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Ideal trailer-sailor for the Broads?

JennyMorgan

By JennyMorgan
in Broads Chat

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ChrisB

ChrisB

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Looked at it at the show, very nice and a apparently quick to boot. I think the basic price was about £32K so by the time you add an engine, warps, fenders, mud weight, portapotti, etc there will not be much change from £35k. That then puts it firmly in the category of the new Cornish Crabber 21, Swallow Boats Baycruiser 20 & 23 which offer better accommodation. The real show stopper for me was the new Viko 21. Almost standing headroom, a double berth below the cockpit sole, enclosed heads and all for a price of under £20k. (Sorry cant post a link as on my phone) There is a lot of competition out there at that size. Also for trads the Spitfire 23, which is the big sister of the Spitfire 18 and the Florin, which is the big sister of the Shilling are about to debut.

www.vikoyachts.co.uk

I think, really worth a look as they do a 30 footer for under £50K

 

Edited by ChrisB
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JennyMorgan

JennyMorgan

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Thanks for the link, Chris. First reaction is that she probably is a fast boat, well priced for sure, but I like the short, light spars on the 'Kite' plus the fact that the mast sits in a Broads style tabernacle. Agreed that she's hardly competitive in the price stakes but she does have a lot going for her. 

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Labrador

Labrador

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If I were in the market for an ideal, trailerable boat for the Broads then this one would be high on my list, she ticks all the boxes for me.

http://www.classicboat.co.uk/articles/boat-test-the-trailer-sailer-kite/

http://www.demonyachts.co.uk/kite.php

May well have had the broads at the back of his mind Peter, designed by Andrew Wolsteholme, who, locally based has designed a host of broads yachts and broads and offshore motor boats.

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SPEEDTRIPLE

SPEEDTRIPLE

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It is a stunning looking little boat, but why do they have such a small cabin. If they bought the cabin back a couple of feet and put in a proper sink and a decent 2 burner and grill cooker, it would be a great weekender. Also, it would`nt be too difficult to put in a holding tank type toilet.

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ChrisB

ChrisB

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It is one of the new generation of performance gaffers. These boats are aimed very much at the "Raiding" market and the trailer sailor who often spends his nights in accommodation ashore. As indeed the builder and part owner of Andrew's own Kite did on Lough Derg. This large cockpit for family sailing is found now in nearly all TS of this size, Shrimpers, Baycruisers, Gypsies etc. Kite No 1 mopped up at the OGA meet in the Solent last year, lack of creature comforts must have helped weight wise. I have never seen a sail boat this small with a holding tank, they are always direct discharge sea toilets or of the portapotti type. There are trailer sailers with comforts like the Drascombe 22 drifter. But you need a large SUV to pull it. So many modern cars have such pathetic towing capacity that you need ultra light boats like the Swallows with their water balast.

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JennyMorgan

JennyMorgan

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We had a Swallow on Oulton Broad during 2013. In light winds she could outpoint me in my Drascombe, in low winds. When the wind topped F5 and touched F6 on the local YC anemometer I was outsailing her on all points. I have friends who have been on raids & have since made similar comments. Lovely boats, but perhaps not so good in a gale. The Drascombe 22, at a recent Drascombe gathering I did hear several negative comments about her sailing ability. Until I saw the spec for the Kite my feeling was that the Cape Cutter from Honnor Marine was the best of the bunch. There is one on the Broads & I have been well impressed by her performance. Not cheap but a grand boat, in my opinion.

Will I make the change? After all, setting up a tent on a Drascombe Longboat is not the height of sophistication but she's a good sailing boat, I've had her since 1978 & I've never been let down by her. Maybe I've left it a bit late in life but that Kite, as I have said, does tick all the right boxes for me. As a boat for the Broads and the East Coast rivers I reckon Andrew has come up with a real cracker.

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ChrisB

ChrisB

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It is without doubt a fine craft and I do agree with you about the Cape Cutter. Honnor for the first time were not at Southampton. I think they are yet to find a buyer for the Devon range and CC even though they hold the original tooling for Drascombes. At seventy the owners deserve their belated retirement.

Your last comments hit home with me Peter. We stayed at Bucklers Hard this year and travelled the easy way to Mayflower Park via the Hythe Ferry. With my wife's approval I was there to buy a new boat and make my return to sail!

In truth I had my doubts. The money remains in the bank. My age and arthritis confines me to my motor boat. The seating in all the boats, both in the cockpit and below was far too low for my knees, hips and back, getting dressed without full standing headroom impossible. 

So, we checked out and set off for a few days to where it all started for us 50 years ago in Chichester Harbour. Itchenor, Bosham and Dell Quay were just the same but now require considerable wealth to boat there and Siddlesham Quay in Pagham Harbour only sees boats once a year as Pagham is now RSPB.

All in all great trip and we know where we stand boating wise.

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ChrisB

ChrisB

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PS. Nice to be back in Norfolk. The roads, the crowds, and the prices down there would take some getting used to again.

Lovely to have a pint of Youngs again!

Edited by ChrisB
forgot the great pint
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JawsOrca

JawsOrca

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Peter, serious, slightly ignorant question(s); Do you want a fast boat on the broads though? Would a heaver slower boat be more controllable considering the narrowness and the mobos getting in the way? I would have thought a more traditional heavy boat would be better for the broads? Or is a light boat better given the inconsistency of the wind? cheers 

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JennyMorgan

JennyMorgan

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Chris B, what a coincidence, fifty years ago I worked at the Bosham Sea School in Chichester Harbour, great times.

Re low seats and aching bodies, overcome that problem with knee pads. When I go about I don't try and lift, rather I drop onto my knees, swing round and up onto the opposite seat, easy. 

Re speed, love it, but it is the obvious nippiness of the Kite that attracts me. With a cockpit tent I would think she'd be quite comfortable.

Re motor boats, I'm always aware of the widely held opinion that in a sailing boat it is all about the journey whilst in a mobo it is the arrival.

Polly, we don't have standing headroom in Spray so low cabin tops are nothing new!

Edited by JennyMorgan
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teadaemon

teadaemon

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Peter, serious, slightly ignorant question(s); Do you want a fast boat on the broads though? Would a heaver slower boat be more controllable considering the narrowness and the mobos getting in the way? I would have thought a more traditional heavy boat would be better for the broads? Or is a light boat better given the inconsistency of the wind? cheers 

What's more important than speed per se is manoeuvrability, particularly speed through the wind when tacking. If you look at traditional Broads yachts, they were using fin keels 50 years or more they started to appear on seagoing yachts, and tend to have very large, balanced rudders. These design features are there because they lead to a boat that will respond quickly to the helm and will turn reliably in a very small space compared to the typical seagoing yachts built at the same time (which would mostly have had deep, full keels with smaller rudders attached directly to the keel). Heavier boats aren't necessarily slower, they just carry more canvas, and have the mass to carry it in higher winds.

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