Glen 17' Good Design?

[mcca4661]

I'm very new to the sailing world but very excited about learning all that I can. I'm not comfortable with the various entry level vs advanced types of sailboat designs. I'm looking to build something large enough for overnight trips on larger lakes in the Northwest and the Pudget Sound area. I found a few different designs and really like the look of the Glen L 17', would this boat be a good fit for me? Is the recommended construction method entry level, mid level? I'm not afraid of projects and my wife even helps out too.

Any help/pointers would be wonderful.

Thanks
Chris

[tom28571]

Chris,

Glen l plans are regarded as good choices for amateurs and produce boats that are also generally good vessels. The boat needs to match what you want though. The Glen L 17 looks very minimal for what you asked for. Interior room looks very tight for comfort, especially for waiting out any bad weather when even the larger boats can get small..

Another boat that is only two feet longer but does provide a much more spacious and comfortable interior is the Belhaven 19 by B&B Yachts.
http://www.bandbyachtdesigns.com/bel.htm

There is also a website to support builders of this boat.
http://www.messing-about.com/forums/index.php?board=2.0

[alan white]

Often open boats are not considered good overnighters when in fact they can be far more comfortable than full cabin boats. One reason is that they do not spend the night at sea, and so sleeping will invariably be within a safe and snug harbor. This allows a tent to be used, which, if well designed, can make a cabin many larger boats would envy.
A water-tight cuddy up front large enough to house all of those items that make life comfortable, that also contains a porta-potty, can still leave 12 ft of open space 6 ft wide on a 17 ft boat. That's substantial.
I have spent days aboard cramped small cruisers, ones larger than 17 ft, and even when it was raining steadily, I spent much time in the cockpit anyway. under a boom tent.
Other nice features of small open boats of this size range is the better and safer access to forward-located chores---- dropping sails, anchoring, messing with the jib, ESPECIALLY fending off other boats or poling away from rocks and shoals, etc..
I have a 15 foot gaffer sloop, a heavy boat by modern standards, with a full ballasted keel. The cockpit is over 11 ft long. I can reach the forward chocks to run the mooring line or anchor rode without leaving the cockpit. The cockpit seats are generously 8 ft long and 24" wide.
Going to a full-fledged cabin, I believe, is a mistake on any boat without some real volume, meaning perhaps 2000 lbs displacement, if one is intending to overnight or camp-cruise. The glen-L is fine for daysailing. It needn't have a big cockpit to cook and sleep in, but the small cabin is great for emergencies and daytime snoozes. However, the interior has an extremely low ceiling (sitting below will be uncomfortable for an average adult male).
My recommendation, therefore, is to build an open boat (with cuddy if desired) that has a big cockpit and a sole that will self-bail. Boats such as the Proctor Wayfarer, the Outred Caldonia yawl, and similar boats, which are moderate displacement types known for their sea-keeping virtues, are examples of what I'm talking about. They can be fitted with commodious boom tents allowing 4-5 ft of center height and sleeping room for at least three.
I plan also to set up my own small gaffer for coastal cruising. I had considered a cabin, but I saw how that would prevent my easy access to the front of the boat. As a cruiser with a cabin, it would be a pretender. A bigger boat allows side decks or safe footing on the cabin-top to get around. A small boat will tip alarmingly as you try to snake your way forward. In such boats, you literally have to know what others are doing when you move around, lest they add to your weight on one side rather than balance it from the other side. They move across inside to turn on the radio while you are crawling forward above-decks to check the ground tackle. A wave from a passing boat is timed to add to this upset. You can see what I mean.
At sea, a small full-cabin boat has to have all lines within reach, meaning halyards in particular so that reefing doesn't onvolve going forward. Really, going forward is scary in a seaway---- most small cabin boats have either flush decks or very narrow side decks. The flush deck is too high and the side decks too unbalancing.
Bottom line, boats like the Glen-L are best suited to inland lakes where waves are small and help is near. In bigger water, the cabin is so much a handicap as to be potentially unsafe.
I believe the Caldonia yawl is 19 ft. I would imagine it would cost no more than the Glen-L 17. It isn't hard to build, and when time comes to move up, it will have a good market.
Here's a website that illustrates the concept:

http://www.mavc2002.com/caledoniayawl/dd_gcp_2.htm


Alan

[Poida]

Yeah Alan, I'm surprised that more boat designs don't do away with the sleeping quarters up the front, correctly termed the pointy end and use that for storage and make facilities for sleeping on the deck with as you said a tent designed to fit the deck area.

That is something I am looking at with my modifications.

Poida