Looking for a small monohull coastal cruiser design to build

Discussion in 'Boat Design' started by sean27, May 30, 2016.

  1. sean27
    Joined: Oct 2011
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    Location: Colorado

    sean27 Junior Member

    I am looking for a small monohull coastal cruiser sailboat plan and can't find anything that matches everything I am looking for.

    Around 16'

    Flush deck design to maximize room.

    Self righting.

    Cockpit seats at deck level so there is room for quarter berths, cockpit is self draining and I would prefer a cockpit sized for only 2 people so the cabin has enough room.

    Quarter berths to sleep on that extend into the cabin to sit on with sitting headroom and footwell between, not just a basic flat. Rest of space for storage, basic galley flat for portable stove etc....

    Shoal draft capability for easy launching and getting into shallow areas if needed, center board or lifting keel.

    Cockpit and cabin sized for 2 people to sit, sleep, cook, bucket/porta potty space.

    Straight forward easily reefed sail rig so boat can be trailered and launched easily for day sailing, i.e. tow to ramp in the morning, launch, sail, put back on the trailer at the end of the day and towed home.

    Small OB transom mounted on a bracket.

    I will be using the boat for day sailing local and towing to cruising locations mostly in the South East of the United States with capability to cross the gulf stream to the Bahamas.

    Some examples of designs that come close.

    General layout like piepowder 16 or souriceau, shallow draft capability like Souriceau or Bateau ad16, basic sail rig like Bateau ad16.

    Piepowder 16
    [​IMG]

    Souriceau
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Bateau ad16
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]


    Piepowder 16 - too deep and sail rig not for daily launching.
    Souriceau - sail rig not for daily launching, mast alone is 7.24m
    Bateau AD16 - Doesn't have seating in cabin, just a flat and upper sides are at such an angle that you can't sit against the sides in the cabin for lack of head room.

    Prefer S&G, plywood on frames, strip, cold molded, plywood lapstrake, would even try GRP. Basically anything except welded metal or old school wooden boat methods. At this point I am not really all that picky about building method as long as it is the right size, cockpit vs cabin layouts and sail rig that is easy to launch.

    Several plans come close but nothing ticks every box.

    Any suggestions?
     
  2. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Your SOR has many conflicts, making a choice very difficult. Length is the biggest issue, because a 16' long boat just can't have the things you desire. It's possible a semi custom from one of the designs that you find that are close is possible, so contacting the designer would be appropriate. Other wise it's a full custom, if you want all the boxes checked.
     
  3. sean27
    Joined: Oct 2011
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    Location: Colorado

    sean27 Junior Member

    What conflicts do you see?

    I think it can be done in about 16', but you are right, there is no existing plan that I know of, it would have to be designed.

    I think the AD16 could be modified to work. It has the space/cube, but would need a smaller cockpit (current cockpit is 7 feet long), different top sides (like piepowder 16) and I think a drop bulb keel (like on Souriceau) would help to free up space down the middle for a footwell in the cabin.

    Here is one where the builder of an AD16 tried to make a seating arrangement in it. With the top sides though it really isn't that useable. It has plenty of space though.

    [​IMG]


    Basically I am talking about a larger selway fisher 4m mini yacht with flush top sides basically. Current design is just over 13'.

    [​IMG]

    OR a piepowder with a drop keel and simpler rig would work too.
     
  4. messabout
    Joined: Jan 2006
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    messabout Senior Member

    Crossing the Gulf stream in a 16 footer has been done. It has been done more than one time by outboard powered boats. To do so in such a small boat, one must be fanatically careful about the weather. That means almost no air and that means that sailing is not a good option.

    The most practical plan is to revise your ambitions to a little bigger boat, say 20 feet or more. More would be better. A 20 footer is as easy to trailer sail as a smaller one.

    Search around the internet for the Florida West Coast Trailer Sailors (FGCTS) site. There you can get some good advice about trailer sailing and camping out in small cramped space boats. Sure you can do it in a16 footer, but crossing the stream? Maybe not.
     
  5. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    I have a few designs that ring all your bells, except for length. I've made the "Freeport run" many times from various locations in Florida and doing it in a 16' whatever is nuts. Yeah, it can be done, but it's also way too easy to get caught in too big a sea, with too little a boat. I would consider 18' on deck the minimum and this is still small.
     
  6. CT249
    Joined: May 2003
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    CT249 Senior Member

    There are plenty of trailer sailer owners who launch daily with a mast bigger than 7.5m. In fact at our club there are several guys who rig each time they race (which is once or twice a week) with 8.5m masts, and we'll happily go away for a weekend regatta with our 20'er, which involves raising and dropping a 9.4m stick.

    Admittedly the 8.5m masts are unusually light ones, but there's certainly plenty of conventional 7.5 masts that can be easily stepped and dropped, even singlehanded.

    Is the length important? If you take the same volume as a stubby 16 footer and stretch it into a 20 or 21 footer you normally get a boat that is faster (even with the same rig and ballast as the 16), with a better motion and more usable space.
     
  7. Rurudyne
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    Rurudyne Senior Member

  8. PAR
    Joined: Nov 2003
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    Location: Eustis, FL

    PAR Yacht Designer/Builder

    Lots of designs to choose from, but again, they don't hit all the marks, such as sitting headroom, in an ocean worthy, shoal draft craft on a 16' LOD hull.

    I'd recommedn this design:
    [​IMG]

    It's 18' on deck, has shoal draft, divided appendages, enough volume to carry stuff for a serious cruise and sitting headroom in the cabin.
    [​IMG]

    She has a gaff sloop, Bermudian sloop or gaff schooner sailplan available. It also can be built as round bilge (multiple methods) or hard chine (taped seam only).

    This is a real ocean capable pocket yacht, but like other of similar convention, has considerably more displacement for it's length (what small boats really need in blue water). Previous builds of this boat have proven the centerboard isn't much help on the gaff rig versions, though some pointing ability improvement is available with this option of the Bermudan sloop.

    The construction drawing profile shows the cuddy cabin version with the spoon bow option and the schooner rig, while the gaff sloop sailplan shows the standard length cabin with a clipper knee bow. There are lots of options on this design and comprehensive plans for each arrangement. Many have been built and this is one (a lapstrake round bilge) currently being built in Finland:
    [​IMG]
     
  9. SukiSolo
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    SukiSolo Senior Member

  10. sean27
    Joined: Oct 2011
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    sean27 Junior Member

    The type of plan I want isn't out there, so instead of putting effort into something I don't really want, I would rather go larger, say 18-20'.

    I will just have to get very efficient at setting up the sail rig and launching.

    Bateau's VG20 works.

    http://bateau.com/studyplans/VG20_study.php?prod=VG20

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     

  11. bajansailor
    Joined: Oct 2007
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    bajansailor Marine Surveyor

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