The numbers story....

[Adam]

OK Can we talk about these #'s..... I know these numbers are mostly just "guidlines" and all the Sailing mags just LOVE to publish this sort of thing (IE - we all love to compare our boats to Reliance  ) - but I'm reminded of that quote by Mark Twain about statistics....

Also, I was under the impression you need to compare Apples to Apples - So comparing a 12 1/2 to an Alden 12 is great, and so is Constitution to Reliance but comparing them to a Sunfish is not going to get you any meanigful data.

Although I like the Idea my hull matches the BB25 quite well 

                   Boat Speed * SA/D * D/L Ratio * Ballast/Displ * Motion Comfort * Capsize Screening
12-1/2 Footer      4.7        17.1        342.9            50.0                 16.6                    2.0
15-Footer           5.2        26.6         370.4           35.7                 18.9                    1.9
Buzzards Bay 25   6.7        20.8         238.3           34.6                 27.0                    1.7
Constitution        12.7       48.0         216.0           58.1                 71.0                    1.4
New York 40        8.5        26.5         337.6           45.5                 46.1                    1.6
Reliance             12.7       51.5         232.0           59.1                 73.2                    1.4
S Class               6.1        19.1         349.8           49.6                 33.3                    1.5
Your Boat           6.4         20.3         256.8           46.4                 23.2                    1.9

[Steve]

I would agree with you ... they are just guidelines.  You really have to know the whole story for them to be meaningful.  Take RELIANCE for example.  As soon as she would heel over, she would add another, what - 25 feet?, to her waterline.  That adds another 7 knots  to her hull speed.

[richincident]

Aha!

I have occasionally had "visions" of Reliance sailing in Hingham Bay (where she would be lying on her side in reality, since there is not enough water for her). Has anyone compared Reliance to the recent ACC's or or the Volvo Open racers? I imagine that computers could now put together a lovely match race between any two boats of any era. I am not much of a fan of the ACC boats, though I have to admit they have that same "all for day racing" kind of design that the boats of the 1890's had. The VOR open designs are remarkable for being extreme dinghies that someone (a crazy someone) can drive around the planet.

So with the numbers, have these "virtual" races been staged?

THANKS for all of the expertise on this board.

[Adam]

I'm always reminded of Clinton Cranes comments in his memoir about the fastest overall boat he ever saw. Conventional wisdom of the day seems to say that Ranger - the "Super J" - was up to then the fastest yacht built. (And I'd bet she'd give a run to many a modern racer today) - but he felt that Reliance was the fastest under certain conditions/points of sail. He mentioned a race between Reliance and I think it was Columbia, where in a stiff breeze; she came up and passed Columbia on her close lee. He felt at that moment no yacht before or since till the time of writing (early 1950's) could do that. My money would be on Reliance today .