good as long as it wasn't slamming back into the trunk in a complete capsize. I'm still looking forward to John finding the time to try putting PocketShip #1 over on its side by winching it over to see if it wants to float on its side or if it wants to actually turn turtle, and if so, how easy it is to right it. However, I've got to agree with his comment about the floation provided by the seatbacks. Floation placed high above the waterline must help if it's ever over on its side