Im planning to buy a sportboat just to sail for fun with a small crew.

I will be sailing off Scheveningen in Holland that is directly on the North Sea.

I like the Hunter 707 but I have the following doubts.

What about sailing the boat with a small crew 2 3 guys in a force 5

What about broaching in 7ft waves (quit normal condition with force 5)

regards,

I owned a 707 for several years and raced it hard in the Solent. I also did a fair amount of 2-handed racing.

A sportsboat, by definition, has light displacement and large sail area. Therefore in most conditions, the heavier the crew, the faster it goes. 707s normally sail with a crew of 5 and optimum crew weight appears to be around 450kg i.e. quite big guys (and sorry but that does probably mean guys). There is no crew weight limit in the class rules.

Now, when you say "sail for fun" I'm not sure if you mean "race but not very seriously" or not racing at all.

If you want to race the boat with 2-3 crew, I'd look at something that is meant to be raced with that number of crew e.g. SB3.

If your question is: can you sail a 707 for fun with 2-3 light crew in force 5, yes certainly you can. I raced mine 2-handed in up to 20 knots, with spinnaker, including gybing. I raced it 2-handed without spinnaker in 25 knots and with a full crew in 35 knots. At the risk of sounding big-headed, I'd a lot of previous experience in racing dinghies and other keelboats and you need experience to sail a 707 in the way I have described. However exactly the same would go for any other sportsboat. They are meant to be exciting boats, not easy-to-sail boats. 707s are actually easier to sail than many other classes of sportsboat but it is all relative.

Regarding size of swell, well again I think you will have similar issues with all sportsboats. Over 100 707s have been raced hard for nearly 10 years now. One sank a couple of years ago and swell played a part. I witnessed what happened at close hand and in my opinion, it was an avoidable accident. It is possible for the boat to be knocked down in a broach and if you do not close the hatch, large waves can enter. The same problem can happen with other similar boats; more than one J24 has sank in this way. You need to know what you are doing if you want to sail this kind of boat in difficult conditions. You certainly can sail a 707 in the conditions you describe, provided you are careful and have the skill and experience.

You might want to talk to people in the class association; contacts are on http://www.hunter707.org.uk - www.hunter707.org.uk

Some hardy souls did the Scottish Peaks race in a 707 a few years ago...that must have been hellish - particularly for the runners!

Good fun boats though - when you're using them for the purpose intended!

With regards to making a choice of what kind of sportboat to buy when sailing it shorthanded and no racing, what about the Cork 1720 does anyone have any experience with this boat

The 1720 is a big hairy beast.

Why do you want a sportsboat if you don't want to race it? They are all designed to be raced fully-crewed and have correspondingly low stability without crew weight. Wouldn't you be better off with something designed more for the purpose to which you plan to put it?

[QUOTE=sailor girl]ooh, 1720- brilliant boat!!

After 2 races this morning/afternoon - reaching speeds of 15kts I def agree that the 1720 is a brilliant boat.

The 1720 is a boat that can now be handled by lighter/less numbered crews with the new "club" 1720

As the ballast/displacement ratio of a cork 1720 is approx 50% I presume it will be easier to sail with a small crew than the hunter 707. Mostly regarding upwind performance.

From my experience of sportsboats we have:

707 nice little boat but wet (did RTI on one) and needs to be supercharged a bit, someone did put a bigger rig on one with a masthead kite i think.

1720 fast hilarious good fun, wet especially on the bow (fell off one twice on one run, but kept hold luckily), takes a lot of grunt when windy

sb3 not sailed one yet but looks like a baby 1720, probably just as much fun.

rs elite very wet boat, bit like a tea tray that floats.

newish from france http://www.openproductions.com/chantiers/open_chantier.htm - http://www.openproductions.com/chantiers/open_chantier.htm  looks like fun!

Had a few bad experiences on sportsboats, but too many good ones. I'll still stick to my 40 footer though (nice n dry).

With the 1720 you are going to need a crew of 5 to handle perfectly. The club version I believe a crew of 3 can handle because of the smaller sail area and furling jib option - no need for a bowman(person) to go forward and drop the jib - (as a helm I always enjoy sending my crew up there - esp when windy !)

The SB3 has the same designer - Tony Castro - hence the similarities at a smaller scale. These are crewed by 3-4.

All of these require good sportsboat/asymmetric handling skills to cope well in all conditions. 

I think to purchase one of the above to sail for fun with a small crew could become quite hard work once the wind increases. e.g. if it's blowing force 4+ and you are short of crew on a 1720, then dropping the kite could end up in a trawling session.
Pretty certain that would be the same on the "club" version of the 1720.
As for the SB3 - I don't know as I haven't sailed one.

Can't comment on the 707 as I haven't been anywhere near one - well apart from a close encounter at a leeward mark once upon a time !!

Yes they did: the "Action 24" which was dual-spreader with a masthead kite. They buillt two and sold one. A year later the boat was sold and restored to the class rig.

Personally I don't think the 707 wants "supercharging". It provides big-fleet racing with a lot of mixed-sex crews. A more powerful rig means heavy all-male crews will get all the chocolates (which is fairly true even now). The 707 provides a lot of fun to a lot of people as it is; leave it alone.