I Was reading the July edition Afloat magazine and they had a story on a rebuilt S&S 34 , it caught my eye in one of the photos of the beams and stringers built in to the bilge and down the side of the hull.
And the lack of this in my own boat.
As far as I can tell my boat is made up of the hull and then the glass furniture tabbed in to the hull no beams or stringers to be seen anywhere.
Not reassuring at all and not worthy of the reputation it has as a bulletproof design , unfortunately I can't even retro fit any (no room)
Can any one recommend any designs that are under 28ft that where built very well ?
The endeavour 24 and 26 comes to mind I was very surprised when I saw the stringers built in standard in the bow section,
Just as a thought would a plywood yacht be stronger if in good condition over a standard production yacht in the more commonly built small glass yachts?

I know that the Walker H28 that my mate owns looks to be built stronger than my similar design Walker Sailmaster 845 of the same era but in a original newspaper article on the Sailmaster it says that the Sailmaster was designed as a lighter faster version of the H28 so this makes sense

Racing around the cans the Sailmaster is quicker but if I was crossing oceans I would rather be on the H28

you can can see in the two photos below the extra ribbing in the H28 bow

Regards Don

I had a Triton 721, which while it was a piece of junk, was built like the proverbial brick $hithouse. It had all the glass structural members you mention. When the time came to dispose of the boat, I unbolted the keel and had the crane lift the boat, hoping it would fall out. No. Drop the boat from a great height? Nope. Keel's solid as a rock. I ended up using a reciprocating saw to cut the hull out around the keel, which actually had a big 'flange' glassed into the hull. Needless to say I would feel very safe in a Triton!

Top Hats, but I'm biased. They've sailed around the world, around Australia and most of those built are still afloat somewhere. For a long keel 25 footer, they sail reasonably well, albeit a little slower than some fin keel boats.

Swanson 28 is also another strong boat, a bit ugly some would say, but sail well.

Compass 28. a bit like the Top Hat.

If your looking for a high quality solid built yacht under 28 feet you will be hard pressed to find one better built than a Columbia 27.
Built by International Marine Melbourne beside the Bertram Power Boats they received the same attention to quality control as the Bertram Cruisers and Caribbean Boats. A number were used a bare boat charters and these ones were de powered and rigging beefed up .
There is a fair bit of criticism about their sailing ability ,from those who have never had one, which is mainly due to the bare boat ones and the fact that most owners bought them for pleasant weekend sailing with family not racing. Huge interior for a 27 footer including enclosed head. I raced mine and with the right sails , folding prop and keen crew won a few races. They tend to heel a fair bit because of their design by Bill Tripp. Actually at my age they would be perfect for solo .

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ChrisJ1978 said..
I had a Triton 721, which while it was a piece of junk, was built like the proverbial brick $hithouse. It had all the glass structural members you mention. When the time came to dispose of the boat, I unbolted the keel and had the crane lift the boat, hoping it would fall out. No. Drop the boat from a great height? Nope. Keel's solid as a rock. I ended up using a reciprocating saw to cut the hull out around the keel, which actually had a big 'flange' glassed into the hull. Needless to say I would feel very safe in a Triton!

Chris I forgot about the Triton 24 , also the long keel Triton 26 both definitely have lead in the keel as a mate helped build one from the moulds with the factory giving advice, the trouble I was told for the factory was they where so expensive to build so they came up with the cheaper 721

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MichaelR said..
Top Hats, but I'm biased. They've sailed around the world, around Australia and most of those built are still afloat somewhere. For a long keel 25 footer, they sail reasonably well, albeit a little slower than some fin keel boats.

Swanson 28 is also another strong boat, a bit ugly some would say, but sail well.

Compass 28. a bit like the Top Hat.

Michael if you look at the Tophat after the Mrk1 they are very lightly built , bang on the hull at the side bow if you don't believe me , they where really trying to cut costs on the build there is not a stringer anywhere and they put normal ply and pine into the build they are a great design but like the Bluebirds they. Built they all went backwards after Baker built them.

Zzzzzz I own a mark 3 and dispute your comments. Hopefully you weren't trying to be insulting.

I'd take her anywhere, the fact that she's been up and down the coast with various owners for almost 40 years should be testament enough.

Let's see how the more modern boats made in the last 10 years fare in 20-30 years time.

The call "modern boats will fall apart when they get to be 20 years old" has been going around for at least 33 years that I know of.

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MichaelR said..
Zzzzzz I own a mark 3 and dispute your comments. Hopefully you weren't trying to be insulting.

I'd take her anywhere, the fact that she's been up and down the coast with various owners for almost 40 years should be testament enough.

