She's certainly not a hot racer and any newer race boat will take a
good 10+ degrees point off her. On the other hand, when a shout of
"starboard" fails - a call of "17 tons of steel" generally gets
attention.

Peter,

That was great. Thanks for the laugh.

Many times I have been so glad that my boat was constructed of steel.
Not being as competent a sailor as others on this news group, I tend
to run into docks and run aground from time-to-time. After hurricane
Floyd hit the coast of North Carolina a year or so ago, I rushed to my
boat to assess the damages. As I walked down the dock I saw where the
storm had pushed several fiberglass boats up against their pylons and
severely damaged their topsides and rails. When I got to my boat, I
found no damage at all. At first I concluded that my lines had held
the boat off of the pylon. Then I saw the damage to the pylon. On
closer examination there was not even a scratch on my paint. Then it
dawned on me -- steel versus wood -- it's the wood that looses. Later
the marina manager asked me to please not let my boat destroy their
docks. :-)

BTW how much and where did the builders "stretch" your Mauritius 43?

Lee Huddleston
s/v Truelove