[NoBozo]

Originally Posted by VtSteve

I was saddened to read that two people died when their 35' sailboat capsized in a Michigan race. The skipper had 44 years of sailing experience.[/B]

From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20110719/...#ixzz1Sa2AaXlW

This story is tragic, but it's not suprising to me. Check out the link below. Read the Specs. The KIWI 35 is a 35 foot 2800 pound boat. It's just a sailing canoe with outrigged platforms for the "Live Ballast"..the crew, to keep the boat upright under sail. It's a VERY light weight 35' daysailer with a very narrow waterline beam. This is not a family cruising boat. It's not a boat you want to be out in 50 knot winds. No matter how skillful the crew, this boat is really not designed to take big winds..Particularly GUSTY wind.

In my opinion, the crew did everything right. But sails OFF or not, that boat was going over. A typical 35' sailboat on the lake probably weighs over 15,000 pounds. NB

http://www.sailingtexas.com/skiwi35a.html