Date: 12/21/2005
Name: Mike'Mr Flotation' Robinson
email: capndar@cs.com
subject:To: Wayne "great name for this boat" Clark
Wayne:first off - great name for the owner of a Clark Sail Boat- to your question - the 21's will not float for very long if flooded...the forward compartment and the rear seats/quarter berths will 'leak air' sounds like the aft ones on your boat were 'opened' by an enterprising PO(previous owner) who wanted storage...
at one time we had some very smart people ( much brighter than I) calculate what is would take to make the SJ 21 'unsinkable' - therefore on my first SJ 21 - I ended up putting a lot of styrofoam peanuts blown into garbage bags inserted through the inspection ports of the v berth and quarter berths...
on the second/current boat - I just decided not to fill it with water!
NOW HEAR THIS - new owners/potential owners - do not panic - the SJ 21 is VERY safe...you have to do several 'questionable' things to sink one...the ONLY recorded sinkings of 21's that I know of have occurred when someone was racing the boat in a lot of wind: 1. with the spinnaker 2. with keel not pinned 3. no companion way hatch in place
despite the gear busting winds at the New Bern Nationals this september, there was nobody I was aware of that was anywhere near 'in danger of sinking' - pin the keel, use appropriate sails, put the hatch in place, and use some good judgement (ok - I didn't do that last one at New bern - but I did the first three!)
Mike R
#1694 Ragtop
Lake Norman, NC
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