Another Way to Get My Dreamboat…

(Want a Fuel-Efficient, Trailerable Motorboat? Maybe Start With a Sailboat!)

As some astute readers observed at the end of our last “searching-for-the-next-dreamboat” column, my research into a fuel-efficient, trailerable, displacement-speed motorboat might sensibly end with purchase of an old, used-up, easily-driven sailboat hull that I morph into a salty-looking outboard powerboat with addition of a cuddy cabin and small pilothouse.

(If you missed earlier installments and can’t stand being left out, scroll back to October 17 for “The Next Dreamboat: An Update,” and to October 7 for the one that started it all, “Next Dreamboat? Help Me Decide!”)

But if you just want cliff notes, here are parameters we laid out for an ideal camp-cruising powerboat that I’d either build, restore or modify to fit our needs:

• We said we were happy with a comfortable all-day cruising speed of 5-6 knots;

• The boat, trailer, motor and basic gear couldn’t have a towing weight over 3,000 pounds;

• The design—either new construction or something we modify during restoration—would ideally include a pilothouse with side-by-side helm/passenger seats, maybe a small galley counter in the pilothouse, and a cabin down below with a comfortable berth, sitting headroom and space for a porta-potty or composting bucket head;

• Fuel-efficiency is a must, so our ideal little cruiser would be powered by something like a high-thrust 9.9hp outboard. (With the right easily-driven hull, the 9.9 would hit our desired cruising speed at maybe two-thirds throttle, giving us a bit of reserve power when needed to punch through headwinds or adverse currents.)

• In other words, the pocket cruiser would have to be fairly light in weight, slippery in the water, and not at all designed for planing speeds. Either strictly a displacement hull, or something on the lowest edge of semi-displacement.

  

  I’ve always loved this little double-ended Ranger 18 Troller, designed by naval architect Ray Richards, with a hull inspired by the larger, historic Bristol Bay gillnetter. A pilothouse and cabin somewhat along these lines—but with a longer pilothouse that might include a small galley counter—would be ideal atop the right sailboat hull in the 19’ to 22’ range. (This extremely rare model was replaced with the larger Ranger 21 Motor Launch, shown below.)

This is our friend Rick aboard one of three first-series Ranger 21 Motor Launches (design inspired by classic Northwest salmon trollers) that convoyed together from Puget Sound to Southeast Alaska and back. Designed by Ray Richards, N.A., sterns of the 21’s were modeled after traditional salmon-fishing purse seiners. While the earlier Ranger 18 Troller (shown above) was usually powered by a modest outboard motor in a cockpit well, the 21’s featured small Yanmar diesels. We’ve always liked their pilothouse and cabin design, which if built in wood and mounted a bit farther aft on a vintage sailboat hull, would be nice with a somewhat lengthier pilothouse.

Here’s another example—a pilothouse and cabin I added to an open 15.5’ Poulsbo Boat hull, with a cockpit well for the 8hp outboard. I loved cruising SALTY, but the pilothouse/cabin design would have been more proportionally attractive and practical on a hull in the 19’- to 22’ range. (Added to the little Poulsbo Boat hull, overnight accommodations down below were cramped…even for one adult and typical cruising gear.) Marty Loken photo

At the end of the last column, we were balancing the attributes of two handsome Sam Devlin trailerboats, his Dipper 20 and Banjo 20. Both designs could be propelled at our desired cruising speed with a 9.9hp high-thrust outboard, but we realized the poor little kicker motor would be wound up tight (noisy and less fuel-efficient) at that hull speed, suggesting we might need to consider something like a 25hp outboard that could achieve our cruising speed at a lower rpm, burning about the same amount of fuel as the 9.9 almost wide open. Also, because both Devlin cruisers were primarily designed for a wanna-go-faster clientele, usually hosting outboards in the 60- to 90hp range, readers suggested we might consider more options. So here we are, considering…

The idea of repurposing a vintage sailboat hull isn’t new, of course. We’ve featured a number of reader-built conversions in past issues of Small Craft Advisor, but it’s been awhile since I’ve thought about the subject. Two things: I’m queasy about dragging a nice sailboat hull to the Dark Side, and also, the transformation from vintage sailboat to attractive, traditional-looking motorboat is fraught with dangers—mainly that the final product might look like a disfigured beast from Frankenstein’s lab.

Willing to visit Frankenworld, I picked three old sailboat designs that might be workable foundations for a seaworthy, slippery cruising powerboat. Each one, I think, could host an attractive cuddy cabin and pilothouse without looking awful. Heck, some launch-ramp onlookers might not quite realize, from 10 yards, what I’ve done to an old sailboat hull.

So, just a few words about hull designs I’d find acceptable, since (in my view, at least), most sailboat hulls look completely out-of-place with the kind of traditional cabin and pilothouse I’d like to build.

Size and Volume — Since we’re hoping for a fairly comfortable cabin and pilothouse, with sitting headroom down below, it appears the ideal candidates will be in the 19’-22’ range, allowing us to keep the towing weight under 3,000 lbs. And in pursuit on interior volume, I’ve generally been looking at hulls with a beam of 7’ to 8.’

