I'm looking at buying a Spacesailer 18. The info I can find says they have fin keels but this one has a shallow full-length keel. There's no centreboard I can see in the photos either. The only photos I find show a boxy cabin whereas this boat is a wedge, like the larger and later models. Anyone know about these boats?

Are you sure the one your looking at is a Spacesailor 18 and not a 20?
The Spacesailor 20 originally came in two models, the fixed fin keel and a swing keel that swung from the long keel your speaking of above. This meant the swing keel did not take up any cabin space. A MK 2 Drop keel version was introduced later in the Spacesailor 20.
There is also an S20 Daysailor which was more a racing daysailor, fractional rig/small headsail, that came along in the mid-late 80s which is a completely different boat but designed and built by Swarbricks.

Ah. It may well be. The boats being sold by the daughter of the owner, so the info may not be accurate. The boats being checked out by a mate, since it's on Kangaroo Island and I have a mate over there. He can tell me more. Now you've mentioned it, I found a Maxi 20 on this forum that looks very similar. This is the one I'm looking at.

Yep that's a Maxi 20.
I think John Swarbrick was involved designing them? They came in a fixed keel version also. Not as many built as the Spacey 18s/20s. Their performance would be closer to the 18 than the 20 and from what I recall would sail in division 5 alongside Redwitches/Spacey 18s etc.

I had a look at one of the early fixed keel Spacesailer 18's when they first came out. I thought they were a bit cramped inside and ended up buying a Status 19. The 18 had about a draft of 4 feet.

That looks like my Swarbrick 18. That is the first one I have seen apart from mine. The centre board swings down from that shallow keel. You can't see any case inside the boat, only a tube that runs from the deck to the cabin floor. It contains the wire for raising and lowering the fin.

You might see the tube here. It runs back at an an angle just behind the mast support.

The tackle on the cabin top is for raising the fin.

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LALancer said..

It is very nice when you can do that. To achieve it with a larger yacht you need to spend a lot more money for something like this, a Feeling 39.

I think this one doesn't have the man in the cabin.

That's exactly what I want. Being in Adelaide, many of the towns across the Gulf have shallow beaches. A keelboat would only be good at a couple of places but a centreboarder can go to all of them.

Well, I've bought her. I had to do a day trip to Kangaroo Island to have a look. Looks pretty good. Needs a polish and a scrub but nice. The jib furler extrusion is cracked in a couple of spots but aluminium is easy to join or replace. Won't get her until the new year when a mate is going to tow her back here (Adelaide).