Pacific Seacraft 61: Catari • People who build boats—particularly those who create custom boats for special clients—are in the business of making dreams come true. It’s not always easy, but put together a collaborative client who knows what he wants, a famous designer who has the skill and imagination to bring the vision to life, and a builder with the skills and integrity to turn the drawings and specs into reality, and you have something very special.

That’s just what has been happening over the past two years, as yacht designer Bob Perry has worked with a special client in Annapolis, MD. The client was already working with Steve Brodie, owner and president of Pacific Seacraft Yachts in Washington, NC, and their mutual goal was to come up with a suitable cruising boat for a family to roam the planet’s oceans. The result, as shown here, is a truly handsome 61-foot ketch that is long and lean and appears to be itching for blue water. Catari has a traditional flair with a springy sheer, ketch rig, counter stern and raked transom. On deck, the design has been given two cockpits—one for handling the ship and one for relaxing and light sheet handling. The aft cockpit has a rigid dodger that will protect the crew in sour weather.

Under the water, Catari has a fairly high-aspect spade rudder and modern cruising fin keel with the ballast positioned quite low to enhance stability. Although it is hard to see from the drawings, the hull appears to have a sweet shape that will reduce—if not eliminate—pounding when sailing to windward.

Below decks, the custom cabin layout is very much the client’s choice. In the instance of Catari, there are two entrances below decks—one into the aft cabin from the aft cockpit and one into the saloon from the center cockpit. The master cabin aft is spacious with a big double berth, a sea berth, and a huge head and shower.

Perry is a good cook and has drawn many excellent galleys for his discerning customers over the years. His client for Catari is also a foodie, so the galley looks like a masterpiece. In fact, Mario Batali will probably want to start sailing if he happens to catch a glimpse of Catari’s kitchen.

Pacific Seacraft is building the hull mold this summer and will start work on Catari in the fall. The idea is to make the 61’s hull and deck the key elements of future semi-custom yachts for owners who want to create an interior and sailing rig that fits their own sailing dreams.

Making magic. Fulfilling dreams. Not a bad way to spend a day—or two years. For more on Bob Perry, visit www.perryboat.com. For the scoop on Pacific Seacraft, visit www.pacificseacraft.com.

DESIGNER’S COMMENTS: ROBERT H. PERRY
This design project started life as a 49-foot “simple” cruising boat for an Annapolis couple. But there was no hurry, so the client and I took our time and indulged ourselves by exploring a myriad of approaches. In time, our simple 49-footer became a fairly complex 61-foot ketch with design solutions to satisfy all of the client’s potential cruising needs. It’s been a long process, but one I have enjoyed every step of the way. The client is happy and I am happy.

But I can’t take all the credit. Over time, the client and I assembled a team to work on the project. There is, of course, Pacific Seacraft owner Steve Brodie, and Steve’s foreman, Thumper Brooks. A buddy of mine, world-class sailor Tim O’Connell, came on board to help with the deck layout and sailing systems. All of the conceptual 3D rendering work was done by my pal Rick Beddoe. Engineering is being done by Ivan Erdevicki, a long-time associate of mine who works in Montenegro. Final 3D renderings are being done by Jody Culbert, who has the daunting job of translating my 2D scratches into extremely accurate and very beautiful 3D models in preparation for CNC tooling.

The most unique feature of this big, fast ketch is the dual cockpit configuration. We tossed around ideas about where the cockpit should be, but couldn’t decide whether to have an aft or center cockpit. Each has distinct advantages, so we went with both. The handling of the boat will be from the aft cockpit, while the center cockpit will be for lounging and al fresco dining. Some halyards and controls are led to the center cockpit to minimize the pile of lines aft. PSC has done extensive, beautiful, full-size mock ups of both cockpits to verify that the details and contours all work.

The interior revolves around the big galley, as my client is a great cook. The workshop adjacent to the engine room has been designed to double as a nursery should a small child be aboard. I have given a lot of attention to every available cubic inch of interior volume in keeping with the client’s demanding requirements.

Because we have a traditionally raked transom and counter stern, a swim step aft was out of the question. Instead, I have gone with a transom door that hinges down to provide a boarding platform.

The ketch rig was the owner’s preference. Why? Because he likes ketches. The ketch rig offers unique advantages for a large cruising boat and suits the classic hull proportions of this design. I have configured the rig so that the mizzen will be a true driving sail and not just an ornament or a place to mount the radar.

