Bluewater cruiserr

Spray was probably a weird-shaped boat even when she was new. She was originally built as a fishing boat in Australia in 1810. On paper, this appears to be a hopelessly bad design but, rebuilt for $553, she served Capt. Slocum well and you can only surmise at this point that Spray was a remarkable seagoing vessel or Capt. Slocum was a remarkable seagoing person, or both. I think the credit belongs to Capt. Slocum. Spray has been reproduced in various versions for years, most notably by my friend Bruce Roberts. It's a wacky world, but some people want to build a Spray.

Paul Fay built two Spray replicas, one 37 feet long and one 33 feet long. He felt there was some room for improvement. I'd say so. (Slocum started his circumnavigation in 1895.) By the way, changing LOA precludes the boat from being a replica in my book. Boats don't expand and contract that conveniently. But, using reasonable and different factors for length, beam and depth, the general hull form of Spray can be approximated. Richard Fay, Paul's son, redesigned the Spray hull, added multiple chines for steel construction and mated it to a stock Roberts Spray 33 deck.

So, what is it? If I restore the body of an old MGA and put the body with the engine and chassis of an MGB, will it be a replica? No. This new design with its hull lines developed on a computer is a variation on a theme. Let's compare this hull with that of the original. The Spray 2000 has chines, is narrower by 2 feet, longer in LOA by 18 inches, shorter in LWL by 4.7 feet and finer forward. The keel is far more pronounced and there is internal ballast. The original Spray had no ballast. I actually prefer the deck plan view of the original. The finer entry of the 2000 series seems to be out of place on this hull profile. The Spray 2000 is an entirely different boat. The D/L of the 2000 is 421. The D/L of the original appears to be 270.

This boat is designed for home construction in steel. Steel is still the strongest way to go, but this strength comes at a priceÑweight. There's another price, and that's aesthetics. Steel boats can be beautiful, but generally they are a little on the handhewn side for me. It takes a skilled and experienced boatbuilder to sculpt steel. I would hope that if you were serious about welding up a Spray 2000 you might try your hand at a smaller boat first. The designer of the 2000 has done a nice job of providing hull surfaces that can be built from flat plate.

I suppose you can tell I'm not crazy about boats like this. I love salty-looking boats that sail like J/125s. I prefer an approach that may pay lip service to the original's aesthetics while using modern hull shapes for modern performance. But I do like variety and, amid the fleet of plain white sloops, the Spray 2000 will be a standout. Stock plans are available from the designer.