princess 22 , 26 - how about 24?

[bill1111]

been reading a lot about the princess in both sizes

seems like the 22 ft builders are trying to get just a little more room without cutting down on tilting motor well / long cockpit - but nobody asked about a 24

not quite as big as the 26 / few more ins, in headroom / longer cabin/ raise it 3in plus what you get from the 24 ft and what do you get

like papa bear and baby bear it might be just right

I am not a designer but with both sides covered it might be possible to do 24 without mts of work

Little quicker to build - little less money [than the 26 ] whats not to like

Bill

[bill1111]

There are a number of possible layouts for the P22. I am showing here a layout I have been working on which gives three good berths and a galley to port. The freeboard has been raised 3" and the cabin and mizzen mast has been moved aft giving a lot more room inside the boat.

While you need to sleep four, depending on the size of your children, the starboard berth could be extended under the cockpit to make room for both of them.

These changes come at the expense of a shorter cockpit. The outboard has been moved aft where it won't tilt. A bracket could be fashioned to raise and lower the motor but the cockpit might be better off if the motor was mounted on the transom and have a roomier cockpit.

copied this from a princess 22 thread about room - written By GB

I think later in the thread He changed to only 2 ins of extra freeboard

So does anyone think this is a good idea ?

Bill

[Gordy Hill]

Bill,

Moving the cabin back is just personal choice. Moving the mizzen gets into magic stuff that we mortals know little about.

[ThistleCap]

I'm really surprised there hasn't been more response to this issue.  If I can't solve a couple problems with my current boat, asking Graham about the possibility of a 24 with some changes would be my first consideration.  Being in the middle of the country, to make sailing worth the distance I need to travel to reach the coast, I cruise for 6 weeks at a time.  While the absence of a galley may not be critical for a vacation of a week or two, proper provisions for meals and heating on a long cruise become more important.  My thought was basically putting the 26 interior in a 24 ft. boat.  This would keep weight and cost down, improve accommodations, and eliminate the need for a larger and heavier trailer.  If I was going to sail with a lot of people and needed cockpit room, I'd probably just do a CS20, but on a cruising boat, especially if single-handing, the cockpit is only for steering and being able to stretch the legs while resting against the after cabin face with a book or a cup of coffee.  Other than having some room for lines, deck gear, extra ground tackle and fenders in seat lockers, the rest of the cockpit area is waste.  Especially if having to sit out foul weather, the interior takes on much more importance.  My thoughts were to move the cabin aft to the mizzen tabernackle, or even have the tabernackle part of the face or even built into the bulkhead.  The companionway would have to go more off center.  The larger cabin face area would allow an "L" galley. That's just my reaction to the question.  Anyone else? 

[Hirilonde]

I certainly can't speak for Graham, but there is a limit to how many variations of one boat are worth doing the immense amount of  figuring that goes into a design.  He is trying to make a living doing this.  Consider how many P22s have been built, and how many P26s.  Do you think there is enough demand for him to turn a profit on one in between?    It is probably years after any design comes out that he earns enough to justify the work that went in, and then some designs never pay off.  He has to choose his projects carefully. 

Consider also the other projects he has going on.  He may have customers paying top dollar for custom designs.  That would certainly make it difficult to spend time on a stock set of plans that may have little hope for ever making money.

Personally I don't see any need for a design between 22 and 26 feet.  There is so little difference in any of the parameters that I don't see how it can make that big of a difference.  There will always be considerations, and people will always have their own opinion on many design parameters.  And no matter what length you decide on you will continue to wish it was larger sometimes, and smaller others.  And if a very specific set of parameters really is that important, then maybe paying for a custom design is the answer.

[bill1111]

Not sure about the cost of custom plans / designs but its a option

Its not like the 24 is a complete design from the ground up but this is not to belittle the work of designing. I would be the first to admit I know nothing about designing .

It seems the 26 has not resulted in lots of boats being built .so this may not be what the small boat market is looking for - the 24 may be a better size for small boat building

the 26 may  real

Elsewhere on this site , I have read about how much bigger the 26 is - harder to build - much more wt - harder to tow

I took this at face value - more cabin space seems to be useful - so a compromise seemed a solution

How many 22 ft owners would like a little more space?

How much more can be gotten out of the 22 ft ?

How much time would be saved in building / money?

Again I am just thinking out loud - maybe the 22 ft and 26 ft owners could give us a heads up on this

Bill