What the fleet has seen
The Pearson Yachts 323, as the fleet has seen it
Derived from the videos the fleet has analysed of this model. ▶ marks open the moment aboard.
The Pearson Yachts 323 is a 9.8-meter masthead sloop designed by William H. Shaw and built by Pearson Yachts between 1976 and 1983. It features a fin keel with a rudder on a skeg, a 3.0-meter beam, a 1.4-meter draft, and displaces 5806 kg. Matt Rutherford, aboard his Pearson Yachts 323 *Sailing Into Oblivion*, prioritizes replacing his mainsail and staysail, which fail at the stitching in heavy weather, posing a safety risk in 40-knot systems.2:07 He plans an 850-mile expedition on the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers, including a 25-hour round trip up the Potomac to Washington D.C., with four scientists aboard.52:56 Rutherford has sailed the boat in high latitudes, including Greenland, where he encountered informal customs procedures and dog laws.11:35 He experienced equipment failure with a Raymarine CP370 sounder that arrived broken and was not fixed by replacing transducers, leaving him without a depth sounder in uncharted waters.29:09 For anchoring, Rutherford uses two anchors in series—a Danforth connected to a plow or Bruce anchor—to prevent yawing in gusty conditions, and he dives the anchor to verify its set.21:40
