2004 Precision 185, Texas, not for sale

Precision 185 Standard Equipment

I sailed the Precision 185 and I was impressed. Any sailboat is a trade off in design, but there are very few things I didn't like about this boat. First, it is fast, quite fast. With 181 square feet of sail and weighing 590 pounds, it has plenty of power and planes easily. Of course, this makes it easy to capsize, but that is the usual trade off for speed! The wide beam helps stability, it's much more stable than a Laser, and I felt comfortable standing up on the boat, but that's a lot of sail.

The cockpit was very roomy and well laid out with sail controls well placed and good quality. The floor is not far below the seat, so my knees were bent a little more than I like, but that is normal for a self bailing cockpit. The roller furling jib worked great and had good sail shape. The main was a little hard to raise because of the in mast halyard and a stiff sail, but it should get easier as the sail loosens up and with a little Sail Kote. The tack of the main does not have a grommet, you have to use the cunningham to hold the tack down, which can prevent lowering the main unless you have released the cunningham.

The centerboard was easy to lower and raise, and it's a kick up design in case you run aground. There is a line to hold the rudder down, but I think I would adjust the rudder bolt and let friction hold it down in case I hit something with it. As is common with centerboard designs, there is nothing holding the board down, and if the boat turtles it will fall back into the centerboard trunk making righting more difficult.