Kees Prins's Fetch--a great small cabin boat

[WI-Tom]

So, this past weekend I was at the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, where I met builder/designer Kees Prins. He took me out sailing on my new favorite small cabin boat: Fetch. If you saw the latest issue of Small Craft Advisor, Fetch is on the cover.

The boat is an Iain Oughtred Fulmar dinghy that Kees modified by adding decks, a small cabin, and a mizzen. Here it is:



The cool thing is that the cabin top is very low--so low that you can easily see right over it from the tiller, and it doesn't spoil the looks of this very small (15' or so) boat. Part of that is because Kees raised the cockpit to make it self-bailing, another nice feature.

Here's another view:



The cockpit is small--you wouldn't want more than two people in it--but it's perfect for singlehanding, even for a lazy lugsail enthusiast who doesn't normally like to fuss with the hassles of a jib. We sailed Fetch in light winds, and pretty much kept right up with boats ten feet longer.

Even better, though--the cabin layout is perfect; the seats face aft, and are AMAZINGLY comfortable, with plenty of headroom (and I'm 6'2"). The centerboard case divides the cabin, but it actually makes a really nice armrest/place to set your coffee while you read a book and wait out the bad weather. The seat backs fold down and aft, forming the bottom of the V-berth when they're down. This is a VERY usable cabin in a tiny boat--I've looked at the Meadowbird design for a long time, but this one is better, with a really workable cabin despite its low height. Take a look:




Kees plans to write a series of articles for Small Craft Advisor detailing his modifications. Mr. Oughtred himself is considering working with Kees on possible plans. I suggest a bunch of us write to him to encourage that idea--this is the first really small cruising cabin boat that seems to work for me; the ergonomics of it are just perfect.

Thanks, Kees--I really enjoyed sailing with you, and Fetch is a great boat (as is your Townsend Tern, but that's another story).

Later,

Tom

[skaraborgcraft]

with the offset mizzen and outboard, why has the tiller been chopped off and angle plates and rod been used? Otherwise looks very well proportioned.

[George Ray]

Sweet!

[Dick Wynne]

with the offset mizzen and outboard, why has the tiller been chopped off and angle plates and rod been used? Otherwise looks very well proportioned.

My guess - because the helm position is well forward, and you could sweep only a small angle otherwise.

[skaraborgcraft]

there are rudder stops on the transom,it does not appear to be a problem to use a full length tiller,or a shorter one and an extension. Curious as to why change to a complicated (in comparison) system.

[James McMullen]

Fetch is an amazing little boat all right. And just to show you what a small little world this is, I used to own her myself--sorta. I got her from my friend Ralph Merriman who built her when she was configured as an open daysailer. I used her for afternoon sailing around the bay. When Kees got her from me, he told me it was with the intention of converting her into more of a little micro-cruiser. . .I thought he just meant a cockpit boom tent or something .

Here's the only picture I could find on my drive of Fetch back when she was known as Bree. I think you can see just how much was changed--essentially everything from the sheer up.



She turned out into something pretty special indeed. I first saw her in her new role back at the Master Mariner's Regatta this spring. She was fast and sprightly still, though no longer a planing dinghy. I slept aboard her for three nights at the show, quite contentedly I might add. The cabin is very well thought out and totally comfortable for such a necessarily small space.

I think Kees did a masterpiece of a job. But it is to some degree still all in the nature of an experiment. The reason for the link mechanism from rudder to tiller is to provide clearance for the outboard motor shroud when the tiller is all the way over. Using a longer tiller with a crank in it was something that Kees considered, but the handling advantage and ergonomic convenience of a shorter tiller with the pivot further forward led him to choose the configuration he did. In practice it works very well, and there is no appreciable slop or play in the mechanism at all. Of course, there's no reason why a different sailor with a different degree of comfort in their machining and fabrication skill might not choose a different steering set-up if they wanted. I myself have grown awfully fond of the push-pull style, for example. Details like these are easy to modify to your taste.

