Mike Vacanti

I just bought a new-to-me CS17 with the aft deck configuration. It does not have provision for an outboard so I am going to add a mount. I want to go the simpler route by bolting a 2x8 to the transom that will project above the aft deck enough to clamp a Suzuki 2.5 outboard. This will require a 20" shaft motor to reach the water. My question to anyone who has this configuration on their CS17: Is there enough clearance to allow the motor to rotate 360 degrees without hitting the bottom of the boat? Assume the mount only projects above the deck just enough to allow the motor clamp to be fully seated.

If you use the bushing technique (which you have described accurately) then you are nearly certain that you won’t rot the plywood around the fastener holes. If you only use sealant there is always the possibility that it could fail and water ingress will rot the plywood. There was a fellow out near me in Rio Linda, CA who built a very nice Marples/Brown Constant Camber trimaran over a period of many years. After he took off with his wife and cruised for a few years he had to do extensive repairs to the deck because of water getting through the sealant on many of the bolts that held on his deck hardware. This is on a boat that lived in the water, a trailer boat doesn't have as hard a life. But this example does show what can happen if water is allowed to get into the end grain of plywood.

I just use blue masking tape well burnished to ensure leakproof contact. The adhesive side of the tape releases reliably from the epoxy.

Jonathan, You may already know this but the Ronstan auto-release cleat has an adjustment screw that can increase or decrease the amount of force needed to release the cleat. If you are seeing unwanted releases this could be something to look at. You may also know that the angle the line enters the cleat can very significantly affect the force require to trip the cleat.

Thank you for the confirmation. I recognized it by the shape of the bow, his designs all share that shape.

Is that a Gilles Montaubin design?

Harken makes very nice stuff but their prices have gotten out of hand.

I tried sending you a email inquiry regarding your boat. I haven't heard from you and want to make sure my email didn't land in your spam filter.

I can’t be sure but I’d bet that the bottom isn’t painted but rather coated with an epoxy graphite powder mixture. It’s a lot tougher than paint.

I would wonder if the hull is strong enough to handle 18 knots in any kind of chop.

The latest CS 20 Mk I plans have the details for a main mast tabernacle, I assume the CS 17 Mk I plans are the same.

As mentioned, fir is heavier than okoume but fir will also check badly unless covered with a layer of fiberglass set in epoxy.

The 20 minute induction time is before the thinner is added and is explicitly called for by the manufacturer.

There is another way to attach a halyard that is easy to undo and allows the sail to use the full hoist of the halyard. Here is a picture: knotless halyard attach

Here is a commercially made auto-inflating mast head float, Secumar. I've never used one of these or even seen one. I imagine it would be raised to the mast head using a continuous line halyard. It's also fairly expensive and it would have to be ordered from Germany. But it would have less windage than a solid float.