Cruising_World_2016-06-07

june/july 2016

cruisingworld.com

86

SEA TRIALS

made their American debuts

at the show a few days earlier:

a late-morning session on the

Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40 and

an afternoon appointment

aboard the Lagoon 42. The

radar app on my smartphone

confi rmed the TV weather-

man’s forecast: The current

line of thunderstorms was

quickly moving off the Florida

coast, with clear skies to fol-

low. What the wind would do,

if anything, was an entirely dif-

ferent matter.

Cautiously optimistic, I

downed breakfast and headed

over to the marina. Little did

I know that one of my cooler,

more agreeable days of boat

reviewing was about to unfold.

LUCIA 40:

The Owner

The sky had cleared and bright

sunshine was drying the still-

damp docks as I made my

way down a pier to rendez-

vous with the crew of the

Lucia 40, who’d just tied up

after an earlier test sail with

several of my fellow scribes

from other sailing magazines.

(I like my colleagues but avoid

group boat tests whenever

possible; I prefer to have the

undivided attention of the

builder or their representative

so I can ask stupid questions

free from embarrassment.)

It was pretty clear from their

expressions, which were as

limp and still as the drooping

fl ags on the dockside displays,

that their outing had not been

an exhilarating experience.

“Good luck,” said an old writer

friend as we passed each other.

“There’s not a breath of air out

there. It’s fl at calm.”

Another cardinal rule of

boat reviewing — though this

too is sometimes unavoidable

— is to never test a brand-

new boat with its brand-new

owner. I know it’s hard to

believe, but some new owners

have reservations when I ask

to set the spinnaker or shake

out a reef in building breeze,

or to roll their lovely vessel

into a death turn under power

at 2,800 rpm. Go fi gure.

So I was a little taken

aback when I stepped aboard

to shake hands with Steve

Clawson, the justifi ably proud

owner of Love Knot, hull num-

ber two of the Lucia 40 line.

Steve in turn introduced me

to a pair of strapping young

bucks from Annapolis, Mary-

land, where the boat was

After purchasing their Lucia

40, retired Navy offi cer

Steve Clawson and his wife,

Luz Marina (below center),

traveled to France with their

kids to check out their new

cat’s progress. Their new

Lucia 40 provides sweeping

views from the main cabin

(bottom) and plenty of com-

fort down below (left).

FOUNTAINE PAJOT; COURTESY OF STEVE CLAWSON (TOP); BILLY BLACK (OPPOSITE)