[Dick Wynne]

there are rudder stops on the transom,it does not appear to be a problem to use a full length tiller,or a shorter one and an extension. Curious as to why change to a complicated (in comparison) system.

What James says, plus I think even an orang-outan would struggle to achieve that stop angle with a long tiller back to the rudder-head, the grip end would be about 1 foot outboard of the cockpit. But I may have misunderstood your comment.

[David G]

She is, indeed, a beauty. So many boats to see at the show! Since I have a client who might be interested, I spent a considerable time aboard Kees other sweetheart - the Townsend Tern, quizzing the owners, and admiring what a coherent whole she is.

[skaraborgcraft]

Dick, the tiller head may be nearing the coaming when hard over,but isnt that why most tillers have an extension,not just for when hiking out? I think the photos are a little deceptive as i wouldnt have thought the tiller would go as far as you suggest, but i could be wrong about that!
James, that answers the question. It just appeared to me from the photo of the rudder stop that the tiller wouldnt interfere with the powerhead,obviously it does. Push pull tiller would work well.
Still a nice wee boat regardless.

[Dick Wynne]

Dick, the tiller head may be nearing the coaming when hard over,but isnt that why most tillers have an extension,not just for when hiking out? I think the photos are a little deceptive as i wouldnt have thought the tiller would go as far as you suggest, but i could be wrong about that!
James, that answers the question. It just appeared to me from the photo of the rudder stop that the tiller wouldnt interfere with the powerhead,obviously it does. Push pull tiller would work well.
Still a nice wee boat regardless.

Haha yes I did misread you, that's because I just bought a (inline!) extension for my dinghy outboard tiller, and my brain temporarily mislaid its knowledge of the articulated kind (of which I have one or two!).

[John How]

Great looking boat Tom, ya gonna build yourself one?

[WI-Tom]

Great looking boat Tom, ya gonna build yourself one?

Nope. I'm slowly approaching decrepitude, but I'm not close enough to it yet to need a cabin boat. Ask me again in 40 years. And besides, if the horrible truth be told, I've discovered I like SAILING a hell of a lot more than I like BUILDING. And I'm better at it, too.

(Which says more about how unskilled I am as a builder than it does about how skilled I am as a sailor).

Now, if someone wanted to give me a boat like this for my birthday or something... But if so, you're late--my birthday was a couple of days ago.

I think YOU should build it and invite me out sailing on it!

Tom

[WI-Tom]

I'm wondering: is the Dick Wynne on this thread the owner/previous owner of the Albert Strange yawl Constance? That is the PRETTIEST boat of all time. By FAR the prettiest. Very very very cool boat.

Tom

[Dick Wynne]

I'm wondering: is the Dick Wynne on this thread the owner/previous owner of the Albert Strange yawl Constance? That is the PRETTIEST boat of all time. By FAR the prettiest. Very very very cool boat.

Tom

Yes Tom he is and thanks for the compliments, on behalf of Albert Strange & Fabian Bush who built her for me. I had 5 season's fun with her and the story here explains my apparent defection.

Edited to add: I find Fetch breathtakingly gorgeous also, and practical for the impecunious retiree which I will be one day.

[skaraborgcraft]

Dont mean to thread -jack.....i remember reading about Constance build,i thought your name was familiar Dick. Without doubt a masterfull delight to the eye,and well built by Fabian. Curious to know how long her planking remained tight after the hot oil treatment. Cheers

[Dick Wynne]

Dont mean to thread -jack.....i remember reading about Constance build,i thought your name was familiar Dick. Without doubt a masterfull delight to the eye,and well built by Fabian. Curious to know how long her planking remained tight after the hot oil treatment. Cheers

PM-ing you to avoid thread drift

[James McMullen]

Don't you dare avoid thread drift, Dick. We all want to know that answer!

[WI-Tom]

Don't you dare avoid thread drift, Dick. We all want to know that answer!

I'm with McMullen; I want to know more. And it's my thread, so is that really a drift? It's kind of like how I sail; there's a west wind today? I decide I want to go southeast. The guy who owned my favorite boat of all time is on my thread? THAT'S what I want to talk about now, or at least also.

