Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Interesting Boats: Great Sailboats!


This is the Seaward 25. It's a shoal draft sailboat (25") that is both easy to trailer and comfortable to cruise. It has 5'9" of headroom below. Built by Hake yachts of Florida as a shallow water gunkholer, the boat has a very substantial following and a great fan base. Reportedly, at one time, Hake Yachts was putting out one a week. Although not billed as a bluewater pocket boat, you can still find testimonials from people on the net who say they have witnessed some nasty wind and weather.


The old classic bluewater pocket cruiser is the Flicka, designed by Bruce Bingham and based on a Rhode Island fishing boat. These were eventually semi-produiction built by Pacific Seacraft starting in 1977. The Flicka is unquestionably the smallest, most able sailing yacht out there. Many people put their Flicka's on trailers but with the full keel (3'3") and a total of 5' or more in trailer and boat depth to overcome, launching and recovering the boat from a ramp is a bit tricky. You need a heck of a good ramp with a decent drop off and a lot of winch cable, unless you drive an Army DUKW or LARC.

This is my favorite configuration of the Freedom 40. She's 46' OAL and has the low waist of Viking Knorr. Her stay-less rig is worry free and accommodations below make her an excellent long distance traveler. I love the sheer, the raised quarter deck and center cockpit. This is Black Magic II in Australia.

~seabgb

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