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37-595: The Cape Cod Cat , also called the Cape Cod Cat 17 and the Hermann Cat , is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Charles Whittholz as a day sailer / cruiser and first built in 1968. The Cape Cod Cat is a modernized development of the traditional catboat designs of the Cape Cod region. The design was originally built by Ted Hermann's Boat Shop starting in 1968 and later by Cape Cod Shipbuilding in

74-419: A plumb stem , an angled transom , a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed fin keel or optional keel and centerboard combination. It displaces 2,200 lb (998 kg) and carries 500 lb (227 kg) of lead ballast. The keel-equipped version of the boat has a draft of 1.92 ft (0.59 m), while the centerboard-equipped version has a draft of 4.83 ft (1.47 m) with

111-520: A breeze." Trailer sailer Trailer sailers are used for both racing and recreation and are popular with small families and retirees. They occupy a space between smaller trailerable sailing dinghies which are intended for day use and larger boats which can only be removed from the water with specialised equipment such as boat lifting cranes . Unlike dinghies, many feature enclosed cabins which allow for overnight sleeping and dry storage. Most trailer sailers also feature ballast , either fixed or in

148-580: A keel version and a centerboard version are available, with sales to date giving a two-to-one preference to the keel, undoubtedly because there is then no trunk in either cockpit or cabin ... While indigenous to the Cape, the boat may also be found in the Great Lakes and Florida, and on the West Coast." In a 2010 review Steve Henkel wrote, "The "CCC" is traditional and salty looking, with ample ability to cruise two for

185-471: A minimum allowable weight. Often, the actual weight of the car is lower, so ballast is used to bring it up to the minimum. The advantage is that the ballast can be positioned to affect the car's handling by changing its load distribution . This is near-universal in Formula 1 . It is also common in other racing series that ballast may only be located in certain positions on the car. In some racing series, for example

222-664: A motor for docking and maneuvering. Most trailer sailers use outboard motors , which are best suited to sailboats 28 ft in length and under. Outboards offer the advantage of being light, easy to use and maintain and are also inexpensive, as they are commercially produced on a large scale and sold off-the-shelf. They can also be raised out of the water, to eliminate drag when sailing. This contrasts with inboard diesel engines which are heavy and occupy significant internal space and are best suited to larger vessels. Outboard motors used for trailer sailers need to be geared down as trailer sailers sail at slow displacement speeds compared to

259-439: A pivoting rudder and easily rigged mast to make getting the boat from the trailer to the water easy to accomplish. It also has a beam of 7.82 ft (2.38 m), under the 8.00 ft (2.44 m) width limit for highway trailers. On the design limitations of trailerable boats with flooding water ballast, Cruising World writer Bill Lee said in 1996: The geometry required to make a trailerable flooding-ballast boat function

296-431: A portable toilet, mounted in the bow V-berth area of the cabin. Some larger boats however have an enclosed toilet. Trailer sailers, by necessity, must be transported by trailer, which places a number of restrictions on their design. To make them easy to launch, retrieve and transport by trailer, boats cannot have long fixed keels . Therefore, most trailer sailers have swing keel centreboards or daggerboards . Generally

333-433: A small four person table with club seating. Boats may or may not have a small galley with a stove, a food preparation area and a sink. In terms of headroom, the smallest types do not have sitting head room for taller sailors, while only the largest have standing headroom. Some boats address this problem using cabin pop-tops that can be raised when not underway to provide additional head room. The smallest trailer sailers in

370-423: A swinging centreboard or dagger board to make them easier to launch and retrieve. This makes these boats more stable than a dinghy, as well as less prone to capsize and more capable of self-righting. Sails on trailer sailers can also be lowered easily on water unlike dinghies which are often rigged fully on the shore. Trailer sailers offer a number of advantages over larger boats that are impractical to tow on

407-514: A trailer sailer should be towable behind a vehicle without special licences for oversized loads. This means that the beam is usually limited to approximately 8 ft (2.44 m) depending on jurisdiction. The practical limit for the length of such boats is 26 ft (7.92 m), although some trailer sailers such as the Robb Legg 28 or the Gougeon 32 are longer. Weight limitations are determined by

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444-539: A trailer. Because they can be towed and stored at home, owners can avoid the mooring fees and maintenance costs of boats that remain in the water. Towing is also a relatively fast and efficient way of reaching new destinations from which to sail. However, they generally have less living space. All but the biggest do not have standing room in their cabins. Moreover, trailer sailers are generally more lightly-built and ballasted, making them incapable of tackling open oceans, confining them to coastal and protected waters. Due to

