Felix Madrid

Looking for comments and advice from Bluejacket owners on this. I’ve been thinking about adding a Seakeeper 1 to the build of a Bluejacket 27.1 or 28. The Seakeeper 1 is a 12 V DC powered unit that uses gyroscopic forces from a spinning flywheel to dampen roll movements. As it weighs about 365 lbs, with associated battery power it would add about or slightly more than 400 lbs to the boat. This is a considerable addition and certainly works against the mantra of lightweight that Tom Lathrop has established as a design parameter! However, as he's said, "The Bluejacket designs have a large water plane and are relatively insensitive to added loading.” My hope is that with care taken in construction to keep the build lightweight (and I’m not sure how this could be done…) and without further overloading the boat with other materials that this addition can be successfully incorporated. If so, I would be looking at the best placement of this unit so as not to disturb the Bluejacket’s design integrity and dynamic balance. I would be cruising in Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands and north into SE Alaska. Here is a page from Seakeeper with a description of the unit. https://www.seakeeper.com/seakeeper-products/seakeeper-1/

"With any hull extension, (opposite for a bracket) the boat will tend to run at a slightly lower trim angle than its sister with a transom mounted motor. Good thing for performance I think." So, will a hull extension on a 27.1 turn it into a 28 footer, or thereabouts? And would the same scenario result for the Bluejacket 28, meaning that a hull extension would cause it to run at a slightly lower trim angle?

Thanks for the analysis, much appreciated!

Hello! I'm looking to start on my first boatbuilding project, and am thinking of a Spindrift, let's say a 12 so as to compare with the Amanda. How do these two designs differ, if at all, in their ease of building, and do they differ as well in their sailing characteristics? Thanks for the reply!