Practical Sailor just reminded me in an email of an excellent review, written by editor Darrell Nicholson, of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Leadership 44, designed by David Pedrick (one of my favourite designers) and built by Morris Yachts.
Darrell also compares the Coast Guard boat to the Navy 44 Mk II, also by Pedrick, which adds even more useful information to his excellent review.
Both boats can teach us a lot about what really matters when we go offshore. A highly recommended read, and it’s outside the PS paywall, too.
Adventure 40 Learnings
And those of you who have been involved in the Adventure 40 discussions will note many things in common between all three projects, mainly around elegant simplicity and sailing performance offshore.
Lots of differences, too, given that the Navy 44 and Leadership 44 mission is fully crewed and the Adventure 40 primarily a two-person boat. Different budgets, too!
Not sure if this is the right place, but I have been actively following the Adventure 40 developments. I notice that you have mentioned the Westsail 32 as a similar model. I was wondering about the Shannon 39. Like John, Walt Shulz has strong opinions about boat design. Just curious if you have any comments about the Shannon boats.
Hi William,
Actually I mentioned the Westsail as a very different boat, but with about the same displacement, not at all similar. The same would apply to the Shannon. Both a very heavy for their size with small rigs and are, to be kind, not fast boats. The A40, on the other hand will be very fast for her size, but still comfortable. To be blunt, both the Westsail and Shannon are yesterday’s boats. Today, using modern design and construction techniques, we can do way better.
https://www.morganscloud.com/2012/11/30/adventure-40-its-about-displacement-and-righting-moment/
https://www.morganscloud.com/2022/02/13/adventure-40-dimensions-and-hull/