I like to think I am my own worst critic. It often takes me a while to warm up to my newest design. But at this stage, I know Catari very well and I really like it.

Last fall, while attending the annual Pacific Seacraft open house at the builder’s new facility in Washington, N.C., I had the opportunity to sail a Pacific Seacraft 40 on the Pamlico River for a few hours one afternoon. Although I have been writing boat reviews for national magazines for 30 years and was friends with the guys who started Pacific Seacraft in 1979, I have to admit that I had never sailed the PS 40, nor written a review of it.

That had to be fixed, particularly because Pacific Seacraft—after a tumultuous few years—was purchased in 2007 by Steve Brodie and his family and moved across the country from California to North Carolina. The new company, which still employs many long-serving PS boat builders who relocated along with the molds, is a completely new and highly respectable operation.

The opportunity to sail the 40 also came during the same season as the passing of Bill Crealock, who designed the boat and was the conscience and inspiration for the whole larger range of Pacific Seacrafts. Crealock was a voyaging man as well as a yacht designer, so he brought to the design process a vast knowledge of the sea and a personal appreciation of how couples and shorthanded crews thrive aboard modest-sized cruising boats on big oceans. His book Vagabonding Under Sail is still a good cruising yarn after all these years.

An in-depth review of his classic 40-footer would be a good way for us to tip our hats as we say so long.

ON THE BREEZE

We tested a well-equipped, well-cruised 40 that belongs to Bill Kund. He is the second owner and was fortunate to buy the boat from a skipper who “did it right” when fitting out for cruising. Bill has kept the boat in true Bristol fashion and recently had the crew at Pacific Seacraft refurbish the varnish and gelcoats. Plus, he had Ullman Sails build him a new suit of cruising sails.

It had been raining all morning—sometimes in sheets—but by the time we broke free to go sailing, the rain had stopped and the wind had filled in nicely. Washington lies on the north side of the Pamlico. It is known as the last deep-water port along the river, and as such, has a storied history that goes back to the 18th century.

We extracted the 40 from its slip without fuss, made a quick K-turn and motored down the channel until we could find deep enough water to round into the wind. Under power, the boat handles surely, with the folding, three-bladed Max Prop biting nicely and stopping the hull in reverse quickly.

The main is equipped with a stack-pack style pouch and lazy jacks, so you have to be truly head-to-wind to hoist it up between the jacks. Once we had it up all the way, Bill tightened the Cunningham to trim the luff and we fell off to power reach down river. The rolled-out, 125-percent genoa added to the horsepower.

In 17 to 22 knots true wind speed, the 40 put her shoulder down as she accelerated past 8 knots. The wind puffed in gusts over the riverside pine trees, so we had to keep an eye on trim and the position of the traveler, but we never had to sweat the helm. As the breeze gusted, we’d ease the traveler a few inches until the helm was light. Then, in the lulls, we cranked the traveler back to the centerline to power her up again. It was good to see that the boat was equipped with both a Cunningham and an easily adjustable traveler—both useful sail trim aids. Bill’s boat does not have a hydraulic backstay adjuster, which might be a good upgrade to help with both headsail and mainsail trim.

Once we sailed into the widest section of the river, we could harden up to see how the 40 handled close to the wind. The 40 is a fairly narrow boat, so even with the upper shrouds anchored on chainplates that are all the way outboard, the genoa sheeting angle was fine. We found that we could sail quite happily at 45 degrees off the true wind and could pinch her up with a slight decrease in speed to something close to 42 degrees. The boat tacks easily inside 90 degrees in a good breeze and flat water, but is happier at slightly wider angles in stiff chop or a running seaway.

Off the wind, we tried broad reaching to good effect and found that she went best at about 160 degrees off the true wind. Running dead downwind, she did not lose too much speed and settled down nicely when trimmed wing-and-wing. For days and weeks of trade wind running, the 40 will be both fast and comfortable.

THE DESIGN

The 40 was conceived, designed and built as a world cruising boat for a couple, a small family, or a shorthanded crew. The functional requirements for such a cruising formula dictate the form that the boat takes. For Crealock, that meant an easily driven, fairly narrow hull with plenty of stability and the ability to track surely in large following seas.

