On the question of the stability of a fully loaded cruising boat I make the following observation. After a weeks cruise on the Norkolk Broads we unloaded the boat (mark 2) onto the shore and noted , first what a lot of equipment there seemed to be and second how much tippier the boat was. When loaded you could step on the thwart next to the side and climb out no problem but once unloaded the old boat did move arround a lot. Does this mean that a loaded boat is much more stable?
I have capsized both my World and my Woody. There is so much side buoyancy in the World that when capsized it floats with the centre board very high up. This means that when the mast head touches the water the boat is well past 90 degrees and on the way down. With a thirty litre container fastened to the hounds and a practice capsize with three on board the boat showed no sign of going turtle. With 9 stone climbing onto the mast and then onto the centreboard the World came upright very easily. So I fixed a 40 litre secumar just above the hounds and never used it. There again I have very big reefs in my sail and use them at the least provocation. If the thought comes onto my head “shall I put a reef in?” It goes in.