Coastal cruiserr

This owner had a raging fire inside when he commissioned Simon Rogers of Lymington, England. In fact, it was a group of owners, so it was more of a brush fire. They wanted a high-performance boat reminiscent of the old gaff-rigged yawls similar to the traditional Itchen ferry types. The final result is a hybrid that deserves a close look.

This boat is about as distinct as you can get, combining very different rig and hull ideas. I'm not so sure how it will work. But that's what custom boats are all about, i.e. not pleasing everybody. I do know I'd love to see this boat under sail.

What a rig! Don't worry, the weight aloft is being addressed by the use of home-built carbon fiber spars. Starting at the end of the 15-foot widowmaker bowsprit we have: flying jib, jib and staysail. The mizzen is either a standing lug or a dipping lug sail. I suspect it's a standing lug. If you get bored off the wind, you can hoist a mizzen staysail just for fun and extra horsepower. Standing rigging shows deadeyes and channels on the gunwale. Jibs can sheet inboard of this.

On the main the gaff is as long as the boom and will twist off to leeward when you try to put this boat on the wind. The topsail will go with the gaff, and both these sails will end up looking like bags anyway due to insufficient sheet tension.

The designer is going to try and control gaff twist with an "alpha line" leading from the end of the gaff to the top of the mizzen mast. But I don't care whether you use alpha lines or unobtainium for the spars; I can't see any way this rig will be close-winded or will produce the "blistering" performance that the designer's notes call for. I see the blisters all right.

In defense of this design it was the owner's wishes to have all the family members kept busy. On a beam reach, when all six sails are finally in proper trim, this yawl should take off.

At 17,600 pounds, this is not a light boat by today's standards, and the D/L is 177. The designer says this boat will "plane" but I'm not so sure. A brief white-knuckled surf from time to time is about all you can expect out of a boat of this weight at this length. The hull form shows minimal fore and aft rocker and minimal overhangs. The keel and rudder are both retractable. The keel and its "box" are being built at The Lymington Forge. Draft with the keel down is 7 feet, 6 inches and 3 feet, 1 inch with the keel up.

The accommodation plan is also different. There is a small galley aft, and enough berths, including the main settees, to sleep eight crewmembers. There is actually a bath tub under the aft end of the V-berth. Obviously this interior's mission in life is to sleep a crowd: a clean crowd. After playing with all that running rigging all day I suspect the crew will need a bath. It's a custom design. What can you say?

I can tell from the comments accompanying the drawings for this special design that all involved are very proud of this vessel. It's a labor of love built in Cleethorpes by Farrow and Chambers using their cedar "speedstrip" method. Finish work will be done by a group of the owners.

In a perfect world this boat would beat the pants off the latest Bruce Farr boat. But, I've got sand in my shoes, and my hair looks funny today. It's not a perfect world.