24' cruising sloop designed for low maintenance.

[Seafarer24]

As I fix up my 35' cutter I am left shaking my head at all the complex systems. I often wonder when I'll break down and replace them with something simpler, or just remove them altogether.

I moved up from a simple 24' sloop to this boat, and of course it has me wishing for a little sloop again! Not the same one that I had before, but something even better: less complicated, more rugged.

My design brief (thus far) is:
24' LOD
8' Beam
4' Draft max
4,000-5000 lbs Displacement
250-300 sq. ft. sail area
6' headroom
Twin keels to allow drying out upright
Freestanding mast
As close to a flush deck as I can manage.


I'm actually thinking of a sprit rig for the main. Something powerful but with a low CoE. Wishbone booms (or maybe a curved sprit up top) so no need for a traveler and easy catchment of the main when reefing (falls into a net hung from the wishbone).

Also, I'm not planning on having an engine, but a yuloh instead.

Interior optimized for single-handed cruising.

[souljour2000]

Seafarer,

..I am fixing up a 20-foot Hunter sloop from early 80's and trying to make a light coastal cruiser out of her. It is as much boat as I can handle..I can't imagine owning a boat much bigger than this...cost-maintenance-wise ....something as big as your 24-footer idea might be as big as I go someday.
I like the parameters you have laid out...simplicity is golden...I see all the fuss and headache and expenses that many folks with big boats deal with and I see people with smaller boats on the water more often...look at the number of kayakers out there just having fun evry weekend..that is really keeping it simple. BTW... Twin keels are very interesting to me right now...drying out level is a big plus....

Freestanding masts make alot sense to me too...but I don't know how I would go about that.I think the much-lower rig that you would have is not as bad as many people think...Alot of the old thinking is being re-examined these days...just don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. A free-standing mast would have to be really strong and presumably much shorter.You can make up for losing that canvas up high with lots of canvas front to back if it can be handled easily singlehanded but when the wind is blowing you can cover some ground if you want to...when it's not your going to have to be patient or use a small stinkbomb. This "low rig" may bring longer,fuller keels back into the equation regarding tracking though...twin keels would have to be very carefully thought out...check out this site:http://www.kastenmarine.com/bilge_keels.htm

Shorter,thicker, free-standing masts with lots of horizontal canvas...would allow for less need for righting moment and hence ballast below depending on how much canvas you fly. Multi-hulls begin to interest me more and more as they would take a free-standing mast better than mono-hull IMHO and allow for tracking and shallow long keels....

[alan white]

Originally Posted by Seafarer24

As I fix up my 35' cutter I am left shaking my head at all the complex systems. I often wonder when I'll break down and replace them with something simpler, or just remove them altogether.

I moved up from a simple 24' sloop to this boat, and of course it has me wishing for a little sloop again! Not the same one that I had before, but something even better: less complicated, more rugged.

My design brief (thus far) is:
24' LOD
8' Beam
4' Draft max
4,000-5000 lbs Displacement
250-300 sq. ft. sail area
6' headroom
Twin keels to allow drying out upright
Freestanding mast
As close to a flush deck as I can manage.


I'm actually thinking of a sprit rig for the main. Something powerful but with a low CoE. Wishbone booms (or maybe a curved sprit up top) so no need for a traveler and easy catchment of the main when reefing (falls into a net hung from the wishbone).

Also, I'm not planning on having an engine, but a yuloh instead.

Interior optimized for single-handed cruising.

You won't get standing headroom and anything close to a flush deck in that displacement. Flicka (Pacific Seacraft) is heavier and has a very tall house atop the deck.
You'd need maybe 7000# to have a (almost) flush deck (Blue Jacket, an Itchen ferry design)you could stand up under (almost...). A deeper cabin sole, made possible by the extra displacement, wouldn't work well with bilge keels, however. And the sail area at that displacement would approach 400 sq ft.

[souljour2000]

Alan,

Why do you think a deeper fuller hull-form to allow for the headroom would rule out bilge keels...it might seem to actally facilitate some of their aerodynamic possibilities...lots of ways to screw up here without extensive research though...I think what Seafarer wants is possible...just dangerous to small wallets and possibly migraine-inducing to many...