Hull Shape — Full keels are out due to difficulty launching and retrieving—not to mention removal—but shallow fin or bilge keels might be okay. (Depending on the overall hull design, I’d likely downsize or remove keels and totally get rid of centerboard trunks, adding any needed ballast in bilge areas.)

Bow and Stern Profiles — Absolutely disqualified are any steeply-raked stem profiles. I know there aren’t a lot of older hull designs with plumb (vertical) stems, but the kind of cabin/pilothouse design I want will look horrible if sitting atop something with a clipper-eske bow. Most vintage-sailboat transoms will be fine—I’m only obsessed about stem profiles.

Outboard Power — The plan will never work with an inboard, in part because the engine and associated gear will take too much space in the small cruising boat. I really want to stick with something like a high-thrust 9.9 outboard, and as a bonus it might be mounted in a well at the aft end of the cockpit, on center or offset. But on a transom bracket if necessary.

Sheerline — As a big fan of gently swoopy sheerlines, I’ll try to avoid hulls that have arrow-straight sheers, or reverse sheerlines. Again, the traditional-style cabin will just look better if married to a pleasantly curved sheer.

With those parameters in mind, here are my three candidates. (You are warmly invited to make additional recommendations below, in the comments section.)

Com-Pac 19

This fine boat was well-built, starting in 1979, by Com-Pac Yachts in Florida. With a fairly shallow keel, the hull measures 19’ on deck with a waterline length of just over 16’ and a beam of 7.’ Displacing 2,000 pounds, the boat carries 800 pounds of ballast, and has a draft of 2.’

Hull shape of the Com-Pac 19 is sweet, with a nice sheerline and stem that isn’t overly raked—it would look fine with cuddy and pilothouse, but considering the boat’s relatively marginal headroom down below, the newly designed wooden cabin might be slightly taller in profile, with a pilothouse whose aft bulkhead might likely land about where you see a deck winch in the attached drawing.

One possible downside: The outboard would be hung on a transom bracket—not ideal—unless I opted to build a well just inboard of the transom.

Another challenge might be finding a Com-Pac 19 that verges on derelict, since we wouldn’t want to molest a pristine example, and we’d also be looking for a bargain price…not something that’s likely with this desirable cruising sailboat.

The Com-Pac 19, like others built by Com-Pac Yachts, is a solid, attractive design and possible candidate for conversion.

Columbia 22

Designed by William Crealock, the handsome Columbia 22 was built from 1966 to 1972 by Columbia Yachts, and it has several advantages as a conversion candidate: Nice overall length of 22 feet and generous waterline length of 20,’ with a beam of 7.75,’ resulting in a roomier interior than the Com-Pac 19. Also, the stem profile is okay for a traditional-looking pilothouse and cuddy cabin, and the generous cockpit has an on-center well for outboard motor. Finally, the keel can be trimmed shorter or eliminated altogether.

In our part of the country, we see a fair number of Columbia 22’s, and some are old and tired enough to be affordable, so our chances of finding one in a “just-right” state of dereliction are improved.

Displacement of the boat, as built, is 2,200 pounds, with 1,100 pounds of ballast.

I’ve always admired the Columbia 22, designed by William Crealock, and enough hulls were produced that it’s relatively easy to find a tired old example for possible transformation into a camp-cruising outboard motorboat.

Herreshoff America 18

And now we come to one of the more intriguing categories—trailerable catboats, with impressive beam-to-length ratios, great stability and generally beautiful hull lines. The Herreshoff America 18 (18.16’ overall with a waterline length of 17.75’ and beam of 8’), was designed by Halsey Herreshoff and built starting in 1971 by Nowak & Williams. Displacement as-built is 2,500 pounds, and the hull features a centerboard and trunk that would be removed.

This candidate has a plumb stem—aesthetic plus—along with a sweet sheerline, lots of teak trim including teak cockpit benches, and a centerline well for outboard at the aft end of the cockpit.

Because the Herreshoff America has a beautiful and traditional-looking cuddy cabin, I’d be tempted to retain the cuddy and cut in a pilothouse that would intrude maybe 12 inches aft into the existing cockpit space.

Besides the Herreshoff America, there are several other vintage fiberglass catboats in the same size range, including the Marshall 22, Marshall 18, Merger 19.

I’m familiar with the 18’ Herreshoff America, having restored this one for a customer. The “After” image is shown below. Marty Loken photo

I’d never butcher a Herreshoff America that looked like this—the “After” view of the semi-derelict that arrived at our boatshop, in above photo. But if I could find a used-up example like the one we started with, its hull might be a nice foundation for a traditional-looking motorboat. (You might not know it, looking at this photo, but the America has an outboard motor tucked in a well on the centerline, just beneath the tiller.) Marty Loken photo

Catboats tend to be much-loved and well-maintained by their owners, and since almost all were built on the East Coast—where most seem to remain—finding a suitably derelict candidate on the West Coast might be a challenge. Price might be considerably higher than something like the Columbia 22, so despite their appeal, I’m not sure they’re the best candidate for an affordable repurposing.

So, what do you think, readers? Do you like the idea of converting a used-up sailboat hull to affordable camp-cruising motorboat, with the (hopefully tasteful) addition of a cuddy cabin and pilothouse? Which of the three candidates would you favor…and can you recommend some other models that might be suitable for conversion?