The canoe stern and the configuration of the cruising fin keel and skeg-hung rudder combine to give the boat great directional stability; however, the canoe stern also limits hull volume aft, which reduces the size of the cockpit and the space below decks that can be allocated to the aft cabin and storage. As in all compromises built into the 40, Crealock erred on the side of seamanship, safety and security. His fundamental belief was that you should return from an ocean passage better rested than when you left.

The design’s non-dimensional numbers say a lot about its characteristics. The sail area-to-displacement ratio of 16.27 is a full point higher than that of a Valiant 40 and indicates that the 40 has the sail horsepower to be efficient in light breezes. With a cutter rig, the sail area can be increased or reduced quickly from the cockpit.

The 40’s displacement-to-length ratio of 329 is high by modern standards; but that ratio is a bit misleading since it is based on the static waterline length and not the sailing waterline. The 40 has fairly long overhangs fore and aft and a short waterline when at rest that becomes longer wetted surfaces when the boat heels under a press of sail.

The 40’s beam is 12 feet, six inches. This is fairly narrow amongst the modern cruising fleet, where 40-footers often have beams of 14 feet and length-to-beam ratios of three or more. The L/B ratio of the 40 is 2.5, which indicates a lean, easily-driven hull that won’t get cranky in rolling and confused seas and will be efficient in light breezes. A narrow hull will obviously have less volume for accommodations—another Crealock compromise tilted in the offshore sailor’s favor.

THE DECK LAYOUT

As a seagoing boat, the 40 has few peers in the modern cruising fleet when it comes to practical safety considerations. The cockpit is fairly small and will never be a problem should it become filled with water in rough seas. The winches in the cockpit are positioned so that trimming sheets is not at all awkward and you can always get plenty of purchase on the winch handles. With the dodger in place, you are well protected from spray or rain and have a secure place for trimming sheets, reefing and keeping watch.

The 40 has low bulwarks around the decks, upon which are mounted higher-than-usual lifelines. The bow and stern pulpits are heavy gauge stainless steel and feel very solid and secure.

The foredeck works well at sea since there is always something to hold on to; the staysail, whether rolled or flying, gives you a great anchor for a free hand. The 40 has good handholds everywhere you turn, so while working on deck you are always able to keep “one hand for the ship and one for yourself.”

Bill’s 40 is equipped with a large, horizontal-access Lighthouse windlass, which is spec’d by Pacific Seacraft for the boat. With two gypsies and wildcats, the windlass makes handling the two main anchors simple and quick. For off the beaten track cruising, this windlass and two good anchors permanently mounted on the side-by-side rollers will make your life at anchor extremely secure.

LIVING ABOARD

The 40’s accommodation plan works well for a couple with occasional guests or a family with one or two children. The focus of the saloon is the large, G-shaped galley equipped with twin, centerline sinks (so they drain on both tacks), a Force 10 stove/oven and a large fridge/freezer powered by a Sea Frost refrigeration system.

Opposite the galley, the chart table faces forward and has a large surface for spreading out charts. Instruments and radios can be mounted outboard and in a small cabinet facing forward. There is plenty of room for charts, cruising guides, pilot books and all of the paraphernalia needed for world cruising. Both the galley and the chart table are fitted with high fiddles that keep tools in place.

The dinette seats six and the table can be folded down to form a double berth for extra company. The settee to port doubles as an amidships sea berth. There is plenty of storage throughout the saloon for dry stores and supplies.

The master cabin forward can have either a large V-berth or a centerline queen. The cabin has a small vanity with a sink and mirror. There is ample storage throughout this cabin, so you can bring a lot of souvenirs aboard when cruising.

The after cabin could be tight for two American-size people, but is comfortable as a large single and will be a great sea berth. Again, there is plenty of storage for guests visiting for a week or two.

The head is well designed and laid out, with the toilet mounted facing forward, the sink and vanity outboard, and the separate shower stall forward. The self-draining wet locker is behind the toilet.

The fit and finish of the new 40 is as good as that on any semi-production boat built in America, or anywhere else for that matter. The craftsmen who joined the Brodies when the company moved east brought with them a generation of fine boat building skills that are evident in every joint, drawer and door. The varnish work is impeccable and the choice of latches, lighting fixtures and furniture hardware top class.

BWS THOUGHTS

The rebirth of the Pacific Seacraft company under the guidance of Steve Brodie and the craftsmen who joined him means that a great American brand is back in business. A generation ago, Fortune magazine named Pacific Seacraft one of the “20 Best Companies in America.” Today, the boats are built once again with the hands-on care and semi-custom attention to an owner’s wishes that is hard to find in North America these days. The finished 40 and other boats in the line have an enduring value that can honestly be passed from one generation of sailors to the next.

