Smart Boats for Seniors
Finding the perfect so-called Geezer Boat by Lon Zimmerman
My own experience with aging presented challenges with being less nimble, fat, and more fragile. My doc said, “No falls.” So I began my search for what Marty Loken termed “a geezer boat.” Such a boat would be easy to rig, easy to launch, stable and fun to row or sail.
My buddy had a Point Defiance he loved, so when a used one presented, I bought it. The Point Defiance was easy to launch and a joy to row, but under sail it felt a bit tender. I felt vulnerable. I did not want to experience a capsize in Puget Sound. I sold the Point Defiance, reluctantly—she was so pretty.
I remembered 40 years earlier my very first boat was a Drascombe Scaffie. An open row boat with a standing lug sail. Easy to rig, no stays. Easy to launch. Extremely stable, I could stand on the gunnel without capsizing it. The Scaffie was 14 feet 9 inches long and 5 feet 9 inches on the beam. She weighs about 460 lb. The Scaffie has a long shallow keel that draws about 15 inches. I hate centerboard trunks taking up space in the middle of a small boat. The Scaffie was the perfect geezer boat.
Unfortunately, Drascombe Scaffies are rare as hen’s teeth. I searched and advertised for some time without locating one.
So Plan B: I began compiling a list of dinghies that were approximately the same dimensions and weight as a Scaffie. I felt if I could find a suitable hull, I could adapt the sail rig to standing lug and perhaps even retrofit a long ballasted shallow keel like the one on the Scaffie. My goal now was to find a hull that had the dimensions of a Scaffie and then modify it to be even more “Scaffie like”.
John Watkinson designed Drascombe boats in for himself and his family.
“ …..an open boat with a high bulwark did wonders for confidence. The loose-footed rig, …… without fear of hearing that sickening crunch as boom strikes female head. The hard turn to the bilge gave a powerful hull well able to carry sail. Her generous sheer kept her dry.”
The Drascombe Scaffie has a sturdy, stable hull with low-aspect rig that is easy and quick to set up with only a halyard and sheet to tend.
Drascombe Scaffie
• Boat weight 463 lb
• Draft 15”
• LOA 14’ 9”
• Beam 5” 9”
• Sail plan Lug sail
The Ilur is one of my favorite designs. It has all of the Scaffie characteristics except for a full shoal keel, which could be added which without too much trouble.
The Ilur is 14’ 6” long and beam is 5’ 7” and displaces 660 pounds. The plans or paper patterns can be purchased through Duckworks. Ilur was designed by François Vivier, Architecte Naval.
It can be built strip-planked or plywood clinker.
Gig Harbor Boat Works makes the Lobster Boat. It has similar dimensions to the Scaffie and is a pretty boat. The Lobster Boat is 15 feet LOA and 5 foot 4 inches on the beam, displaces 375 pounds with 100 sq foot sail area. It comes with a Bermudan rig but could be converted to standing rig with same sail area.
All of the Gig Harbor boats are beautiful boats. The Lobster boat would work for me. I would prefer a standing lug sail to make a simpler rig with less running rigging and no stays .
I also like the John Welsford-designed Navigator. The Navigator has dimensions similar to the Scaffie and has been built with a standing lug sail to make rigging quick and easy. Plans are available here.
Welsford Navigator
• LOA 14ft 9in
• Beam 5ft 10in
• Weight 309lbs
• Sails 136 sqft
The Shimmy 12 and Scruffie 16 are near perfect for matching Scaffie characteristics. The boats are made from plywood kits sold in Australia by Scruffie Marine. They feature boomless standing lugs and ballasted full keels. Kit production is apparently paused.
There are of course many boats out there that will work well for aging boomers. My list is not exhaustive.
For my needs a “geezer boat” must be stable, easy to rig and launch, fun to sail and row and—hopefully—easy on the eye. After all this research and comparing and contrasting possibilities, I found a Scaffie for sale. It was a bit of work to buy it long distance and setup shipping, but I was successful and my Scaffie is resting comfortably in the garage. •SCA•
I've talked to a few designers about working on a simple design that would be for "Old Salts" specifically. Focusing on super simple mast raising and rigging, easy launch and retrieval, excellent stability, comfortable seating, easy-to-board and exit, a simple form of auxiliary propulsion, etc. It would be interesting to see what a boat would look like if designed from the start with those goals. It also looks like we could get reader feedback here for another article with another long list of suggested boats.
If someone is designing a "geezer" boat, I would strongly encourage whoever markets it to not limit yourself to geezers. An easy to rig, easy to launch, stable, dry, safe small boat, at a fair price, is going to have appeal for a number of us well younger than the geezer line.
I sail a Crawford Melonseed right now, which almost qualifies as geezer, except that it's a little damp when it gets choppy and might be a little harder for old knees to get in and out of than a deeper boat would be. I can foresee a day when I'd like something with more freeboard and a bit drier. So far I haven't found anything simpler or more fun however.