Ocean Winds 33

THIS BOAT proved almost exactly as we had hoped. She handled with all the solid steadiness of a typical Patterson design, felt-utterly dependable in bad weather, and was fairly easy to manoeuvre under sail.

Pat Patterson is a highly experienced ocean sailor. He recently returned from a World Circumnavigation via Magellan Straits in his own Ocean Winds—and it shows in every detail of the production boat. One would need little more than an auto-pilot of some sort to supplement ordinary equipment if you bought a standard Ocean Winds and set off for Blue Water and the sun. Internally and externally, Ocean Winds is strongly and beautifully fitted; mouldings, cabin woodwork, and simulated wood panelling are all carefully and nicely finished.

 A sweeping sheerline and curvaceous cabin-tops give the boat a pleasingly individual appearance, contrasting with today’s usual angular fashions, but she looks and is very much a seaman’s boat. It shows particularly in the deeply sheltered cockpit hidden well inboard amongst the roofing of the twin, double-bunk quarter-cabins.

Under power (twin Volvo Pentas) all was well. Dr. Williamson, owner of the boat we tried, took her deftly out of her tight little berth stern first across a nasty wind. Most impressive.

The builders are happy enough to modify internal and even external arrangements somewhat, to suit various owners; Dr. Williamson had favoured a variety of extra lockers and bookshelves, and a modified mainsheet system to allow his family’s sailing dinghy to be hoisted inboard over the stern.

Another owner has gone for a specially long doghouse; Dr. Williamson’s Secret of Settle had been given a smaller doghouse over the big entrance ‘lobby’ and chart-table area, so that the navigator has perfect all-round visibility, and could in fact steer from there in a rain-storm, with a hand on the wheel just outside the doorway.

Here again Pat Patterson’s great sea-going experience shows through; the chart-table, apart from being huge, faces forward — a fact I mention because when one is tired. and a chart table is sideways on or worse still facing aft, one can be- tricked into making errors.

Similarly, the navigator is separated from saloon and galley, by a bulkhead; an aid to concentration, no doubt!

Moving aft, we felt the double bunks in these stern cabins were awkwardly high (over the engines), and rather impinged on by the angle of the side-decking on one hand, and cockpit seating on the other, but the cabins were otherwise excellent and had plenty of stowage.

Headroom in the saloon of the standard version, though low, was tolerable, and we liked the fact that one could sit there, looking out of the window in relative peace and quiet, even while the engines were running.
We understand that the bridgedeck does occasionally slam in bad headseas but in the Solent in Force 5 gusting 6 we were unaware of anything of the kind.

Ocean Winds is heavy, but modestly canvassed, so light-weather performance is best described as ‘fair’ Pat Patterson knows that most genuine cruising men will load their ships with charts, books, water, fuel, stores. and masses of extra gear, and has designed her strongly to take it all, so from this point of view, one available ‘extra’ well worth having is the inner staysail; ‘a grand sail in heavy weather’, we were told. And apparently the boat we sailed had had plenty of that in her first two seasons, having been several time caught on passage in gale force conditions. The rig would then be reduced either to the staysail on its own, or to that plus the close-reefed mainsail which the Doctor described as being ‘very snug, well inboard, and easy cope with.

So encouraged were they by the boat’s seaworthiness that he and wife alone set off on a ‘two-up’ cruise to S.W. Ireland, a thing which after a life time in monohulls they had never before contemplated trying. Despite terrible weather, the run was trouble free, the boat proving ‘so un-tiring to sail’ on long passages at sea.

Judy and I like almost every feature of Ocean Winds. One could suggest that a considerable broadening of the knuckle-chines over the forward waterlines would give the bows a bit more reserve buoyancy and lift at speed, and improve handling in certain circumstances, but it’s not often one is genuinely sad to stop doing a ‘sail-test’. We were extremely reluctant indeed to step ashore, for Ocean Winds feels like an ocean-going home, so matching exactly  her designed purpose.

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My thanks to Pip Patterson – Multihull Centre – for the use of his copyright material.