Pogo 50 - Lifting Keel - Full-On Performance | Sailing Blog - Technical Hints and Tips - Sailing Television

Pogo 50 - Lifting Keel - Full-On Performance




If you want to cruise, but cruise FAST... read on!
I got a chance to sail on a Pogo 50 last week in the Anguilla Regatta. For the first day of the regatta there was lots of wind, and we photographed the race from the press boat. On the second day I went out aboard the Pogo 50 for the race. Thanks very much for having me aboard guys!!

In case you haven't heard of Pogo, they are a French Boat builder (not a child's toy :-) specializing in very high performance monohulls. For years they have built Mini-Transat boats, 6.5 meters long (20 feet) and then grown to 30 and 40 footers. Always high-performance! But now they have branched a little more toward cruising with the new Pogo 50.
maremosso-pogo-50-sailing
A Pogo 50 is still very much the high performance craft, but set up for cruising. Appropriately Pogo 50 Maremosso (which we met in Anguilla) was on an Atlantic cruise, and just entered the regatta for fun with their 4 crew.
pogo-50-racing-crew-cockpit

Swing-Keel


Did I mention the Pogo 50 is a swing-keel boat like ours (well… somewhat like ours)
Comparing our Southerly 49 to the Pogo 50 they are surprisingly similar in a number of respects…
Both the Pogo and Southerly can raise their keels for shallow water. The Pogo's draft with the keel down is just a foot more than ours at 11'5. Raising the keel for shallow water our Southerly draws just 3 feet, the Pogo less than 5. The difference here is she keeps much of her ballast in the bottom of the swinging 3 ton keel. We have a 3 ton plate in the hull which we can sit on when we have swung up our 2-ton keel and are beached. The Pogo must not be grounded like this I think or would risk damage as the keel is external even when swung up. (Image from YBW.COM) Both the Pogo and Southerly also have twin rudders.
Pogo-50-keel-swung-up
Pogo mast is 6 feet taller than our Southerly. She has quite a bit more sail area in the main however, with the high performance "fat head" sail configuration.
pogo-50-sailplan
Even the interior layout is similar with the main cabin forward and two aft cabins. The biggest difference is the displacement. The Southerly 49 is nearly twice as heavy!

Inside they have simplified to keep it light, but do have a workable cruising interior. Here in the well-organized nav station, co-owner Guido describes their successful Atlantic ARC crossing (finished 17th).
pogo-navigation-station
The interior (shot here from the Designer Finot-Conq website) is quite light and airy, and light-weight as well.
finot-conq-pogo50-interior
It was unfortunate that we had very light winds the second day of the regatta when I was racing aboard Maremosso. I had watched her roaring around the course the previous day, only to find light flukey winds for my day on board. Nevertheless it was obvious that this is a VERY fast, fun and responsive boat to sail. When even the slightest puff stirred the water we zipped along, but the crew was frustrated they couldn't really show her stuff!

Check out this video on Shallow Water Piloting


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