14.5' overnight camper

Just looking for some thoughts on a 14.5 boat i'm dreaming up at the moment.

Use would be day sailings and overnight camping for two. The cabin consists of an open flat area for a foam mattress and some sleeping bags. A camp stove, cooler and porta potti would complete the setup. The idea being trailer it, put it the water, sail for the day, anchor and camp the night and sail back, load it on the trailer and go home.

Went with flat bottom hard chined plywood ease of construction. Same with the long keel, seems would be much easier/faster to build than a centerboard, doesn't take up interior space, and still gives shoal draft.

I'm hoping upwind performance wouldn't be too greatly compromised, it's not a race boat, but it needs to be usable.

I was thinking of pouring a concrete floor in the middle 1/3rd of the boat to give some ballast and more stability. It's not intended to be in the open ocean durring a hurricane, but i hope it could make it through a squall without capsizing/swamping.

The cockpit would be self bailing, just a foot well really with seating around the edge. The companionway opening would not be lower than deck height so hopefully any water than might come into the cockpit would stay there and not fill into the cabin. Like i said it's not meant to be out in rough weather, but if i find myself in something, i'd like to survive.

For the rig i'm thinking a gaff rig to keep with the "classic" look of the hull i'm trying to go for. The mast is raked aft quite a bit to get the CE more in line with the CLR of the long keel.

To sum it up, trying to make a cheap, easy to build, decent looking boat to have fun with on nice summer days.

 

You show considerable drag to the keel. If you managed to balance the boat with the depth shown currently at the rudder but moved closer to the center of bouyancy, you could ballast the keel itself and enjoy much better sail-carrying capacity in the same conditions.
Not as beachable, but wadable, which I've found is almost as good. I've got about 22" of (long) keel with lead in it in my boat. I launch and retrieve alone. Beaches are a cinch. I get off at the bow, usually about 16" deep there.
The concrete isn't deep enough to add much stability.
Think so?

Alan

 

This is a great idea, I have many sketches of similar concepts. Though I would opt for a bit longer, like 16 feet.

But this design I suspect will be very difficult to control, it will have very poor upwind performance, and the rudder response will be weak and sluggish.

On something this small you should just depend on the crew weight shift for counter balance. rather than attempting to put in ballast. Putting a concrete floor will add a lot weight, making it hard to man-handle on beach or trailer, and sluggish in the water. With such a wide flat bottom, the counterbalance effect of crew sitting on the windward gunwale will be strong and I suspect you will not find the need for additional ballast. For something you intend to drive back and fourth to the water each time, keep it as light as practical, it will make launch and retrieval fast and easy.

I have a very light 14ft sloop I built with a flat bottom and several multiple hard chines, and I have never felt the need for extra ballast, even with only 4'8" beam and solo crew.

I suggest using a fairly high aspect ratio dagger board and rudder. The dagger board box will not take up that much room if you arrange the interior around it. This will have excellent handling qualities, good up wind performance and be very responsive. Also make the rudder so it can quickly kick up (for shallows) and you should be in good shape for performance and beaching it.

Also for simplicity and fast launching, I would go with a simple cat or sloop rig and even consider a boomless sail. The gaff rig has classic good looks, but complicates the sail handling, the number of parts you have to make, and does not offer any performance advantages.

If you are intending to "camp out" in the tiny cabin, how about considering having the cabin roof lift from the back like a lean-to or lift strait up with fabric sides to give you more head room when holed up for the night. YOu can hold the top down with a few simple bungie cords.

Great concept, keep with it.