12 Comments
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David Chase's avatar

A nice appearance and craftsmanship, but I do wonder about windage and sailing performance, especially to windward. Living near the east, lee, shore of Lake Michigan, I remember a few sporty times when I had to sail old hull 1074 hard to get home. To each their own for sure. WWP 15 1074 was mine from 2004 to 2018.

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John Merrell's avatar

As we grow older, sailing becomes more difficult. However, taking a boat like the Potter 15 and making a mini-power cruiser out of it seems like a very neat idea! It makes more sense to me to modify an old fiberglass sailboat and/or power boat by adding a cabin and powering it with a small outboard. Cost is less than building a boat for sure.

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Rich G's avatar

An interesting experiment and it will be nice to hear how everything works. Looks like very good work indeed!

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Carolyn & Kees's avatar

I was also wondering about the new sail rig. Is that from a Hobie? How does it compare to the original gaff rig?

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Rob Majewski's avatar

Love it! Gained elbow room, no crib boards to move around, don’t have to fold yourself in half to get in or move forward, shelter from a squall, and a simpler sailing rig to boot. I’ll bet Ralph’s Potter gained many more usable and enjoyable years for him, with this mod. Food for thought, imagine cutting out that centerboard trunk, glassing it over, and adding lee boards, or Matt Layden style chine runners. Imagine the space gained with a totally flat cabin sole.

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Stephen D. Regan's avatar

This requires more work than I would have done! Heck, my ol' WWP 15 is lucky to have paint. My hat is off for this level of commitment to making life more comfortable. ON THE OTHER HAND, I'll bet Ralph never lost a bunk on his trailer, tore his mainsail in shreds, broke two lines, and lost a pair of shoes on the same day. I remain the WORLD's WORST SAILOR. Ralph, wanna going sailing together?

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John Carlson's avatar

Looks comfy! I can sure understand the desire for morel head room. Shelter you can sit in with all that visibility.

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Richard Zablocki's avatar

Curious to know how the easy to rig/reef lanteen rig performs vs the battened sloop rig? Tks

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Richard Zablocki's avatar

Great use of big box materials, and very creative and useful interior fit out. Tks, R

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Wayne Dyson's avatar

Nicely done, looks like it was built this way.

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B. Frank's avatar

I like it. Well done, mate.

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John Nystrom's avatar

Ralph, what lateen rig did you use, and did you have to reinforce the 'mast partner' in the cabin roof? How is the CG and seaworthiness in rough water? I'm looking to give a tired sailboat a new life as a 'terminal trawler' but also want to keep some sort of downwind or reaching ability to sail.

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