Projection 762 Help please?

Colin,

My tuppence worth. The Projection is a brilliant boat that despite its delicate looks performs best in a breeze - I think F-Word will agree with me that with exceptions it's almost impossible to sail to its handicap in light winds (5-12knots). There's no point in comparing it to a quarter-tonner, most of which are far heavier and designed for displacement sailing.

In my opinion its achilles heel is that it is neither quite a sportsboat nor is it a 'yacht' to most people - we've had endless problems trying to persuade owners of larger boats that we should be sailing with them and not trying to do battle with Melges, Corks and other open sportsboats that behave very differently.. However, if you're looking for an accomplished performer that's loads of fun and in stronger winds will leave many larger boats standing then it's the boat for you...

Most Projections if not all will come with a trailer, maybe 11k upwards depending on condition? With a trailer and kit it clocks in at nearly 2 tonnes - that's more than the average estate will cope with. Check manufacturer's towing guides, it's not the power, it's whether or not you will be able to stop if you need to...

Chic

Colin,

You haven't seen many because there aren't many! About 25-30 were built (no-one has ever managed to come up with an exact figure) of which there may be less than 20 still in the UK.

You should persevere with the 762 thread - if you go back to the early days you'll probably find many answers to the questions you have been asking, but in brief it has a fixed keel, quite deep for a small boat (about 1.7m draft) and an average P762 probably weighs about 1340kg. It's a safe, easy to sail boat with a roomy cockpit and few bad habits - making it go fast is another thing though, but I can guarantee that you'll have a lot of fun trying. As I've implied it is 'sporty' rather than a 'sports' boat, but it planes readily and safely in 20knots of breeze giving you speeds of 10-12 knots downwind without problem. As far as issues go there aren't many - bearing in mind it's a racing boat most have been pushed, so I would check for cracks around the keel/ hull, bulkheads and chainplates. Rarely, some have had chainplates that gave way, dropping the mast without warning, but I'm sure that most (like mine) have had these replaced with stronger ones... Again, this is all recorded in the P762 thread along with history of many individual boats. My advice would be to hire the services of a marine surveyor to check out any boat (Projection or not) you intend to buy.

Colin,

There are only two P762s in Scotland - both at Port Edgar outside Edinburgh on the Forth, Hobbes(our boat) and Pink Gin. If you'd like to go for a sail sometime get in touch.

There are a few boats that are similar but have big differences -The J80, with a larger main and smaller jib plus asymmetric spinnaker is more of a 'true' sportsboat. The Platu 25 looks the most similar but was designed (and really quick) for light wind sailing and is apparently a pig in strong winds!  Lastly the Hunter 707 - these are less sophisticated, smaller at 23' and probably pretty uncomfortable even for camping, but they are good all-rounders and great value at 5-6k. Some are pretty beaten up and you need to do research before buying. There's an expanding fleet on the Forth.

Yes, I'll vouch for that! Having said that we had a great time... Like F-Word don't think either of us sailed badly at all apart from a couple of hideous mistakes that I knew we were making at the time that cost us dearly. However, I don't think it would have made the slightest difference which class we'd been in - in light winds we've always found it impossible to sail to our handicap. I would point out that the class five minutes behind us had often caught up by the end of a race. I gave up looking at results and just sailed.

The Platu is a light-wind beast. There was one here once, well-sailed and in light winds it was always a leg ahead (would have cleaned up at Tarbert this year), but in strong winds we often left it miles behind, often on its side. It is, according to one of our crew who used to crew on the Platu, a scary boat in a serious breeze.

Hi Doug, in very light winds it's a different matter. It's the 3-12knots that
we don't make much impression, exactly the wind range that the Platu
excels in.
We have East Coast week coming up on 2nd - 5th July but really
struggling for crew, most of whom used up their holiday allowance for
the west coast events we did. Anyone fancy a sail??