The 40 we sailed, and the 40s that Pacific Seacraft are now building, are true blue-water boats. They look salty. They sail well. They are tough and seakindly. And, they will take you wherever you dream of sailing.

Bill Kund. above, and his PS 40 have cruised the length

of the East Coast and explored the Bahamas.

If you are looking for a trendy boat that puts accommodation ahead of seakindliness, you will want to look elsewhere. Pacific Seacrafts are not for every sailor, but if you and your partner want to sail far and wide in a beautiful, traditional, couple’s cruising boat that will always look after your hide, the Pacific Seacraft 40 should be right at the top of your list.

BWS takes a look at the fleet of cruising monohulls drawing less than five feet

Pacific Seacraft 37

Blue water tends to be deep water and that is what lies between the land masses we live on and the islands or continents we want to visit. But, at home and in the new landfalls that make the cruising life so wonderful, the water often gets very thin. So the compromise all cruisers have to face is whether to sail with a deep draft and avoid thin water cruising or sail with a shallow draft and live with the slightly poorer windward sailing ability of shoal draft designs.

Many of America’s best cruising grounds have fairly thin water running through them. In the Northeast, the popular sailing regions around Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are all shallow and riddled with sand banks. Many of the boats designed for the region, and Long Island Sound as well, have always been centerboarders, whether they were drawn by Herreshoff, Ted Hood or Olin Stephens.

And shallow cruising waters extend right down the U.S. East Coast through Delaware and Chesapeake Bays, through the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds and all the length of the Intracoastal Waterway right to the Florida Keys.

The Gulf Coast from Key West all the way to Corpus Christi, Texas, is sandy and shallow with narrow harbor entrances and extensive sandy shoals. Once you get to the West Coast, deep water runs right up to the coast in most areas. But head deep into San Francisco Bay or up the Sacramento River delta and the water thins out rapidly.

Once we leave North America it doesn’t necessarily get any deeper. The Bahamas are notoriously shallow, and if you want to get off the beaten track amongst the islands you need a true shoal draft cruiser. The water throughout the Caribbean is generally deep but there are lots of great anchorages around islands like Anguilla, Anegada and Barbuda where a shallow draft boat will get you close to the beach and out of the wind or swell.

In Europe, most of the coastal waters are deep with the exception of Holland and Germany. In the Med, you will find mostly deep water but again there are hundreds of great anchorages throughout the sea where less draft will really be to your benefit. And, if you want to use the European canal systems to cruise from the North Sea to the Med, shallow draft is a must.

Variations on the Theme

Designing a boat that combines shoal draft with reasonable or even good sailing performance is one of the challenges that yacht designers have been wrestling with for hundreds of years.

There are seven basic solutions to the shoal draft compromise and of these each offers different sailing characteristics. Multihulls are all shoal draft cruisers; some have small keels and some have daggerboards. But all of them draw less than five feet.

Bilge keelers are all shoal-draft boats with less than five feet of draft. But, none are available from builders in the United States, and the design style, once very popular in England and tidal regions of France, Holland and the North Sea have gone somewhat out of favor. That leaves us with five modern styles to consider.

Full shoal-draft keels

The classic shoal draft keel design was the full-length keel with a cutaway forefoot and an attached rudder. The long keel was easy to build in a wood plank-and-frame method, was strong, could withstand a grounding safely and could be dried out on its own bottom for painting or repairs. Although not the best for close winded sailing, the full keel design excels at reaching and running by offering an easy motion and good directional stability.

Today, Island Packet and Pacific Seacraft lead the fleet of full keel boat builders with very successful and capable ranges of boats.

Island Packet Estero

Island Packets are designed by founder Bob Johnson who spent 30 years perfecting what is now called the Full Foil Keel design. The full-length keel distributes the internal ballast in a full-length, foil-shaped keel that adds stability, directional stability, and improves the keel’s lift when sailing to windward. It is worth noting that all of Island Packet’s current models have less than five feet of draft, including the new 460, which is 46 feet overall. If there is one builder in North America who has fully embraced the virtues of shoal draft sailing it is Island Packet.

