Facebook is great for reminding me of things I would forget. I forgot this from two years ago. 23′ mini cruiser built in CM.
I just got this wonderful note from a builder, Joe. I got to sail on his boat in Lake Tahoe back the same week Sierra Cloud had her first sail.
“The little tri is 26 years old now. Yes I know it is hard to believe.
I don’t baby this boat. It is kept on a lee shore and mostly sailed in
strong winds. She doesn’t look much different than the day I launched it and shows little signs of wear in all key areas.
I guess at this point we could say the construction is sound.
I’m glad I didn’t go with a “famous designer” with all that I hear
about those boats. Thanks for the great design. She has given me many years of good times.”
I built mine, Inbetween Days, shortly after Joe. At the time Joe was kind enough to compare features with me, and he sent me a page of his plan that I was supposed to return, but lost the return address, or some such. Sorry Joe. The question at the time was whether the stern was redrawn. It didn’t seem to be, but it turned out it was spread a little more. Then I used a little too much triax, so mine ended up high and flat. So i used a little bog fairing it in. Fairness Rules!
Yeah it is a great design. Mine cost about 4k to build back then, I don’t think it would be all that much more expensive to build today. Epoxy and glass prices are lower by a lot, as are second hand rig prices, as the Hobie fleet ages. The main increase in pricing would be the 1088 plywood which today costs about 3 times what doorskins cost back then. But you have a somewhat better chance of getting good stuff with 1088, though you still need to take responsibility for everything that goes in the boat. For example, there are 6 sheets in the main hull of the boat, and that would come out at around 210, or about 110 more compared to doorkins. But each gallon of epoxy, is around 1/4 what it was in the 80s, so I don’t think the price would be all that bad to build today.
I always refer to mine as a 24, as it is closer to that length than anything else. Why waste material in the CM panels. Plus they grow a little as you apply bows and transoms. I saw this 30K carbon boat in some mag that was said to weigh more than my ply boat; was a little narrower; and was only 22 feet long. They called it a 24, so I am sticking to it.
I built a Marples wooden trailer for her. But not a good boat for trailer sailing, not that that was ever part of the promise. I would also say if you want to camp on the boat, you should consider the 26.
One thing that has changed are plan prices. Back then I paid the equivalent of about 400 today, so I am glad to see the plans at more realistic levels today. I can also say that I got a look at latest version of these plans around 5 years ago, and they are light years ahead of what they used to be, and they were great when I built. They are prints, not blueprints; they are enormously more detailed. The design has been updated a lot. with some details worked out in a lot more elegant fashion, the steering, for instance.
I certainly haven’t built enough multis over the years. Next project is not decided, been building a lot of flats skiffs recently. I would really like to take up Jan Gougeon’s vision of a mini G32, that I had the opportunity to correspond with him about. I also feel like I have unfinished cruising business that a KHSD 40 would address.