481-414: A week or more. The author owned Pipit , Hermann Cat hull #18, for several years, and sailed and trailered her all over New England ... The builder offers her either as a centerboarder ... or as a very shoal draft (1' 11") keel cat—not deep enough to give her satisfactory performance to windward. Best features: A big sail and low wetted surface make her quicker than her comp[etitor]s in light air. Layout below

518-423: Is a boat 25.82 ft (7.87 m) in length, but that weighs 1,650 lb (748 kg) empty and dry and carries 1,200 lb (544 kg) of flooding water ballast in tanks which are filled when the boat is launched and drained when the boat is removed from the water, thus making the boat lighter to transport than if it used more traditional iron or lead ballast. The design also has a pivoting centreboard, plus

555-400: Is an absence of an accepted definition of the term. Cabins in trailer sailers are usually arranged with dual purpose settee- berths running along the side of the boat from a V-berth at the bow, to quarter berths underneath the cockpit . Usually, the centreboard or daggerboard trunk encroaches into the cabin in the middle of the boat, but can form the base for a folding table. Some types have

592-446: Is on a limited budget but wants a refined, good sailing, capable boat, one should consider a previously owned ... fixed-keel vessel. Most trailer sailers use a Bermuda rig with one stayed mast , a mainsail and a single foresail . Masts can be raised by attaching them to the deck and walking them up. This is practical on smaller boats with lightweight masts, but as larger boats have longer and heavier masts. On such boats, raising

629-654: Is particularly notable as it continues in production, with over 15,000 built. Trailer cabin sailboats appeared on the US market in 1970 and were sailed on small lakes and rivers. A large number were initially sold in North America in areas such as Arizona , New Mexico and the Great Lakes region. In the late 1980s and early 1990s trailer sailers evolved into sportsboats , of a similar size but more optimised for racing speed with reduced accommodation and lightweight hulls. There

666-439: Is perfect for two—especially if a forward hatch is added over the head, as the author did on Pipit . Worst features: Partly due to her hourglass hull form, she can become overpowered and hard to steer upwind under full sail at about 12 knots of breeze, until a reef is tucked in—a chore which is not difficult if jiffy reefing is used. Also, her cockpit footwell is too wide to provide a good footrest for some folks when she's heeled in

703-403: Is sleeping accommodation for two people below decks along with space for a sink, shelving and lockers for stowage, a head , as well as a stove for cooking. The fresh water tank has a capacity of 17 U.S. gallons (64 L; 14 imp gal). In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood described it as, "a modern version of the classic catboat found near Cape Cod, this cat is produced in fiberglass. Both

740-433: Is such that they are a little awkward in appearance. This is accentuated by the high freeboard and narrow beam required to meet highway trailering limits ... Such boats almost always score poorly relative to their fixed keel counterparts in both sailing performance and power to carry sail. Apart from issues of portability and low cost, the more conventional fixed-keel boats ... are superior ... in most respects. Certainly if one

777-518: The Silhouette , in the early 1950s. His concept was to build a small boat suitable for overnight camping, which could be trailed to different locations behind a small car. It is thought that over 3000 of this type have been built. In the mid-1950s, Richard Hartley of New Zealand designed the Hartley TS16 , a 16 ft long trailer sailer with a towing weight of 600 kilograms (1,300 lb). The TS16

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814-479: The United States , but it is now out of production. Cape Cod Shipbuilding indicates that it still has the molds and can put the boat back into production, if a fleet order is received. The Cape Cod Cat is a recreational centerboard boat or keelboat , built predominantly of fiberglass , with teak wood trim. It is a gaff rigged catboat with aluminum spars, although a Bermuda rig was optional. The hull has

851-447: The gondola of a balloon or airship , to provide stability . A compartment within a boat, ship, submarine , or other floating structure that holds water is called a ballast tank . Water should be moved in and out from the ballast tank to balance the ship. In a vessel that travels on the water, the ballast will be kept below the water level, to counteract the effects of weight above the water level. The ballast may be redistributed in

888-466: The sail . Insufficiently ballasted boats will tend to tip, or heel, excessively in high winds. Too much heel may result in the boat capsizing . If a sailing vessel should need to voyage without cargo then ballast of little or no value would be loaded to keep the vessel upright. Some or all of this ballast would then be discarded when cargo was loaded. Ballast weight is also added to a race car to alter its performance. In most racing series, cars have

