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What Leon said

Rick

To address the issue with splashing of the cockpit. Back in my young and green sailing days (the summer of 2007), Pookie and I found our newbie selves pitted against a vicious mistral, in the Adriatic. We were motoring, not sailing, and the splashing was unbearable. I was thoroughly drenched, trying to steer with a diving mask, for about 2 hours. When this hull was over, we remembered the funny pieces of canvas and clear plastic we got with the boat. It turned out we had the full enclosure right under the cockpit. Lesson - do an inventory so you know what lies beneath.
This summer, immeasurably wiser, we put on the dodger and the bimini and had it on almost all the time. On the ocassions when the chop was to much, we simply inserted the connecting pieces which join the dodger and the bimini to protect ourselves from the splashing. WHen we needed to go to the bow, we would simplyt unzip the connector enough to step around the dodger. You have to watch where you put your foot, but overall, the enclosure is worth its weight in ....well, not gold, but close. It protected my back from the summer sun on those homecoming legs, protected the entire cockpit from the dew, wind and gave us an extra room to boot.

I sail on the San Francisco Bay. I've owned my M boat since 2003 and have sailed/powered in many adverse conditions.

One of my biggest issues with this boat is high speed powering with weather. If you have just 3 foot swells with more than 10 mph winds abeam, you WILL get wet. There are many instances where I decided I would rather go slower and endure the weather longer than to get so much spray that I can't see where I'm going.

Like others on this board have mentioned, I agree that it is a great versitile boat . I've had the boat for over 5 years and have no intention of selling.

Just keep in mind that when the weather gets rough, and you don't want to be in it, it may not be comfortable/possible for you to just power back home fast. You will still be able to get back in as well as any other 26 foot sailboat, but not at 20+ mph.

Getting wet is no problem....It's the safety issues..

Thanks

EZ wrote:
One of my biggest issues with this boat is high speed powering with weather. If you have just 3 foot swells with more than 10 mph winds abeam, you WILL get wet.

The full enclosure or simply a dodger makes all the difference in the world! You can also install splash guards
Q1