RESERVE BOUYANCY: Staying afloat in the ocean is a big thing. We have always believed that a sailboat should be self righting, have a self bailing cockpit and deck, and remain on top fo the water in the event of serious hull or deck damage.

The deep heavy keel and the light carbon fiber masts go a long toward dealing with the self righting capability. The self bailing cockpit and closing hatches deal well with the problem of taking aboard a large wave.

The staying afloat is a bigger problem. If holed or damaged, most boats tend to go straight to the bottom. With our new 70, with its 2 big tanks that will each have room for 4000 lbs of water, there is a good chance of staying afloat with the tanks emptied. All of the bunk areas are flotation chambers, water and air tight, and there a lot of them, (under the v berth, under the big bed in the master stateroom, and the berths in the rear compartmet and under the floor of the anchor locker.


The foam cored construction provides a lot of reserve bouyancy for the skins of the hull, deck and bulkheads. Lots of wood also helps.

Use of the under bunk compartments for flotation raises hell with storage. However, this is a big boat, and there are a lot of other areas to keep stuff, the trade off for reserve bouyancy to provide flotation seems quite worthwhile.


NON-SKID DECK SURFACES: Most of the deck areas have molded in non skid surfaces that help you stand upright and stay on board. They are sufficiently rough to keep good footing, and not so rough as to tear up you skin and clothing if you slide around on them.


USE OF THE BALLAST TANKS TO REDUCE HEALING: A boat sailing at a severe angle of heel is a significant safety factor. Humans are built to walk around on flat surfaces. Using the ballast tanks to reduce the angle of tilt can go along way toward keeping you on board, safe, and comfortable.


BOAT SPEED: If caught at sea with bad weather or an emergency, having a boat that goes really fast under power or sail can get you out of trouble a lot more quickly. Most sailboats plod along a 6 or 7 mph. The tremendous speed of this 70 can get you home and to safety very fast.