Decisions, decisions or analysis paralysis!

[David Wrate]

Hey folks, first time poster here. 
I live on Vancouver Island and coming from a Crown 34 that I sold in 2014. Miss being on the water but not prepared to deal with the costs involved with a big keelboat again. 
Looking to build something in the 17’ - 19’ ft range. 
Boats in the running are:

-Pocketship (may be a bit small at 14’ 10”)

- Devlin Eider 17 (having a hard time finding interior pics to assess space)

- Norwalk Island Sharpie 18 (folks who have a Norwalk seem to love them)

- Core Sound 17 Mk2 (cabin space seems to be much less than the Belhaven 19 but not surprising at 2’ less overall length. 

- Belhaven 19 (from all I’ve read here also a very popular design.)

 

Use will be day sailing  with my wife and some overnight trips but I don’t expect to do long cruises. 
My building space is 18’ x 23’ and it’s pretty packed with wood and metal working tools so 19’ is about the largest I could manage I think. 

Wondering if folks have any guidance that might help me make my decision. 
 

[Graham]

Hi David,

 

Yes, the Belhaven has a lot more interior space than the CS17 mk3. I positioned an updated CS20 mk3 which has more cabin height than the 17, on top of our newly updated Belhaven and sliced off the outboard couple of feet so that you can see the space difference on center and at the quarter beam. The B19 is green.

 

The CSmk3's were designed for beach cruising and events like the Everglades Challenge where you need to be able to row. The water ballast can be added or subtracted to enable beach launching, be lighter for light air performance and towing with a smaller vehicle and sail in very skinny water. I have dragged Carlita all over the country with a 1.9 liter vehicle.

 

The Belhaven was designed as a normal trailer sailor and has more freeboard and a shorter cockpit. There is no bridge deck making it easier to go below. The bunks are about 4" higher making sitting a bit more comfortable. 

 

The plans were drawn way back using 2d CAD making it not accurate enough for CNC cutting. We have been updating her starting with 3d modeling her hull. The cabin was raised a couple of inches by one owner so we raised the freeboard by 2" while we were at it.

[BrentK]

Greetings.

I hear that there may be a lapstrake version of the Belhaven in the works.  I find the whole concept of her appealing (I bought the plans some years ago) but think she will be really pretty using lapstrake construction.  I guess a creative paint job would reduce the apparent height of the sides of the original design, but overall she is roomy and very quick to rig off the trailer. A well thought-out design in my opinion, loved by all her owners.

[R Johnson]

David, 

    Good evening.  I am building my second Core Sound 17 MkIII.   I sold my first boat, tried a Precision 18 which was a  disappointment, so now I am building a second boat.  My daughter is building a pocket ship. It has been a slow project for her due to work.  It seems like a good kit.  It does not have the room of the Core Sound.    My wife and I like the Core Sound since it feels very secure, stable, and manageable in a variety of conditions.  Our other boat is a Wayfarer Dinghy.  The Core Sound is the boat we sail to relax and to do over nights.  We don't want to conquer the world, just get away from it for a while.  I am biased but I think with good reason.  I hope this helps.  If you have questions please ask. 

 

Regards 

[Jonathan M. Cohn]

I am curious how the Wayfarer performs compared to the 17.3. Have you gotten either or both to plane? How much wind did you need?

[R Johnson]

Both boats plane. The Wayfarer of course much more easily.  One thing I liked about the CS17III was that it would plane, and felt very secure.  It is nice to be able to escape displacement hull speed.  Somewhere there is a video of me in our first CS17III Avocet  and we were sailing in the Neuse River and doing about 8 knots. 

The Wayfarer will outpoint the CS17III which is not a surprise.  It is a different rig and made for racing.  But along with that you get a much different feel that requires a lot more attention.  Different horses for different courses. 

 

The Wayfarer will plane in the lower teens and the CS17III I believe in the upper teens.  Graham and Alan would probable have the exact numbers.  

[Designer]

Yes there is a lapstrake version. If it was me I would build the lapstrake version without the laps. This turns it into a multi chine hull. The main reason is that the chines are flush allowing you to glass the outside of the boat making a stronger and more durable hull. The Lapstrake is traditional and handsome, I think that multi chine also looks good.

 

Our building method gives a nice fair hull fairly quick. Jay has completed his second multi chine hull and was pleased with the ease and fairness of the build. He may chime in. In the meantime you can look at his build of the looper and Matthew Flinders on this forum.

 

I have completed the updates and changes that I wanted. The next move if anyone is interested is for Alan and I to go over every part of the design together so that the second pair of eyes may spot any errors, omissions or conflict. He will then part it all out, and nest all of the parts into sheets and create the tool paths

 

     

[BrentK]

Sweet lines on the updated hull. I'm sure it will be a successful design, and perhaps easier to build single-handed. Congratulations!