Pacific Seacraft designs have wine-glass sections that lower the boat’s center of gravity and make them stiff and weatherly. The 31, 34 and 37 all draw less than five feet. The full keel designs are traditional by modern standards yet have proven to be forgiving and capable at sea. Because the hull and keel are all one piece, Pacific Seacraft hulls have enormous integral strength so if the hull lands hard on an immovable object, like a rock ledge or coral reef, the keel will distribute the loads throughout the hull. World cruisers have long believed that shoal draft full keel designs like the Pacific Seacrafts and Island Packets are most suitable for any and all conditions.

Fixed Wing keels

Modern shoal draft fin keels began to evolve in the 1980s, particularly after Australia won the America’s Cup in 1983 with a revolutionary wing-keel design. Most if not all production builders of cruising boats offer shoal draft versions of their models with modern cruising fins with either wings or bulbs.

The principle is to gain the most lift possible with a NACA foil shaped keel that has as much weight concentrated in the wings or bulb as possible to lower the center of gravity. The wings or bulbs also provide an end-plate effect, which channels water flow evenly across the keel instead of allowing it to fall off at the bottom as it does on a standard fin keel.

In the early days of wing keels, builders worried that the wings might act as suction cups when the boats were run hard aground on mud banks. A lot of grounding tests were run with these early designs with positive results.

Catalina 37S

Catalina has made a significant commitment to shoal-draft, fin-keel designs and has five models over 35 feet that draw less than five feet. The keels that designer Gerry Douglas works with have swept back shapes with elliptical trailing edges and large aft fins. This shape provides a large amount of foil surface for lift and a low center of gravity. Catalina uses all-lead keels, so the density of the material enhances the designs’ innate stability.

Both Beneteau and Hunter have cruising designs between 33 and 37 feet that have drafts less than five feet. Beneteau uses a bulb designed with an aft swept foil keel. The bulb trails aft of the keel where it won’t collect seaweed or crab pot lines and where it will place the bulk of the casting’s weight directly below the boat’s center of gravity. The shoal-draft version of the new Beneteau 37 draws only four feet, seven inches but is still able to fly plenty of sail and has been noted as a fast, close winded cruiser.

Hunter 36

Hunter has developed its own brand of wing keel design for their shoal draft models that combines the efficiencies of NACA foils with the low center of gravity and end-plate effect of a wing keel. The Hunter 36 draws four feet, 11 inches while the smaller Hunter 33 draws only four feet, six inches. The Hunters come standard with roller furling mainsails and jibs, which are easy on the crew. The keel shapes and the depth of the centers of gravity both aid the boats upwind and provide an easy stable ride.

Sabre Yachts in Maine offers wing keels as an option to the deep performance keels they provide as standard equipment. The Sabre 386 has a shoal draft of only four feet, 10 inches. Designed by Jim Taylor, the shoal keels are advanced cruising fins with hydrodynamic wings that add stability and lift. Sabre builds classic high quality cruiser-racers that have proven to be both winners on the race course and excellent cruising boats. With the shoal draft option, the 386 can take her crew anywhere.

ComPac 35

ComPac Yachts in Florida has been building shoal draft small cruisers for years. Not long ago the builders introduced the new ComPac 35, which was designed as a couple’s cruiser with a shoal draft Scheel keel that is both offshore ready but capable of cruising thin water, too. The Scheel keel has a swept back bulb that lowers the center of gravity and creates minimum drag as water flows over the foil. Built on the west coast of Florida where cruising depths are often under five feet, the ComPac 35 is right in its element.

Hanse 350

Hanse from Germany has two boats in their cruising line that draw under five feet, the 320 and 350, and true to the company’s mission the keel design and configuration are tilted toward modern shapes and performance characteristics. The shoal keels are modified cruising fins with fairly deep chords and aft sweeping ballast bulbs. This design allows Hanse to enhance ballast-to-displacement ratios and performance upwind.

The fixed shoal keel solution to the designer’s problem of draft version performance is the simplest and least expensive to build. And, in the long run should require the least maintenance.

Keel-Centerboard Designs

When you think of classic New England builders, most of us think of names like Hinckley, Morris, Sabre, Tartan (actually Midwest), Bristol and Little Harbor. Because these builders and the designers behind them were creating boats for sailors who cruised and raced in New England in the summer and then headed south to Florida, the Bahamas, Bermuda and Caribbean in the winter, the boats had to have shallow drafts but they also had to perform well upwind and they had to be offshore capable.