Let's see how the more modern boats made in the last 10 years fare in 20-30 years time.

I have no idea why you would even contemplate that I was being insulting????
having owned a number of Tophat yachts I have just stated my truth , the newer Tophats are nowhere near as well built as the Baker built yachts.
Not only was it cheaper to Tab in fibreglass furniture over a built in timber fitout , it is also more prone to delaminating if the hull is working in a seaway, Personally the thoughts of ribs and stringers is very reassuring.
i am well aware of the journeys made in a Tophat yacht, Illingworth designed. A fantastic boat .

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Zzzzzz said..

MichaelR said..
Zzzzzz I own a mark 3 and dispute your comments. Hopefully you weren't trying to be insulting.

I'd take her anywhere, the fact that she's been up and down the coast with various owners for almost 40 years should be testament enough.

Let's see how the more modern boats made in the last 10 years fare in 20-30 years time.

I have no idea why you would even contemplate that I was being insulting????
having owned a number of Tophat yachts I have just stated my truth , the newer Tophats are nowhere near as well built as the Baker built yachts.
Not only was it cheaper to Tab in fibreglass furniture over a built in timber fitout , it is also more prone to delaminating if the hull is working in a seaway, Personally the thoughts of ribs and stringers is very reassuring.
i am well aware of the journeys made in a Tophat yacht, Illingworth designed. A fantastic boat .

All good Zzzzzz, hence my smiley at the beginning of my comment. We all have our differing opinions of how we'll boats are built.

If if you read the info on when Rob Legg was experimenting with fibreglass, they never really knew it's limits when they first tried making boats with it. Hence a lot were overbuilt in their first iterations, then later models were "just enough" At least, that's what I take from it.

Fair winds

What timber fitouts on Mk 1
1. Main bulkhead and forepeak
2.plywood stringer which form the bunk sides that's it
Mk 2 and 3 plywood bulkheads and glassed in furniture probably stronger
Same basically?

triton 28 , 24 ..............compass 28 northwind 7 sonata 7 and 6 farr 750

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Donk107 said..
I know that the Walker H28 that my mate owns looks to be built stronger than my similar design Walker Sailmaster 845 of the same era but in a original newspaper article on the Sailmaster it says that the Sailmaster was designed as a lighter faster version of the H28 so this makes sense

Racing around the cans the Sailmaster is quicker but if I was crossing oceans I would rather be on the H28

you can can see in the two photos below the extra ribbing in the H28 bow

Regards Don

That's a great example Don.

Just to add to how strong the walker H28 boats are, during the refit of mine the average hull thickness was nearly 8mm. That picture is with about 3mm ground out for the repair and a new skin fitting

Not sure why the Cavalier 28 has not been mentioned in this thread. A superb all rounder and very well built.

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r13 said..
Not sure why the Cavalier 28 has not been mentioned in this thread. A superb all rounder and very well built.

+1

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r13 said..
Not sure why the Cavalier 28 has not been mentioned in this thread. A superb all rounder and very well built.

+1

I reckon you can't go past a Santana 28 for a good, well designed, very solid boat.

Isn't he looking for Under 28 ft.

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Bananabender said..
Isn't he looking for Under 28 ft.

That's true.....but then why is the Cav 28 getting a mention ???.

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samsturdy said..

Bananabender said..
Isn't he looking for Under 28 ft.

That's true.....but then why is the Cav 28 getting a mention ???.

Because some don't read the question.

the cav 26 is a great boat as well .....

First post ...Columbia 22 built in Melbourne ( by international marine) ROCK SOLID take you any where on the bay or further if you seek new horizons, Great single handed yacht .....amazing amount of room down below. biggest double bunk forward , galley dinnette
www.columbia-yachts.com/c-22.html
www.google.com.au/search?q=columbia+22&client=opera&hs=DOR&sa=X&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=0iQI9kENmQwD0M%253A%252CIF3TyUXguVsOLM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kRZKrVDkYgwsXMD3Mv_0BHRKueOJQ&ved=2ahUKEwiUnuaSzM3kAhXTILcAHa4VBzgQ_h0wD3oECAwQCg&biw=1880&bih=938#imgrc=0iQI9kENmQwD0M: sails faster than you think have a good sail plan 6 Knots down wind is not dreamin
sail away

What about the mighty Northshore 27, I have plenty of photos of how they are put together if anyone is interested. Chain plate attachements, rudder fixtures, keel bolts, deck sandwich etc.

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keensailor said..
What about the mighty Northshore 27, I have plenty of photos of how they are put together if anyone is interested. Chain plate attachements, rudder fixtures, keel bolts, deck sandwich etc.

yes !! how could we have forgotten the NS 27 great boats !!!!!!!!