Attainable Adventure Cruising—What's New

Our Next Boat? (John)

posted by John and Phyllis Web Site

We just got back to the boat yard and “The Interminable Refit” —as we call our current project of going over every inch of “Morgan’s Cloud” —after a road trip that included a day at the Maine Boat Builder’s Show in Portland. This is a fun and kind of funky small show that, among other things, features a lot of very cool and sometimes innovative small sailboats.

We love the “Cloud” and hope to go on sailing her for many years to come, but when you are three years into a one year refit, as we are, small and simple starts to look awfully good. (I should say at this point that the three years includes one year spent on family health issues, not boat refitting.)

At the show I saw several small sailboats I liked, including several based on Herreshoff’s classic 12 ½ design, but the real standout for me was the Norseboat, designed by one of my favorite boat designers, Chuck Paine.

From her lines, rig, and what I hear, I’m certain she sails beautifully and her fine easily driven hull augurs well for speed under oars; so no motor required for those calm days—what could be more simple than that? Unlike the Herreshoff, which is a tiny keel boat, the Noreseboat is a big dinghy with all the ease of launching and retrieval that that implies and the special nippiness that only un-ballasted boats have. (I was once, long, long ago, a dyed in the wool 505 sailor and so have a special fondness for dinghies, even one as different from a 505 as this one.)

The guy leaning on the Norseboat in the picture is her developer and builder Kevin, who is grinning, I suspect, due to the success of his brain child.

Labels: Boats and Design, Rants and Musings

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