High performance beachable world cruiser under 35"?

Having grown up sailing on a 25 foot plywood trailersailer with a draft of under 1 foot with the keel up, cruising on "proper" yachts leaves me with a feeling that I am missing something. Our cruising style was always to get right to the beach and leave it there. We would always have the best spot in any anchorage. No need for a tender as you just walk along the sand flats. Exploration in uncharted areas was no problem and going up a small creek was all in a days fun.

The boat had a swing keel which fully retracted into the hull. There are many drop keels out there with a lead bulb, but I would not want to beach such a design. Does this mean the only option is a swing keel? Would a drop keel that has the lower part made of lead, but retains the foil section of the upper keel be feasible, so that the whole lot can be lifted into the hull?

I like the ovni range due to their beachability. But these are expensive and am not so sure about the location of the ballast which is in the hull rather than the keel. Not that I could afford one.

So are there any other designs out there that are very low draft, beachable, have good performance and livable space for extended cruising under 35foot? I keep thinking of a mono hull, but this SOR is probably more suited to a multi.

Thoughts?

 

the gougeon brothers modified their i-550 by taking off the bulb and making that lead into a foil section at the tip of the keel, so that the entire keel could be lifted into the boat.

Prob a DIY thing no matter what you do

 

There are lots of solutions to this problem, but like all things in sailing, every decision is a compromise with trade offs. Drop keel boats do not have the time proven reliability of a fixed keel. There is one more thing to go wrong. Many full keel boats are dead stable and track beautifully without anyone on the helm - a wonderful thing in open water.

When you are trying to balance performance, extended beaching options and livable space, it is hard not to arrive at a multihull.

It's hard to comment on applicable designs, because everyone has a different set of priorities. One man's perfect ride is another's nightmare and vice versa.

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CutOnce

 

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Well, I think you nailed it-a multihull seems to fit best. Are there any particular reasons why you'd prefer to stay away from multies? Personally, I'd think 'extended cruising' in anything under 35'- especially a mono- but probably including multies is on the thin edge of practicality. Unless you mean extended coastal cruising? How many people?

 

Thanks guys.

The reason I had mono in mind was I had visions of an updated larger version of our old trailer sailer. We used to fit a family of 4 in that thing for 4 weeks. So I am aware of what its like to have no room. Also I think multis in this size are very small inside. But I have not ruled them out. I really love tris. As long as a good size double could be made to fit it would be good. I found a few tris I liked but for some reason many are not set up for as shallow draft as would be possible and they didn't have any double bunks. Also the cost to build is higher and takes a lot longer.

The idea would be to spend 95% of the time coastal cruising. With the ability to do a larger trip if needed. So the boat would be more optimized for coastal cruising. It should be able to be single handed. 2 people would mostly be on board. Occasionally a few more when taking friends for a few days.

 

I think you're right in that a multi will be a fairly spartan thing in this size, unless displacement speed is all you're after, then it could be burdened with a considerable structure.

I think there are many designs that currently fit your SOR, which I think needs more "extrapolation" here to help focus down the possibilities. The 5 panel designs of Jacques Mertens over at Bateau.com may be of interest. The flat bottom panel will greatly assist the beachable constraint. Conversely a bilge keeler will also address this issue. I should add that in this general size, the belly of the boat is going to draw a few feet at least, if for no other reason then to offer some headroom inside, so beachable will be a relative term.

 

Hartley had a design called "Silver Image" built in Steel or ply 30' long with a raised deck- more like a sawn off 34'er, options were for fin keel, twin keel or centerboard, there was one for sale in Brisbane about 6-8 weeks ago. My Dad built one with twin keels in steel. http://www.hartley-boats.com/30.html it had good space for the length. Regards from Jeff.

 

Compucraft designs right there in Aus has some interesting mono designs that may suit your purposes. As you observed, it would be hard to go past a multihull for your SOR and at about 35ft both cats and tris are starting to have plenty of space and decent performance, were talking something akin to a Gemini, Catalac and the smaller Prouts in the cats, Roger Simpson had some good designs in this size, The older tri designs in the 30 - 35ft range i think were better suited for your purposes than any of the newer ones i can think of which tend to be much too performance oriented, an F31 for example has pathetic interior space whereas a 31ft or 35ft Horstman is huge and well capable of distance cruising, even an old Piver Nimble has reasonable space because they built the cabin wide enough to have decent wing berths and they have a well proven offshore record, Norm Cross had some very nice well proven designs. As noted by PAR, anything, particularly tris and monos in this size are going to have a couple of feet of fairbody draft alone, a cat with daggers or centerboards and no minikeels will probably give you the least draft for beaching as well as sitting upright.
Steve.

 

but a multi would take significantly longer to build and cost more... just saying...

 

Thanks guys. I really do love tris like I said, but cost and build time is a factor. If it was not I would build a tri. I have sailed a Piver nimble almost all the way from Sydney to Brisbane. It was old and run down, would not sail to windward well and didn't have a lot of room and had a lot of draft for a 31 foot boat. But I still liked it. I found this for sale and love the look but I think it would still be a bit impractical. Obviously I would rather buy used than build.



http://www.multihulls.net.au/index.php?page=ed&de=81499

That hartley looks good. But I am liking the Compucraft designs. They really meet my SOR well. Light displacement, ultra low draft, designed to be beached on a ongoing basis, easy to build, low cost, good interior space. I'm just not digging the styling. But it could grow on me.



The Hartley looks a lot nicer but I like everything else about the C-C.



This C-C 35 is of interest to me. I hope they will send me more files and I wonder if any have been built. The site lacks pictures of completed yachts. Also I wonder about the "Compu-Craft alloy frame KIT system" they are using. Does anyone have comments on this approach?



Compu-Craft alloy frame KIT system



I wonder there could be issues with alloy corroding in inaccessible areas with trapped water?

 

I've always liked the look of Seawards.

http://www.seawardyachts.com/32rk.html

 

Yeah, those compu craft boats are not great looking butdo fit well,the Hartley is a good looking boat.
Steve.

 

If only was read to take on a project now. Marples CC 35 project.

http://au.yachtworld.com/boats/2011/Marples-Cc35-2356166/United-States