[C320-list] BLUE WATER SAILING

[Tbuilder at aol.com]

I have been following this thread with some interest and as someone  
mentioned the North Sea I thought I had better respond. I have owned two 320's -  
FIGMENT II #212 and FIGMENT III #1081 from 1994 to date - I think that speaks  for 
itself! However I firmly believe that every boat is a compromise and what  
suits one owner may not suit another. Before I sold her I did about 48,000 miles 
 in FIGMENT II - that included 4 cruises from Dover to Oslo (a 650 mile 
non-stop  trip each way), 2 Fastnet Races and numerous other trips to France and up 
the  west coast of Scotland and out into the Atlantic to St Kilda. To me this 
seemed  pretty normal sailing and I never quite worked out why Catalina 
decided to  feature FIGMENT as the only 320 in their Hall of Fame - us Scots get  
everywhere!!
 
In general I found the boat pretty good in bad weather. We got hit by a  
northerly gale once when returning from Norway. Although we had a storm jib and  
trysail on board, rigging these would mean dropping - and maybe removing - both 
 the genoa and main so we merely ran before the wind with just a scrap of 
genny  out to steady the boat. On another occasion returning from a weekend in 
France  we had a maximum wind speed of 64 knots but the same procedure worked 
well.  Probably our worst experience was this summer when both sails were 
damaged in 48  knots of wind and the engine was overheating. The boat ran  perfectly 
before the wind under bare poles at about 5 knots but - and  I emphasise this 
point - in all the cases the helmsman had to be really on the  ball with 100% 
concentration. Needless to say in such conditions the autohelm is  absolutely 
useless.
 
On another occasion out in the Atlantic we took a HUGE wave on the bow  which 
came right over the sprayhood and filled the cockpit up to the level of  the 
seats. Although the infill below the boarding ladder was in place, the water  
cleared in a few seconds but the engine instrument panel was soaked and all 
the  alarms sounded for the next few days until we got them  dried out.
 
We did have a major steering failure on a Fastnet Race - but that's another  
story!!
 
On balance I think a 320 will go almost anywhere. Maybe the biggest problem  
is that the saloon is too big and crew get thrown about down below in bad  
weather. With the exception of safety items I made remarkably few modifications  
- decent Makuni heating, lee clothes on the saloon bunks, deadlights on the  
forehatch and cabin ports. The decent bilge sump on the newer models is a great 
 bonus. I couldn't possibly comment on things like airconditioning and a 
bimini -  whatever that might be!!! 
 
On the safety side an ocean liferaft, navtex, EPIRB, jackstays, DSC VHF,  
quality lifejackets, flares, grab bag, storm sails are all fairly obvious  items.
 
I just wonder who is going to be the first to take a 320  transatlantic!!  I 
suppose I could claim that both my 320s have done  that already - but it was 
on the deck of a container ship!!!
 
Cheers      

Alec  Blanc
FIGMENT III  #1081
Lochaber Watersports
Ballachulish
Scotland
_www.lochaberwatersports.co.uk_ (http://www.lochaberwatersports.co.uk/) 
01855  821391 / 07831 846025