Designing An Exercise In Compromise

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31832, 9 November 1968, Page 18

Designing An Exercise In Compromise

Boats and boating mean luxury and pleasure to some. To others they mean screaming engines racing across the water, or a yachtsman fighting to beat an opponent across the finish line, battling a contrary wind. To many they mean a livelihood. To each person dreaming of a boat the craft is a vision of perfection, but master of the dream is in the pocket.

Designing a boat is an exercise in compromise, comparable with fitting all the equipment of a home into the garage. If the boat is large, but not too large, space must be planned with plenty of foresight, allowing for sleeping quarters, sails, engine parts, and a multitude of other gear.

The owner must decide how the boat mu»t be powered (where and how f*«t it is going to travel), how much will be carded and for how long and moat essential how much money will be available each year for maintenance.

Fly-fishermen want a boat that will take him to otherwise inaccessible fishing water. The lake fisherman wants a boat which is speedy aad reliable and capable of reasonably rough water. Ocean fishermen want a boat capable of weathering bad storms, the yachtsman wants a sleek racer or a sturdy

cruiser, and the racing speedboat enthusiast requires highpowered performance.

Boats can be problems and buying a boat is a far greater problem than buying a family car. Buying a car means you select a model that fits your pocket and that's it. In any bracket the range is somewhat limited, but in boating the range io infinite, stretching from a dinghy to a 100 m.p.h, hydroplane.

For those who have weathered the crisis, made the compromise, stretched their pockets to the utmost the result Is infinite pleasure.