Tom

[Dick Wynne]

I'm with McMullen; I want to know more. And it's my thread, so is that really a drift? It's kind of like how I sail; there's a west wind today? I decide I want to go southeast. The guy who owned my favorite boat of all time is on my thread? THAT'S what I want to talk about now, or at least also.

Tom

Haha, you have a point Tom: Here's how it came about that I parted with Constance - for Charm, you have to admit for the loveliest Strange boat afloat, at least the loveliest more than 25ft 6in long. But CY withdrawal symptoms got me to grab a little David Moss 13-footer to enjoy when the paychecks stop arriving. Moss boats are like hens' teeth secondhand. Both boats (and Constance) were at the recent Strange messabout here.

Edited to answer your original question: She let a drop or two in on relaunching each spring, as I recall, but I don't how this would compare to if we hadn't done the oil thing.

[WI-Tom]

Dick,

thanks for the links; your website is great (strange that I haven't seen it before). Have you been watching the John Welsford Nautilus design? There's a thread about its development here on the forum, and considering what you're sailing now, John's new boat would be just your cup of tea.

Mine, too, for that matter.

Tom

[Dick Wynne]

Dick,

thanks for the links; your website is great (strange that I haven't seen it before). Have you been watching the John Welsford Nautilus design? There's a thread about its development here on the forum, and considering what you're sailing now, John's new boat would be just your cup of tea.

Mine, too, for that matter.

Tom

Funny, I studiously ignored the Nautilus thread as sailing canoes have never really grabbed me (or I thought they didn't) then the other day I had a gander, and at the Howard Rice boat, and was pretty gobsmacked by both of them. So many boats out there, and so little time! The damn day job really gets in the way.

[Robert Meyer]

James reports that the seats are very comfortable for a six footer. From the picture I am guessing they reclined with the front of the seat higher than the back and the back rest slanted when folded up. This seems to allow the cabin top to maintain a reasonable height and still allow comfortable reclined seating? Any idea of the measure of space between the seat front and cabin back leg room?

[WI-Tom]

I sat in Fetch's seats, and they were VERY comfortable for me (I'm 6'2")--the best part of the design, I think. You're right that the back of the seat is lower than the front edge, and the angle of the backrest (6 degrees off vertical, I think) is just perfect.

As for legroom, there was plenty for me to stretch out in. That photo doesn't show the space aft of the seats, but that's not because there is no space. If I remember right, you can stretch your legs out into the space below the cockpit where a bigger boat would have quarter berths. I'm not positive I remember that right, but I do know that I was amazed at how uncramped I felt in such a tiny space.

Tom

[kees prins]

Hi guys,

Thanks for all the nice words about my Fetch. I just heard about this thread, so let me explain a few things that you guys were questioning.

- Fetch is 17' on deck by the way, 6' wide and about 10" deep with the board up.

- Initially I wasn't planning to make that tiller linkage, but it became a necessity after I had installed the outboard the way I did. A tiller straight to the rudder would only turn about 27 degrees to port before it would hit the motor, which didn't seem enough. With the linkage I have plenty rudder swing both ways. I was reluctant to go to that complication, but I had installed something similar on Sparrow ( a Surfdory and adaptation of the Tropic Bird) so I wasn't too intimidated. One can get those ball joints online and a bronze rod is easily threaded. The side arms I made of stainless angle and are welded buy a guy in town here. All in all a lot of fun to put together and I figured, hell we all go down the highway at 50 m/h with those things in our cars so why not put it in my boat going 6 knots?

- The tiller can also be hinged upward for standing up or to get it out of the way at anchor. The rope traveller for the main goes right over that hinge and there fore is never in the way of raising the tiller.

- I friend of mine put it this way: one can opt for a solution that's easy to install but a bear to operate or one can do the reverse. I like the latter solution in this case because it makes steering from now on a breeze. Not only is there no play in the assembly, but also it gives me a nice short tiller that is very responsive while sailing. With a joystick it can sit where I want and only small movements are enough. I put the cockpit so far foreward to avoid squatting.
I wanted the outboard just there in a cut-out so it wouldn't stick up high above the transom while raised and lowered it sits right behind the transom in solid water and never pops out. A standard outboard bracket would put it higher and further aft. Now I can easily reach the motor controls. Carrying the motor recess over to starboard created a good place for the fuel tank in the outdoors.

