Pocket Cruiser

I know this boat very well. Sort of. It's pretty much a modern version of the mighty Perrywinkle. It has the same LOA, it's a wee bit lighter and beamier, but it's close enough for me to make some very easy comparisons. I've read the promotional material and have been to the Deltania website but I'm still not sure who the designer is. Most of the text is in German and German is not one of my languages. I'm limited to, "Ich habe ein schnauzer in mein lederhosen." But as far as I can tell the design is an in-house effort headed by team leader Jens Luckfiel. Regular readers will know that I'm partial to small cruising boats, so it should be no surprise I like this boat.

The LOA is 25 feet 11 inches, same as the Perrywinkle, but that includes the short bowsprit. The actual LOD or Length On Deck is 24 feet, but this boat has a minimal bow overhang, and if you stretched the stem out to meet the end of the sprit you'd have a hull profile much like my boat. That would make a lot of sense, but today short bow overhangs are considered "cool" so a sprit is added to handle ground tackle.

The dead-straight sheer looks fine on this boat and has advantages when you are trying to capture interior volume. The 26 E has a 1,329 pound centerboard. Draft with the board retracted is 1 foot 1 inch. Board down draft is 4 feet 9 inches. The rudder is outboard, mounted on the transom just like my old boat. I like outboard rudders on small boats. They allow the rudder to be as far aft as possible. This rudder is retractable so you can pull it up when you want to snuggle up to the beach. The L/B is 2.84 and beam is carried well aft for a very broad transom unlike the svelte fanny on my old boat. The D/L is 166, which is moderate.

The 26 E has a V-berth jammed as far into the bow as possible. This works but there is not much room for incidentals like feet forward. The starboard settee is full length but the port settee is truncated to make room for the small but adequate galley.

There is an enclosed head aft to starboard. I know everyone would prefer an enclosed head, but with a true LOA of 24 feet this head takes a big chunk out of the layout. There is an athwartships double berth under the cockpit. This is a big berth but getting in and out of it may be a bit awkward. The centerboard trunk is hidden beneath the drop leaf table.

This is a good layout for a small family. But with five people sleeping aboard there would be no room at all for your personal gear. I don't see any space designated as a wet locker. But I suppose you could use the head as the wet locker. At least your foulies would have a chance of drying in that space.

The rig is very simple with swept, single spreaders as you would expect on a boat this size. I don't have rig dimensions but if I use the areas for mainsail and genoa as listed in the specs I get a SA/D of 18.29. This is much better than the anemic SA/D I had on my boat. But in defense of my boat, in the 15 years I owned it I never once reefed it. I think the 26 E will do much better in light air than the Perrywinkle did.

The mainsheet goes to a block on the cockpit sole. This is the setup that I had, and I liked it. I used a Harken "cascaded" mainsheet system for fine tuning and gross trim functions. I really didn't need it, but I liked the way it looked.

With an outboard on the transom you will keep the engine smells out of this boat, and for trailering you won't have to worry about the shaft and prop. Some time ago I drew a 21 footer just for myself. I was trying to see how much I could do without. This design comes very close to what I designed. I like this boat.