Coastal cruiserr

This means that sometimes I have awful advertising agency "renderings" to work from. These seldom convey the nuances of the designer's work. Once in a while I get almost a full set of designer's drawings and that's always nice. Too often I get a sailplan and an accommodation drawing with maybe a deck plan included. Hull lines are rare but, now that I think about it, more frequent than in the past.

This Gib'Sea 43 came with the basic three drawings (advertising renderings) and an additional, optional interior layout.

"You seem to like all the boats you review." I hear this frequently. I always have the option of rejecting a boat the editor has asked me to review, and I have rejected a handful. Sometimes the design is too amateurish or I feel from my own experience that we are looking at the beginnings of a "bad boat." I do review boats that I don't personally like. They may not be bad boats, but they may be the type that I am not fond of personally. In these cases I try to put on my objective hat and restrict my comments to an evaluation of how the boat stacks up against the rest of its breed.

I've grown tired of being chased around boat shows by irate builders over a not-so-glowing review, so I've tried to soften my criticism over the years. That takes care of about half my irate pursuers. I have no idea why the rest are after me. Designers seem to agree with my reviews even when I am critical, but builders usually take it all very personally. Sometimes, if a boat doesn't knock me out, it's better to just change the subject and talk about cooking or wine or music.

I think this Gib'Sea was designed for the charter market. It certainly has the layout for it. You can get this boat with four staterooms or three. It's only a 42-footer but with 14 feet of beam they have accomplished these layouts with minimal compromise. The extra-broad stern makes it possible to get two staterooms aft. There is no apparent lazarette and the fo'c'sle is minimal. The saloon arrangement with its island J-shaped settee works with this beam. This opens up the starboard side for a good-size galley with plenty of counter space. I don't see what the appeal is of the small settee added to the forward stateroom. I think it's better to have the small extra stateroom that can accommodate more guests or better yet, be a great stowage area.

Beam helps again when it comes to laying out the cockpit. Note the twin wheels on this design. This does a couple of things: It opens up the cockpit well so you can walk through to the swim step, and it gets the helmsman farther outboard where he can see the sails or the dock easier.

The rig is generous for a chartertype boat with an SA/D of 21.48. The spreaders are swept and there is a babystay forward. I don't like babystays. They get in the way when tacking. I also don't understand what's with the forward moment on the mast that the swept spreaders produce, why you would need another stay pulling the center of the mast forward. I'd prefer runners if I needed an extra wire.

The D/L of this long waterline hull is 177. Draft is 5 foot, 7 inches. The brochure credits Olivier Poncin for "development" and J&J Design for the "Design."