Best all around design

[TomFF]

I know this has been tackled before. But what would you say is he best all around small family boat(13 to 17 LOA) design that sails well and yet has place for a light motor. Must be trailable. It doesn't need to be stitch & glue.

[Tonyr]

Well now, here's an unanswerable question! Going ahead anyway, I would suggest that you find just about any well known seventeen footer which is a "general purpose" dayboat suitable for your area (just look around, and see what's there), and hang a very small motor on the transom. It will probably work just fine in sheltered water. The shorter the boat, the harder to make it do anything more than one thing well. As John Gardner says somewhere, length allows design compromises to work.

Regards, Tony.

[ken mcclure]

Take a look at John Gardner's semi-dory. It's in your size range and is reputed to sail, row and motor pretty well. You can see it in The Dory Book as well as in Building Classic Small Craft, Volume 1. There's a picture of a 14-footer in the the "Building" book.

[Doug Wood]

Lots of opinions on this, I'm sure but the Herreshoff or Haven 12 1/2 sure would be good choices. Very stable boats with room for 4 adults and mighty pretty as well. The Haven might be a better choice for hauling/launching off a trailer but can certainly be done with Capt. Nat's original. Each can accommodate a mount for a small motor but I'd think twice about adding one. Of course, these boats are a true joy to sail. Wish I had one!

[Buddy Sharpton]

Admitted I'm biased, but I'd recommend a look at Joel White's 15' Marsh Cat ( or mine ) - it's easily trailerable with a hinged mast, launches at a minimal ramp, can daysail 1-6, and with a awning over the boom, you can use sleeping bags and air matresses for a terrific camp cruiser. Faster than a 12 1/2, argueably everybit ast pretty, and catboats are a joy to look at, and to sail. Put my money where my mouth is too.

[TomFF]

The marsh cat looks like an interesting design. I've been doing some searching on it. There really isn't much on it, though I'm pretty interested.

http://www.alongshore.com/boatshop/construction/marshcatjane4.jpg

Is the only place to find info on it in WB's "40 wooden boat plans"? There doesn't seem to be many builders out there.

[Buddy Sharpton]

Mine is here in Atlanta at Lake Lanier so come on down if you want to try one out That said , the best I can tell, I've heard of about six. Doug Gray on theis forum has one and has a friend with one. I've seen two others an the web( including (the one you have a picture of) and I've seen one other advertised in the Catboat Association For Sale pages.There are about four commercial builders I have heard of that have built one, several of the boats I've mentioned above.

[Buddy Sharpton]

By the way, you mentioned light motor. I find a 2horse , fourstroke Honda is plenty for mine, It can clamp to the transom (with along shaft), but I have made a detachable mahogany transom bracket that I like even better. Plenty of push either way, about five mph. A 47 pound thrust trolling motor will make almost 3 1/2 mph in flat water as well.

[Garrett Lowell]

This is a pretty good design:

core sound 17 (http://www.bandbyachtdesigns.com/cs17.htm)

[Steve Paskey]

From what I've read, the Core Sound 17 should be a great family dayboat. With the cat ketch rig, she'll tack and jib effortlessly with little attention by the skipper and no assistance from the crew. She's also quick to launch and retrieve, which leaves less opportunity for smaller crew members to get bored, wander off, fall in the water, or otherwise get into trouble when the skipper's not looking.

[Bayboat]

I'm with Doug Wood as an over-all answer to a really tough question: Herreshoff 12 1/2 or a Haven 12 1/2. The Herreshoff has been called by knowledgable people the best small boat design ever drawn. It's a tough question because there are so many variables in sailing small boats: local conditions, sailing skill of owner and also building skill if appropriate, racing or cruising, daysailing or overnight/camping, how many people to accommodate, and on and on. In the final analysis, the "best" is what suits the owner's use and pleasure the best.
It's a bit like asking who's the best operatic tenor? Nowadays we have three prominent tenors: Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras. There is no best--all three are great.

[rbgarr]

My vote goes to Sidney Herreshoff's Gemini 16.

[pippo]

For simpler construction, I'd check both the Caravelle and the CK17 by Jacques Mertens at bateau.com. The latter is the boat I'm currently building.

[richard vogel]

I'm with Buddy, the Marsh Cat 15 wins, because it is easily trailered and only draws 11 inches, which cannot be said for others mentioned.

[Paul Denison]

Tom, I grew up in Kingsport, where the wind only blows in the winter. Spent lots of time on Boone and Patrick Henry lakes as a kid. The wind isn't much better here but there are more sailboats on Fort Loudon Lake (Tennessee River). There are quite a few nice wooden power boats on the lake.

Where do you go for water in Bristol?

[TomFF]

Holston Lake is the closest. I went out there today. No wind at all today but sometimes it gets quite breezy.

Eastman has a sailing club that goes to Watagua. That seems to be the lake of choice in the area. Both Holston and Watagua are quite beautiful- Here's a picture of Holston

http://pages.preferred.com/~pesterle/RaceFest.jpg

[ 03-12-2003, 11:07 PM: Message edited by: TomFF ]