Noobie question....

[val273]

OK....so the only boat I ever owned was a 23 Seabird cuddy...an I/O at that.... the boat had a deep vee and lifting strakes that punched thru waves nicely....BUT it had a snap roll like a Bertram, and always wanted to lay beam to the waves....this boat would make Popeye puke....but I digress....my question is this: what are the advantages/ disadvantages of a soft chined vs a hard chined downeast hull ?? My understanding of a DE hull is a sharp entry and a virtually flat rear end....giving good lift, tremendous stability with a skeg, and almost always way better mpg than any hull with deadrise in the transom area...does having a soft chined hull make it more slippery thru the water ??? Which is better underway, which is better at rest ?? Help me out fellas, there's a Lotto ticket out there with my name on it......Oh, and it will be a flush deck beauty for her, no silly engine boxes in the wheelhouse....or maybe that new Duffy hybrid o/b ????

 

[val273]

Oh, I forgot...I did own a Dufour 23 sloop for 20+ years...but I sold it....I SWEAR !!! (Though I do get the urge once in a while to grab a man-purse and bumbershoot, and sally round the town square...)

 

[blackdiamond296]

Having grown up on a hard chine boat (Fortier) and recently on our first soft chine boat (Alan Johnson), I thnk the hard chine drifts better. The hard chine boat seemed to drift flatter, whereas the soft chine boat hugs the waves a little more.

The other side of this coin is that the soft chine boat in my comparison definitely runs...wait for it... softer. Biggest benefit there is that we're able to hold higher speeds than would have been possible in the same sea in the Fortier.