Tartan 4100

Certainly over the years there have been issues with centerboards. They can bang annoyingly as the boat rolls. They can be lodged either up or down. And, they can actually fall out of the boat if a pin fails. But, these days, the problems once associated with centerboards have largely been subdued with innovative technology.

The only production builder offering modern keel-centerboard designs in 2009 is Tartan Yachts, which has three models, the 3400, 3700 and 4100, all of which draw less than five feet with their boards up. Tim Jackett designs the Tartans and has created a line of cruisers that carries on the classic Tartan traditions of quality, performance and comfort.

There are other keel-centerboard designs out there that can be had on a custom or semi-custom basis from builders like Shannon Yachts in Rhode Island.

Swing Keels

The option to add ballast to the centerboard gives a designer and builder the chance to create a truly shoal draft boat that will also sail upwind with the alacrity of a modern fin keeler.

In essence the swing keel is a cast foil keel that hinges inside the hull. When retracted the trailing edge of the keel fits into a slot in the bottom of the hull and the leading edge is parallel with the bottom of the boat. In the retracted position, and with the rudder(s) kicked up, a design of this type will sit nicely when dried out.

With the keel down, the foil is in place to provide lift as you sail to windward and the ballast in the keel is low where it adds stability.

The only production builder who offers cruising boats over 35 feet with swing keels is Southerly in England. The southerly line ranges from 35 to 57 feet and with the keels retracted all of the boats draw less than three feet—even the new Southerly 57RS (raised saloon).

Southerly 38

Southerly has been building swing keel boats for 20 years and has perfected the science of deploying and swinging heavy moveable ballast that is also a sailing foil.

Retracting keels

Retracting keels have become popular on mega yachts that need the depth of a deep keel for performance but need shallow drafts to enter normal ports. And, we have seen occasional custom cruisers equipped with retracting keels, since the principal is so attractive.

A retracting keel does just as you would imagine, it retracts into the boat when you want to sail in shoal-draft mode and is then lowered when you want the lift and stability of a full fin keel in deep water.

Because the keel is a ballast keel, the unit is heavy and requires a mechanism to raise and lower it in a controlled way. Muscle power can work on boats of up to 40 feet or so, but above that a powered winch is required, all of which adds complexity to the boat.

Hake 35

The only production builder in North America to offer a cruising boat with a retracting keel is Hake Yachts in Florida. The Hake 32 RK is a compact but capable cruising boat that can sail or power in as little as 20 inches of water but, with the keel lowered will draw a healthy six feet, six inches.

The 32RK was designed specifically for Southern Florida and Bahamian waters and has proven to be an excellent cruising solution that will work just about anywhere the water is thin.

Thin water cruising can be the most fun way to explore new islands and cruising grounds. So, if you have plans to venture over the horizon be sure to check the depths in the places you want to visit before you decide on the right boat to sail there.

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The economics of boatbuilding favor the construction of large boats. A 45-foot boat takes up practically the same amount of room on the shop floor as a 31-foot boat, but the return on the bigger boat is, well, bigger. That goes part of the way to explain why Pacific Seacraft has, over the years, shifted its production emphasis to larger boats.
It is typical of good companies that they listen to their customers, however, especially when they are a small business and deal with their customers almost like friends rather than cash-and-carry customers at, say, a big-box retail establishment. With their larger boats selling well, the folks at Pacific Seacraft were still getting calls from people asking for smaller boats, yet with the same seakeeping qualities and solid construction that typifies their larger boats.

After three years of these calls, Pacific Seacraft decided the market existed to justify bringing out of retirement one of their most popular smaller boats, the 31-foot cutter that was already in the hands of 79 very satisfied sailors. Hull number 17 is now in the water, and there are still calls coming in, so there is hope for sailors looking for a manageable, well-built oceangoing sailboat.

We spent a day on Burt Jacoby’s 31 Simply Messing, sailing on Long Island Sound in a breeze that never gave us the need to reef, but as the boat is Burt’s home, we didn’t feel right about asking him to head for open water and stay there for a few days until we got a hatful of wind. Jacoby has owned a Bermuda 40, which he fol-lowed with a Sakonnet 23, but he thinks he has arrived at “the right boat” for his needs. Simpler and easier to maintain than the B-40 but vastly more of a liveaboard than the Sakonnet, his 31 is set up for shorthanded, comfortable cruising, with additional battery power and a full package of electrical entertainment and navigation devices, from a DVD/TV to a 12-volt holding-plate fridge and a Raymarine chartplotter, radar and autopilot. He reckons his daily electrical budget to be 50 to 75 amp/hours. With two, Group 27-size AGM batteries for “house,” he has a total capacity of 192 amp/hours, thus keeping his daily draw to less than 50 percent of capacity. So far, the batteries have cycled some 300 times and show no signs of aging.