- I choose a slightly overpowered motor (4hp-4 stroke) for the boat so I wouldn't have to rev it so high and still make hull speed. This proved to work out great. During a recent trip with three boats around Whitbey Island (120 ml) I used half of what a 5hp-2 stroke used and the same as a 2hp-4 stroke Honda, but with a lot more umpf against chop or wind.

- The rudder stop is there to avoid the push rod slamming into the sides of the transom aperture. This would bend the rod and make life awkward. The stainless arm acts as a stop going the other way. There is also a little stop preventing the rudder to float upward and mess with the rod that way.

- The back rest of the seats angle about 20 degrees and is like sitting in a sports car, very relaxing, great for a conversation. The back rests plop down to make the ends of the berths, like Tom said. There is about 20" x 20" cabin sole boards aft of the seats, which provides leg room while seated. Really long legs can be parked in the storage space under the cockpit seats. This sole is also where you stand in the hatch opening.

- I debated between quarter berths and a V-berth. I tried sleeping in a Compac 16 which is very tight around the hips, so I chose a v-berth which gives me a ton of storage under the cockpit seats. Two big tubs fit under each side holding cooking gear, food, clothing and even a porta potty. I didn't want cockpit seat lockers for safety and simplicity reasons. I kept the cockpit seats at deck level rather than recessed down for more buoyancy, more storage under, but at the cost of a little more comfort in the cockpit. There is also a big lazerette under the aft deck with a deck hatch.

- During the design phase I figured the boat would probably be capsized one day and my hope is that barely any water will make it into the boat. I anticipate the companion way hatch will be above water while on its side. I should do a capsize test really...one day.

- The boat is pretty quick (6 knots easily) and I can't tell that this conversion affected her sailing much at all, but I feel a lot saver not having that big open hull to sit in. I capsized a similar size open boat once and after air leaked out of the chambers (bulkhead hatches) the boat became unmanageable (and the water was very cold..). Deck hatches are safer in my opinion, so you keep air in the tanks while swamped. Add a closed centerboard trunk to that and you're in good shape.

- I added 200 lbs of ballast inside to keep her more upright and calmer in gusts. One day I might bolt that to the bottom of the keel.

I hope this explains a few things, Kees

[WI-Tom]

Kees,

thanks for chiming in. I guess I was way off on the angle of the seat backs, but they sure are comfy so you got it right, for me at least.

Also, I really agree with you on how nice the tiller operation is; very light, smooth, no play at all. Maybe more complicated to build, but it really works well.

Tom

[Clarkey]

Those do look very comfy for lolling about at anchor. Could I ask how much headroom there is over the seat bases?

[skaraborgcraft]

Kees, thanks for the informative post. I thought i read somewhere a foil stalls at something less than 20 degrees, which is why i was wondering about the tiller set up........anyway,if it works how you want it to thats the main thing. Is that a short or longshaft motor?Cheers

[sailoar]

Kees, when you built Alba the half-decked Ness Yawl (which Oughtred later owned as Albannach), did you happen to draw up a plan, or just do it by eye? I'm planning an Arctic Tern, and it seems like a smart modification for the Bay down here.

Thanks!

[kees prins]

Clarkey; there is about 37" above the seat base I believe. By sitting more inclined like in those seats there is a few inches to spare above ones head.
Skaraborgcraft; under way one may not need much rudder angle but in close quarters one occasionally wants a quick turn. It's a short shaft motor, a long shaft may not have needed that cutout and/or rudder linkage, I don't know. It would have been higher up though.
Sailoar; I made up some simple plans for that modification. I may still have some sketches, if you need them. The mods may be smart, but I never really liked the looks of it that much. It took away from the workboat look and became a bit more yachty.

greetings, Kees