Coastal cruiserr

This is an unusual-looking sheerlineÑfitting I suppose considering it goes on an unusual boat. The low point or nadir of this sheer spring is right in the middle of the boat. I'd prefer to see the nadir of the sheer farther aft, but this would give the boat a more conventional look and perhaps the designers were not after that. To my eye this boat looks stern high.

The hull features a hydraulic, retractable fin and bulb keel. This allows the draft to be reduced from 11 feet, 6 inches to 6 feet. Twin rudders help reduce the draft. I suspect the twin rudders are also intended to open up the middle of the stern so they could put in the garage for the 15-foot Sea-Doo tender. The D/L is 160 based upon a preliminary half-load displacement of 69,312 pounds.

The interior is set up for three couples. The aft guest staterooms are mirror images. These aft staterooms share a head to starboard and a shower stall to port. Where do you undress for the shower? Do you wear your clothes into the shower and then toss them out into the passageway so they don't get wet? Do you undress in your stateroom, peek out the door to see if the coast is clear, then bolt buck-naked for the shower stall? This needs more thought.

The raised saloon features a raised dinette for seated visibility. This is always nice, but you can see the volume that was lost outboard of the pilothouse perimeter. This is inevitable with this type of design. The designers have cleverly worked in the daggerboard trunk so that it has very little impact on the interior layout. The lower saloon combines a comfy dinette with a superb galley design. However, if you were seated in the dinette and you looked aft you just might be able to see a naked person busting a move to the shower.

The owner's stateroom is forward and the forward head has a shower stall tucked into the bow. This looks like a comfy stateroom, but might have been better with a centerline double that allows equal access to either side of the berth.

I don't know much about the AeroRig. I have seen one in person and I did not find it aesthetically pleasing, although if things work well they soon start to look good. Some people think the unstayed AeroRig is the ultimate in simplicity and ease of handling. Eventually I'll get the chance to sail one and then I might have something to say. The SA/D of this design is 18.36. This is a nice, normal number, but keep in mind you can't add a genoa to help with light-air performance.

This is a highly sculpted deck design. There are two wheels aft in a helming cockpit. Forward of this there is a lounging cockpit. Where are the winches and the flying elbows? With the AeroRig the winches are gone. The single sheet winch is a recessed reel-type hidden below the deck. This means in addition to no sheet winches there are no jib tracks, blocks or running rigging cluttering up the deck. There is a hydraulically activated transom door giving access to the tender.

This boat will be built with Kevlar, E-glass and resin-infused vinylester resin with Baltek Superlite balsa. The engine is a Yanmar 170-horsepower diesel. There are 300 gallons of water and 350 gallons of fuel. There will be a hydraulic, tunnel-type Lewmar bow thruster.

S&S has been the most prestigious of all the American design offices. It's nice to have one of its new designs to review.