CLEVER SOLUTION
He also optioned the cruising package, which allows for all lines to be lead aft: “It’s helpful in reefing,” says Jacoby. One of the notable aspects of the reefing arrangement is a block on the luff to ease the task of reducing sail. With the reefing lines led through a series of blocks and fairleads, any reduction in friction and effort is welcome, and the solution is cleverly thought out.
The autopilot is a Raymarine 4000 wheel-driven unit that he rinses with freshwater “daily.” This maintenance regimen has, so far, eliminated any problems with the unit being exposed to the elements. He thought carefully about purchasing a belowdecks, quadrant-drive unit, but that would have required building in a small compartment that would have intruded on the quarter berth. Space is at a premium on any boat, especially one 31 feet long, and space management often has the deciding vote on gear selection.

A walk the length of the deck reveals space management immediately. There is room to walk, or crawl on your knees, without negotiating shrouds or sail tracks. We agree that inboard headsail tracks can improve a boat’s pointing, but this is not a boat designed to pick up silver on Wednesday night. The track for the staysail is on the coachroof, and the track for the head-sail is atop the wonderfully secure-feeling, four-inch high toerail. The 30-inch stanchions are attached to the toerail, adding to their strength and eliminating any holes in the deck for the stanchions. The scuppers were adequate but were complemented with drains that exited below the gunwale, an unnecessary bit of plumbing, in our opinion.

Designer William Crealock spent a number of his formative years sailing the Pacific (chronicled in his book Cloud of Islands), and his designs reflect having learned what works and what merely looks nice at boat shows. Unlike most of his other designs for Pacific Seacraft, the 31 is not a double-ender; it is just too small a boat to give away the last three feet aft. The reverse-transom stern is the right solution for a boat of this size. Some 31s, especially the early models, came with tiller steering, which would make life easier in the cockpit while at anchor, but there is no faulting the Edson rack-and-pinion steering. It is quick—one spoke less than two turns lock-to-lock—and devoid of free play. When, after thousands of sea miles, the central teeth develop a little play, you can move the pinion two teeth over on the rack and it will feel like a new steering system.

Any lingering doubts as to the purpose of this boat are dispelled with a survey of the anchoring arrangement. Two hefty bow rollers are forward, each with a chainlocker and sharing a Lofrans Kobra windlass. Aft there is another sturdy chain roller bolted to the transom with its own hawsepipe and chainlocker. The seven-foot cockpit seats are long enough to sleep on, and the traveler is recessed into the bridgedeck. The emergency tiller fitting is between the steering pedestal and the transom, and, just as with nearly every boat, the emergency tiller would have to be placed athwartships to clear the pedestal. Without any cables, blocks or cable clamps to fail, it is hard to imagine ever needing the emergency tiller. Jacoby also installed some additional winches, four Harken 16STs on the coachroof and one on the mast complement the 40ST headsail winches mounted on the coaming.

SENSIBLE LAYOUT
Step below and the small galley is to port, facing the nav station to starboard. The chart table doubles as the refrigerator hatch, and charts can be stowed in a clever tip-out drawer sized perfectly for chartbooks. It is a stand-up chart table, and our experience with this arrangement on a previous boat we owned made us a convert. When space is at a premium a stand-up chart table is the right solution.

The galley has a deep double sink and a two-burner gimbaled Force 10 propane stove. The sinks are as far amidships as possible with tailored dish racks along the hull, and we are pleased to see square sinks. After fully exploring, on other boats, the comic possibilities of round sinks and round dishes, square galley sinks are another item on our sensible list.

Two straight settees occupy the saloon, perfect sea berths, and seven feet long. You have to sleep with your head aft, as nearly two feet of that length tucks under the V-berth. It makes for a good place to store a pillow and a sleeping bag.

The saloon table slides out from under the V-berth and latches to the compression post, another clever solution to the problems inherent in a boat just slightly more than 24 feet on the waterline. Handholds are properly done, with two sturdy teak rails running the length of the deckhead and with headroom of just over six feet, they are within reach of nearly anyone.

