maximizing space on pocket cruiser

[river runner]

I've been playing around with ideas for a realistically trailerable sailboat that is seaworthy enough for Puget Sound, the great lakes and even some coastal cruising. To keep weight down, I'm looking at water ballast, possibly with a high salt content, or some lead balast supplemented with water balast. A primary goal of the design is to maximize space while keeping the boat as small as possible. With this design I'm trying to accomplish this with my "fat keel" design and a Junk or pram bow. To improve performance on points of sail other than downwind, I'm thinking bilge keels might be one solution.

Hammer away.

[jim lee]

From everything I've read, bilge keels come with a big performance hit. As do fat keels and pram bows. Water ballast eats up interior volume. And, I don't think its very efficient at lowering CG.

If you want something that can sail, start with any J boat. They all sail very well. Look how they are doing it. And why.

-jim lee

[river runner]

Hey Jim: I realize all this. Yes, the J-boats are great boats and the J-24 was very popular for a reason. But the J-24 is more than I'd be willing to trailer, has poor livable space, and is not realy a design that I'd want to be caught out in when there is a small craft warning. I think my design probably does stink, but something like a J-boat isn't what I'm looking for.
When I was much younger, my parents and I chartered a yacht (twice) out of Anacortes marina. For someone into boating, you are a lucky man to live in such a place.

[Tiny Turnip]

The Winklebrig (as posted on your other micro cruiser thread) has twin retractable bilge plates. Obviously, the retractability makes launch and recovery much easier for a trailer sailer. The big advantage of the twin bilge plates over a retractable centreplate is that the plates draw up under the berths, leaving the tiny cabin unencumbered by a centreplate box. Arguably, this makes the cabin on the 16' Winklebrig more useable than the cabin on (say) the 19' Cornish Shrimper.