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New! Topsail 18
BACKGROUND: Although you may may not know (or care!), I spent eight years in the UK, sailing an 'old gaffer' in the North Sea in my spare time. I grew to appreciate these boats, not only for their traditional style, but also their outstanding seaworthiness, sailing performance, and enormous space per given hull-length. When I returned to this country, I could find no real substitute in the sail boats that are generally available here, and decided to come up with a design of my own. I chose Paul Gartside of Canada as my designer, and we worked closely together for almost two years to come up with a small, yet very able gaff-rigged cutter. The envisioned customer for a boat of this type, is primarily young couples who are looking for a really traditional-looking boat with comfortable weekend accommodations, true seaworthiness for any imaginable sea-conditions, good sailing and motoring performance, as well as the ability to trailer the boat home to the garage in Autumn for Winter maintenance. Sounds like a tall order? Ladies & gentlemen, I present to you The 'Topsail 18!'
THE BOAT: The Topsail 18 is a traditional gaff-cutter of essentially Cornish ancestry, but with a number of twists and blended characteristics of several different boat-types. The hull is just 18' long, with a beam of 7', on a draft of 3 1/2'. A close examination of the hull lines will show elements of the Friendship sloop, the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter, and even the Cape Cod Catboat! The rig is a high-aspect cutter, which (including the jackyard topsail)provides over 365 sq ft in sail area, which for an 18' boat, is quite enormous! Further, because this is a gaff cutter rig, the sail combinations can be easily used to deal with specific weather conditions/desired performance, as well as simply reefing. The weight of the Topsail 18 is nearly two tons (3900 lbs), which means she is no lightweight and not liable to sudden movements of any kind, but still light enough to be towed by most SUV's. This is NOT a dinghy, but in behavior is actually a very small ship! Sailing, the Topsail 18 can be expected to reach 6 Knots or better (for some reason, the old 'hull-speed' rules just don't seem to apply to these type of boats, and I have reached up to 7 knots in a 16' version that was clocked by a racing boat on a parallel course!). A final note on the hull shape; unlike the old English originals, we have placed the maximum beam aft of the center of the boat, which in combination with the very powerful quarter lines and firm bilges means this is a very stiff little boat indeed! The ballast being spread over the full length of the keel also guarantees a very smooth motion at sea, without the 'hobby-horsing' common in fin keel designs.
UNIQUE CHARCTERISTICS: Unlike the usual traditional gaffer, the Topsail 18 takes advantage of a number clever features either not thought of, or not available to the mariners of old. The first trick involves the bowsprit! While bowsprits have often been the cause of concern to gaffer sailers in the past, the Topsail 18's sprit swivels up on it's heel by means of the spinnaker halliard when not in use, which means not only is the boat a little easier to maneuver in tight marinas, but when tied up results in a marina fee for an 18' boat, not a 25' boat which would otherwise be the case! Down below, there is a compression post, which transfers the weight of the mast in it's tabernacle when underway, but once moored, the compression post gets removed, so as to allow a full 78" x 60" double berth without obstruction! The next special feature involves the porta-potty (yes, we have one of those too!). Ours has two separate positions, depending on whether the boat is underway or moored. At sea, the porta-potty is located under a central panel in the double berth below (see plan), but once moored, the porta-potty can be moved into the aft lazarette! This not only frees up the cabin for cooking, sleeping, etc, but with the addition of our custom boom-tent, allows for complete privacy for moored toilet use, and turns the entire cockpit into an additional storage area as well!
STANDARD FEATURES: The Topsail 18 comes equipped with four sails as standard; main, jib, staysail and jackyard topsail. Auxiliary engine: Yanmar 1GM10 9HP inboard diesel, with 10 gal fuel tankage. Galley: two-burner CNG stove, 10 gal fresh water tankage. Spars: Douglas fir, with hollow Douglas fir mast. VHF radio with masthead antenna, masthead navigation lights. Porta-potty. All running rigging in braided nylon, with stainless steel standing rigging. Trailer and boom tent additional.
CONSTRUCTION: The first Topsail 18 will be built of wood in traditional style, but not in a traditional manner! The keel is made of laminated yellow cedar with an oak 'shoe,' (outside layer) the frames are of steam-bent oak, with an over-lapping double-planked skin of red cedar and covered with WEST-system epoxy. The solid deck is of 3/4" marine plywood, with a layer of fiberglass and WEST system epoxy to ensure water-tightness. An optional teak-decking can also be arranged. The coachroof trunk is of epoxy-sealed yellow cedar, with a shaped plywood coachroof. Plans are now in motion to produce the Topsail 18 in fiberglass, and pricing for this version will soon be available. Look for the first fiberglass boats in September 2009!
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Topsail Yachts
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The Hummocks 35 North Water Street Portsmouth, RI 02871, USA |
Toll-free 877-369-3584 Tel 401-683-2334/401-714-7912 Fax 401-683-2334 Email Us Eric Husher, OGA |
