Customizing the West Wight Potter 15

Article by Larry Brown

Over a lifetime of sailing, I’ve owned four West Wight Potter 15s and one Potter 19. Years ago, under a former owner, I had a sweetheart deal wherein I offered the company design ideas, they built a trial boat, and I got to keep it. In return, they got some hard real-life use, including extended cruising and three books on sailing and a slew of articles in which my boats were the focal point.

If I had a central point to make, it was (and still is) that less is more. With some imagination and a sense of humor, it’s far cheaper to modify your existing boat than purchase a bigger one. Since I’ve had most of my experience on Potters, it makes sense to use that boat to organize a story about what can be done with a very small vessel.

SAFETY

I recently went sailing with a friend on his stock P15. It was a rousing day and we barreled along with just the mainsail. As his confidence grew, we decided to raise the jib and I went forward to do it. The foredeck was wet; we were nicely heeled, and when a big wave slapped us in the bow, my feet flew out from under me and, with one hand on the mast, I fell overboard, dragging the boat over with me. Realizing I’d capsize the boat, I let go—but by then the Potter was on its beam ends and my friend had fallen across the cockpit and tumbled in with me. He’d had the presence of mind to free the sheet, else the boat might have righted and gone sailing off without us.

He had no transom ladder. And there’s tip one:

SAFETY TIP ONE: Never go sailing in a boat you can’t get back into. Potter offers a transom ladder. The boat’s previous owner had somehow broken his and sold it without a replacement. I held onto the Potter’s cockpit rails and my buddy climbed up my back, stood on my shoulders, and rolled back in. At nearly 70 and burdened with sopping clothes, I had a much harder time of it. Cockpit railings, so good at keeping you in the boat, are an extra impediment when you’re treading water, although they do give you something solid to hold on to.

SAFETY TIP TWO: If your boat doesn’t have effective non-skid, add some. On all my own Potters, especially the last one, I’d made paper patterns, cut them out in rubber non-kid sheeting, and contact-cemented them down. Working on the cabintop? Add non-skid pads on each side of the mast. Screw down some kind of grating to the cockpit sole. It can save someone’s life.

Non-skid patches, anchor on pulpit, and halyards led aft.