925-401: The 14 feet (4.3 m) range generally have two berths. As boats become larger four berths are commonly fitted, with a V-berth at the bow and quarter berths at the rear. Larger boats might have up to six berths. Many trailer sailers have a small galley with a stove, built in, although on smaller trailer sailers, this may be omitted. Usually, trailer sailers have a head , which is most commonly

962-529: The United States used rubble as ballast. The ballast would be dumped in New York and used for construction projects such as FDR Drive and an outcrop colloquially named Bristol Basin since it was made from rubble from bombed-out Bristol . Ballast takes many forms, for example: Sailing ballast is used in sailboats to provide righting moment to resist the overturning moment generated by lateral forces on

999-420: The advantage of using equipment that is already on the boat. A second method is to attach two poles called shear legs in an A-frame configuration with poles running from the sheer to meet above the boat. The mast can then be hauled upward using the forestay . This method requires additional equipment. A third method is to attach a pole to the winch post on the trailer and haul the mast upwards once again with

1036-399: The ballast contrary to orders, in the belief that the pumps would take care of it." In the nineteenth century, cargo boats returning from Europe to North America would carry quarried stone as ballast, contributing to the architectural heritage of some east coast cities (for example Montreal ), where this stone was used in building. During World War 2 ships returning from Great Britain to

1073-406: The boat rides over waves. Trailer sailers usually carry anchoring equipment. Due to their small size, the tackle is also light and can be lowered and raised by hand. Therefore power winches are unnecessary. Ballast Ballast is dense material used as a weight to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo , may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or

1110-420: The centerboard extended and 1.67 ft (0.51 m) with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer . The keel version of the boat may be fitted with a diesel or gasoline inboard engine . Alternatively both versions may be fitted with a transom engine mount for a small outboard motor for docking and maneuvering. The design has a self-draining cockpit that can seat six. There

1147-435: The forestay, which also requires additional equipment. As the mast is being raised, it must be tensioned laterally. In many boats, the sidestays are not attached to the deck close to the axis of rotation of the mast and therefore tighten or loosen as the mast raises. The mast can be either held straight by a second person, or with temporary babystays mounted close to the masts axis of rotation. Trailer sailers usually have

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1184-419: The higher planing speeds of powerboats, which are the most common application for outboard motors. Outboards are often mounted on the transom , with some boats mounting them in a well, also at the stern. Outboards may be mounted on a lifting mount, to allow them to be raised up out of the water. Long shaft outboard motors are advantageous, as they prevent the propeller from exiting the water and over-speeding when

1221-447: The limitations of trailer capacity, towing vehicle size and weight, as well as highway width limitations, most trailer sailboats are limited in size to about 22 to 26 ft (6.7 to 7.9 m) in length and beams of 8 ft (2.4 m). The first trailer sailers were built in the 1950s. They were light, marine plywood boats designed for home builders. Robert Tucker in the UK designed

1258-415: The mast by brute force requires significant strength and is beyond the abilities of smaller, frail and short-handed crews. Therefore, many designs employ mast raising systems to make the task easier. Methods vary but can be classed into three groups. One method is to use the boom as a gin pole , laying the mast on deck, with the boom at right angles. Hauling on the boom then raises the mast. This method has

1295-720: The towing vehicle. Smaller trailer sailers can weigh 500 kg (1,100 lb) or less and can easily be towed behind average cars, while larger, heavily ballasted trailer sailers can weigh over 2,000 kg (4,400 lb) require heavy vehicles with specialised towing equipment. Larger trailer sailers over 26 ft are difficult to tow and are sometimes kept in the water and only placed on their trailers for occasional towing or storage. Trailer sailer masts must be lowered for towing. This becomes difficult on larger boats with heavier, longer masts. Such boats require complex mast raising systems. Some sailboat designs for trailering incorporate special features. The MacGregor 26S , for example

1332-525: The vessel or disposed of altogether to change its effects on the movement of the vessel. The basic concept behind the ballast tank can be seen in many forms of aquatic life, such as the blowfish or members of the argonaut group of octopus . The concept has been invented and reinvented many times by humans to serve a variety of purposes. In the fifteenth and sixteenth century, the ballast "did not consist entirely of leakage, but of urine, vomit, and various foul food leavings that lazy sailors discharged into

1369-520: Was built in large numbers in New Zealand and Australia, spurring the popularity of trailer sailers in these countries. Over 12,000 boats of this type have been built. The advent of mass production fibreglass boats in the mid 1960s saw an expansion of trailer sailer designs, such as the Aquarius 21 Boomerang 20 , Cal 21 , Careel 18 , Neptune 16 , and Pearson 22. The Catalina 22 ,launched in 1969,

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