Craig's Fire

Prior to the summer of 2012, I sailed a small sloop – a Precision 18, which I reviewed here on this blog. I sold this boat earlier this year and purchased a Corsair Sprint, a 24 foot trimaran based on the famous Farrier “f-boat” Designs. The boat hit the water on July 3rd, giving me plenty of time to learn the ropes. Following are my first impressions of the boat.

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I admit it.
I love Rhode Island.
Of course, I love and like a lot of places. But Rhode Island is very different. This may be due to it’s newness (to me), but time will tell if that is the case. I’ve been coming here for 6 years now and it still has not wore off…..

But I digress. Let me explain.
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New – sail on the P-18 on youtube using the link below!
Take a Virtual Sail in Rhode Island on a Precision 18
I have owned a Precision 18 Sailboat for 3 years. You can read up about the basic specs on the Precision Boats web site, but here are the basics:

This is a small sloop sailboat (main sail and jib) which is less than 18 feet long. It weighs in at only 1100 lbs – although most users should add at least 100 lbs to that for an outboard, some basic gear and a porta-pottie. It features a stub keel with very low draft, as well as a swing down centerboard which can be raised and lowered via a simple rope in the cockpit.

The weight and size of this boat put it firmly in the “trailer sailor” category, meaning it is very easy to tow it to your destination. The total weight of boat and trailer ends up being well less than 2,000 lbs – which means most cars and trucks with towing capacity will easily handle it. My boat, however, is kept in the water on a mooring about 1000 feet from a beach in RI. This is very convenient when compared to trailering as it only takes 10 minutes from when I step onto the boat to be underway and under sail. In fact, I am such a strong believer in storing the boat in or right near the water (mast up) that I would not own a boat unless this was the case! The amount of work involved with trailering, launching and rigging is just too great IMHO.

The P-18 is the first sailboat I have owned. I occasionally sailed very small (sunfish) sailboats when I was very young, but those skills have been long lost. I again took up sailing in my mid-50′s (2008). Previous to the purchase of the Precision, I took 2 days of sailing lessons in Sarasota, FL and received my basic keelboat ASA certification. This provided me with the basics, although it took many hours of actual experience on the P-18 to hone my skills and feel comfortable in most normal conditions.

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