My Precision 185 CB (Centerboard Version)

Please Note: This page references the Centerboard (CB) version only. The Precision 185 is also offered in a Keel version. The CB version received Sailing World's Boat of the Year honors under light wind testing conditions, but its stability indicators tell a different story for real-world heavy conditions.

Stability & Design Indicators

Data sourced from SailboatData.com

Metric Value Assessment
Sail Area / Displacement Ratio 35.08 Extremely High (Highly powered, acts like a racing dinghy)
Ballast / Displacement Ratio 0.00 Unmeasurable (No compensatory hull weight)
Capsize Screening Formula 3.50 Very High (For comparison, a Sunfish is 3.23, meaning a Sunfish is more likely to self-right)

Are you considering this boat?

Before purchasing, ask yourself these critical safety questions:

  • Are you an expert sailor of lightweight centerboard boats, confident in fresh winds and challenging conditions?
  • Are you prepared to make structural design modifications (e.g., adding a masthead float, drilling the centerboard for a retrieval chain)?
  • Are you willing to step the mast down every single time the boat is moored to prevent unattended capsizes during heavy winds?
  • Are you agile enough to instantly leap over the high side during a capsize to avoid getting trapped underneath?

If you answered yes, the Precision 185 CB may be a lively day-sailing performer for you. If you are looking for a relaxing family boat for young children or weak swimmers, please read the documentation below carefully.

Purpose of this Site

This page is not a personal vendetta against Precision Boat Works. Rather, it exists to provide critical safety transparency for less experienced sailors and families considering the centerboard model. While marketing frames this as a "family sailboat," it weighs just 590 lbs and handles like an aggressive racing dinghy.

The "Turtling" Risk

Unlike many dinghies that rest perpendicularly (at 90 degrees) on the water when knocked down, the P-185 CB has an intense tendency to transition rapidly into a complete 180-degree inversion (turtling). This happens in less than 5 seconds due to a high center of gravity, flat bottom, tall mast, and a centerboard that retracts fully into its trunk upon inversion, leaving nothing to grab onto from the water. Furthermore, the open transom cutout prevents a life-saving safety air pocket from forming inside the inverted cockpit.

Incident Report

Letter sent to Barton Bleil (Precision Boat Works)

Incident Date: July 2004

Dear Bart:

On the early morning of July 5, 2004, there was a thunderstorm with strong but not gale force winds. That evening, the P-185 capsized while moored. No other sailboats had either loosened from their mooring or capsized.

On Saturday, July 31st, I sailed with my 80-year-old father. The winds were around 10–18 knots. There were no white caps on the water, but the swells were 1–2 feet. We sailed using only the mainsail, starting out in a broad reach with the wind coming from starboard and the board up. The winds were changing rapidly and unpredictably.

When the wind shifted again, the boat began to uncontrollably heel. I completely released the mainsheet all the way to the figure-8 knot in an effort to immediately de-power the boat. I tried aggressively to point the bow of the boat into the wind, but by this time the tiller must have been out of the water. The boat began a slow capsize. We both had Type III vests on and were thrown into the water.

But then things really got ugly.

Because of the near absence of compensatory hull weight, the mast and mainsail failed to hesitate on the water’s surface, instead accelerating downward once they hit the water. As the hull rapidly went from a 90 to a 180-degree capsize, I could see that my father was getting trapped underneath. In an instant, I also took note of the fact that the open transom, convenient as it is when the boat is upright, prevented a safety air bubble in the suddenly inverting cockpit. Instantly, I reached underneath, grabbed a piece of his clothing, braced my legs against the hull and yanked with strength greater than I knew was in me, and brought him out to safety.

The story has a good ending. My father survived and was petrified but uninjured.

Manufacturer Reply

Reply from Barton Bleil

Sorry to learn of your sailing mishap with the boat.

Sailing dinghies with centerboard designs of all brands and sizes can and occasionally do capsize under various wind & wave conditions. They are not ballasted self-righting boats.

While I appreciate and understand your opinion, the boat was sailed by professionals and subsequently named Boat of the Year in November 2002. And Jim Taylor, our designer, has always given us well mannered boats and the 185 is no exception. He has an enviable track record of developing not only great small boats but his larger custom & production boats are wonderful designs as well. The 185 has been sailed extensively for several years and presently there are over 75 P-185's out sailing and while we have not heard from all of the owners, the ones we have heard from are enjoying the boat very much.

Best regards,
Barton

Expert Assessment

Assessment by Professional Sailboat Design Evaluator

Thanks for your note. Most sailors like lively boats because that usually means that they're responsive to the helm and have good acceleration. But what you're describing sounds decidedly unsafe.

I suspect that you own the centerboard version of this boat, and likely your centerboard was tucked up in the trunk when your boat turned over on the mooring. Nonetheless, it is uncommon for any boat to capsize on its mooring, and doing so would likely require an uncanny combination of high winds and rough seas.

Jim Taylor is a naval architect with strong credentials, so we're surprised that a boat from his CAD system would suffer such problems, but there are always a number of factors at play when things go awry, not all of them instantly clear.

We're just speculating here, but there's a chance that the boat you bought wasn't built to the exact specifications that came from Jim Taylor, and the weight was distributed unevenly in the hull with too much of it in the upper topsides. Or perhaps the weight in the centerboard wasn't properly located. None of these possibilities can be proven now, but we'd at least expect the folks at Precision to offer you more of an explanation than what you tell us you received. Their own website pronounces that "Each boat is carefully crafted with totally hand-laminated fiberglass construction and provides excellent performance and sailing characteristics." What you've described is far from excellent.

— Name withheld to protect author

Community Report

Letter from Owner P.D.

I wish I had seen your website prior to buying our Precision 185 this past Fall. I was looking for a small sailboat in which my wife and I could safely sail our two kids (both under 5 years old) around in. Having not been an avid sailor, I turned to my Father-in-law (avid sailor of 30+ years) to give me some advice. I think he read the review in Sailing World and believed the boat to be a good choice.

We recently put the boat in the water... It was a bright sunny day, the wind was about 5-10 knots, nothing to worry about except for the occasional puff of stronger wind. On one particular puff, the wind caught our sail (which we did not realize the line was cleated) and when I pulled on the tiller the wrong way, the boat turtled. When I arose from the water, I completely expected us to right the boat, but instead found my Father-in-Law clinging to the rudder and yelling at me to send up a flare.

The boat turtled just as you described. It was at a slight angle and several hours later, after donning dive gear and lift bags, we realized that the tall mast had buried its end deep in the soft muddy bed. That actually saved us from being caught under the boat.

— P.D.

Community Report

Letter from Owner D.S.

I have enjoyed my Precision 185, but do find it touchy. However, one time I was out sailing with two other adults in strong winds, no white caps but strong winds. We caught a gust and it flipped us over and the boat promptly turtled. It was very difficult to right as it had taken a large quantity of water into the hull.

Luckily a small motor boat came along and helped us right the boat and then towed us to shore. The centerboard did disappear into the hold which made the possibility of righting the boat that much more difficult. I have considered adding a floating bulb to the top of the mast for safety purposes—very unsightly but should reduce the likelihood of the boat turtling in the future.

— D.S.

"If and when a boat does get suddenly overpowered by an unexpected blast, it should automatically turn itself into the wind so it will straighten up even if the skipper is asleep at the tiller." — Manufacturer of a popular 22' sailboat (Name withheld)