Traditional cruiserr

The design is very classic in its overall proportions. The ends are long with a DWL of 34 feet, 1 inch on an LOA of 46 feet. A "light-ship" displacement of 27,000 pounds gives this design a D/L of 304, which is a bit on the heavy side. Draft is 6 feet, 3 inches, but there is an optional shoal-draft keel. Distribution of beam is classic too, with the stern being on the narrow side and the spoon-bow profile being reflected in a fuller deck-plan line forward. All these proportions have to work together. You can't choose a spoon bow and then ask the designer for a concave entry. You'd end up in geometry hell. Executed in flawless, bright finished mahogany, as will be the case with boat No. 1, this hull will be very beautiful.
This is a simple layout and in many ways as classic as the hull form. The galley is bigger than it would have been 20 years go. But you still get pilot berths outboard of the settee berths. The quarter berth is a double. The fo'c'sle is big enough to push the V-berth aft so the toes won't be too confined. This is a very good galley layout. Note the counter space on each side of the sinks and on each side of the range. The engine box is under the centerline galley counter leg. There is a Luke, wood-burning fireplace nestled into the forward end of the engine box. Interior joinery is all mahogany.

The deck plan shows a cockpit that stops short of the transom, which is unusual these days, but necessary because the stern overhang is far greater than on most current designs. The mainsheet traveler is aft. Genoa tracks are long to provide options for correct sheeting of the genoa in different rolled-up configurations in addition to staysail sheeting options. There is an outboard track for heavy air or reaching staysail sheeting. The cockpit is long. Side decks are broad and uncluttered. There is a "butterfly" hatch over the main cabin. I'll bet Walsteds' butterfly hatches don't leak. These drawings don't do justice to the detailing that Walsteds will apply. There is a world of boatbuilding skill just in the way the teak toerail is shaped.

The construction features a cold-molded hull of mahogany and western red cedar, the outer layer being the finest red cedar available for matched grain. The deck will also be red cedar and mahogany, planked with 12-mm teak, set in epoxy. There will be no fastenings in the teak deck. The cabintrunk will be uninterrupted mahogany planks. The top of the cabintrunk will be planked in Oregon pine. The auxiliary will be a four-cylinder Yanmar, and there will be a 3.5-kW gen set. Handling around the dock will be aided by a Max Prop hydraulic, retractable bow thruster. The photos I have show a boatbuilding shop that is pristine in its cleanliness and order. There isn't a single wood shaving on the deck. Maybe like mother cats these workers just lick the boat clean as they go. Many of Walsteds' workers have been there for their entire working careers.

There is a second version of this boat planned. It will be a raised-freeboard model with a flush deck forward and white painted topsides. I'd take either one. I don't know what else to tell you about this boat and its builder. I think you will need to track down a Walsteds boat and take a look for yourself.

"No, Sonny, they don't build them like that anymore."

"Sure they do Grandpa."

Classic design built to an impeccable finish.