Under power, the 27-horsepower Yanmar produced 4.5 knots at 2,000 rpm and 5.2 knots at 2,500 rpm. Flat-out the little engine roared along at 3,500 rpm, pro-ducing 6.2 knots. With the stern wave perched at the transom water came into the cockpit through the drains, but the reality is that you wouldn’t push the boat that hard under power for any length of time.

The fixed-blade prop (we had the optional three-blade version) has a lot of bite. A crash stop from nearly hull speed took slightly more than 1.5 boat lengths. With the engine at 2,500 rpm we made 2.5 knots astern, with slight “walk” to port.

The long keel and skeg-hung rudder contribute to the boat’s ability to track, and we wondered how maneuverable the boat would be under power. The answer is “very.” At 5.2 knots, the tactical diameter to port was 1.5 boat lengths and to starboard slightly less. The turning circle was slightly less.

We set the high-cut 100 percent headsail, the stay-sail and main to take advantage of the Force 3 conditions. With wind of 8.2 knots true at 40 degrees apparent, the GPS gave us 4.2 knots SOG, dropping to 3.8 knots when we tightened up to 35 degrees. At 7.8 knots of true wind at 60 degrees apparent we made 4.6 knot SOG. We fell off to put the wind at 120 degrees, 6.5 knots true wind, and made 3.1 knots SOG.

ABSOLUTELY STABLE
Heaving-to is an operation that should work very well with the 31’s keel. Our boat had the optional shoal-draft Scheel keel, drawing an even four feet. The deep keel draws four feet, 11 inches. The ballast, 4,400 pounds of lead, is the same with either keel, and is secured with 12, 3/4-inch stainless steel bolts for a ballast ratio of 40 percent. We found that at an apparent wind angle of 35 to 50 degrees the boat forereached very slowly at less than half a knot and was absolutely stable. We rolled up the headsail, backed the staysail and sheeted the main amidships, with the wheel locked a few spokes to windward.

This is a sturdy, well made boat, built of hand-laid fiberglass with the first hull laminate of vinylester resin. It has a double-flanged deck/hull joint that is sealed with polyurethane sealant and 1/4-inch stainless steel bolts. The external chainplates are through-bolted with 1/2-inch stainless bolts to a backing plate that runs the length of the chainplate. Both sides are thoroughly bedded, and we have not heard of any problems with this arrangement, which is what we would expect of an arrangement so reassuringly overbuilt.

There is storage everywhere. Although the sole boards do not open to reveal a cavernous bilge, there is still room for things such as canned goods. Tucked in everywhere are small cabinets, drawers and compartments. The head has a proper wet locker in a proper place, easy to reach while at the base of the companionway. The engine is as easy to access as possible, given, again, that it is a 31-foot boat. If you have to put a turn on the stuffing box, it is easy to reach.

The tanks, two for water and one for fuel, can be removed without resort to destructive disassembly, yet another plus on a boat designed for the long haul. We took note, for example of the base that supports the seacocks. They are bedded in polyurethane and through-bolted, with the base providing protection against sliding cargo. Main, structural bulkheads are tabbed and bolted. Ventilation, with two large Dorades and 10 opening ports, is everything one could hope for in a boat of this size.

We have always liked the boats of William Crealock, especially as built by Pacific Seacraft. They are not built to squeak under some calculated price point; rather, they are built as needed to provide an owner with a solid, seagoing boat that will take them there in safety and comfort and get them back without undue drama. The reintroduction of their 31-footer will provide sailors interested in a compact cruiser everything they will need in a boat that requires an absolute minimum of after-purchase work.

LOA 31’ 10”
LOD 30’ 6”
LWL 24’ 2”
Beam 9’ 10”
Draft 4’ 0” (Scheel keel)
4’ 11” (standard)
Displacement 11,000 lbs.
Ballast 4,400 lbs.
Sail area 485 sq. ft.
Air draft 44’
Fuel 23 gals.
Water (two tanks) 65 gals.
SA/D 15.69
D/L 348
Ballast ratio 40%
Lbs./in. immersion 849
Base price $139,000
Designer William Crealock

Pacific Seacraft
1301 E. Orangethorpe Avenue
Fullerton, CA 92831
714-879-1610
www.pacificseacraft.com