Boat Plans At Mystic Seaport | Hout Bay 30 33 40 50

Boat Plans At Mystic Seaport

"Spirit of Victoria" is a Hout Bay 50 open excursion boat operating daily
from the Cape Town Waterfront. Licensed for 40 passengers.
Operates in up to 50 knots of wind - the picture above shows 40+.
Normal crewing complement of two!

After taking a good look at these traditional (Dudley Dix) designs I sometimes wonder if the current design culture of "modern" cruising yachts has completely lost the plot!

For me, it has been a startling revelation to find these traditional steel "low-tech" Hout Bay designs are actually superior to most modern designs of high-tech sloop-type cruising boats, in respect of practically all things that matter to cruisers... Their only compromise being nth-degree upwind performance, for course racing etc. Or to put it another way, the obsession with upwind performance has massively compromised the design of contemporary cruising boats in all but one area - that of upwind racing, which is of course the one exact thing that doesnt really matter to cruisers.

Nearly everything that makes a sailboat expensive has to do with upwind racing. Be it the tall multi-spreader rigs, the winches, furling systems, carbon-fibre bits, deep bulb-keels, lightweight hulls and engines -  these things serve limited or zero purpose off the wind! And worse than that, they actually compromise almost every aspect of a sailboats function when not actively beating - in which case a bulb keel is a drag, a low aspect rig is better, a longish keel for tracking and stability, light bendy masts not required etc etc.

This is a fine looking Hout Bay 33, home built in Knysna,
and now resident at Hout Bay Yacht Club.

Thats not to say simple traditional rigs dont sail well upwind - they really do these days as long as they have decent keels - which the old gaffers seldom did unfortunately. The Hout Bays do have decent keels - they sail very well upwind. And now I will argue they do better at everything else that matters to cruisers, commercial workboats or charter boats, at a fraction of the price!

Strength:
The Hout Bays are all of robust steel construction. I have nothing against Ply and GRP - they have their merits - but when it comes to things that go bump in the night, tying up in fishing harbours, rafting for Panama, or the occasional grounding - steel has a definite advantage. Leave your boat in a foreign port for a few weeks while you have to go home or whatever, or on the hard during hurricane season - you sleep better with a steel boat for sure.

Simplicity:
The simple rigs, steel hull and generally low-tech nature make for easy maintenance that anyone can do anywhere. Everything comes from the hardware shop, not the boat shop. Given the Hout Bay 40 and 50 gaff rigs, I think they could be sourced entirely from the farmers co-op! Even the mast is a simple steel pole, with galvanised wire rigging.... Spectra, stainless steel, fancy winches not required. Homemade blocks are used and large wooden spars.

Rig on "Spirit of Victoria" - Hout Bay 50
Solid Steel poles for the masts, galvanised wire stays.
Simple halyards with blocks.
Its all open and accessible and fixable.

Passagemaking:
These traditional rigs do very well on all points of sail, and the low aspect gaffs really do well off the wind and while reaching. But these Hout Bays have huge load carrying capacity - for example the Hout Bay 50 is rated for 10T of load! This makes it possible to install a large simple engine and a few tons of diesel. And we all know passage-making times are often determined by the fuel available. Never mind ghosting over the ITCZ with drifters etc when you have loads of fuel and a long-life engine. Consider also bringing a boat back from say the Caribbean to South Africa. Motor straight back through the ITCZ and the South Atlantic high in about 4 weeks, or sail down via Brazil and the Southern Ocean in double that time, in rough seas and cold? Rhetorical question for most. These are excellent long-range motor-sailers. Under sail alone, the Hout Bay 50 "Cape Rose", a Gaff Schooner, once covered 1200 miles in 6 days under sail, a very credible log for even a racing boat.

Accommodation
Internal capacity of the Hout Bays is unbeatable for their length. Big tick for liveaboard, charter or workboat. There is a lot of boat in the length. A Hout Bay 50 displaces almost 21T to the waterline. The hull designs are moderate and fairly deep, with fine bows, making them comfortable in a seaway. They are also amazingly stiff. Because you saved so much on the build, the furnishings below can be awesome....

This is a HB70 example interior. That champagne is a Magnum!

Example interior of Cape Rose, an HB-50.
Engine midships under the saloon table,
 great for access but also weight distribution.

Handling
The generous rudders placed well aft allow good steering under sail and in marinas. The moderate (longish) keels make for excellent tracking and stability - in many cases self-steering isnt even required. I recall reading how one of them sailed straight without auto-pilot for about ten days returning from St Helena I think. The traditional rigs offer a relatively low centre of effort, and present far less rolling and broaching opportunities than a "tallmast" outfit sailing downwind. The "Spirit of Victoria" is a Hout Bay 50 operating from the Cape Town Waterfront. It is a Gaff Schooner, and is operated by just two crew, with up to 40 passengers, in winds up to 50 knots. The other rigs will be even easier.

Longish /Moderate keels.
Rudder well aft.

Looks

The Hout Bay 30 and 33 are fine looking boats with a classic and practical look about them. Understated and elegant, they look the business. This one is a nice plain simple sloop.

Hout Bay 33 in Hout Bay!
Very easy on the eye, it will go anywhere.

Simple transom-hung rudder with tiller.
Steel railings.

The Hout Bay 40 and larger are spectacular and traditional, especially the Schooner options - either the Gaff or the Marconi Staysail Schooner. You can do the Chesapeake Classic Schooner race in one of these! For some reason I am beginning to prefer these to Sloops. One has to admit, the looks of a boat are really quite important to the whole sailing experience. Nothing worse than arriving in port with an ugly slab-sided boat - people think youre an aesthetically challenged squatter. Well maybe there is one thing worse - a fancy modern tupperware - in which case you come across as a poser from Wall Street or some such thing. But arrive in a Gaff-Ketch with traditional sails and people will buy you beer (maybe even rum), whilst admiring your senses of taste, traditionalism, wisdom and wonderful seamanship. Add a pipe and a beard and you will soon be fully booked for pirate parties. Bonus - no-one will know you have a brilliant motorboat hidden below all those ropes and climbing ladders!

How can you beat this for sheer spirit?

Rigs

Beautiful Gaff  Schooner  for the HB 40 and up.
Versatile, inexpensive, low-tech.

Marconi Staysail Schooner on the HB 40 and up.
Very easy handling.

Various other rigs are available - including a Gaff cutter, and a Marconi Cutter, each with their own merits. Links are provided below to the detail specs of each design on Dudleys website.

Versatility

I have already mentioned these boats sail well, motor well and are practical for all sorts of options and places. The gaff rig particularly appeals because the air-draft is quite low (Inland waterways), while the Hout Bay 40 offers the option of a shallow keel (1.3m) - European canals anyone? The gaff masts would be fairly easy to lower and stow on deck. And then of course you could go around the Horn or the North West passage too.

So which does one chose from the Shearwater, the Dix 43, or the Hout Bay 40 or 50? I dont think I can afford the wine for that debate - but I reckon one could cobble together a Hout Bay 50 gaffer for about the same budget as a Shearwater 39 or a Dix 43. Just saying....

So there you have it - a simple traditional boat that works better, looks better and is far cheaper than that cruise-adapted race boat you used to think was perfect. Or maybe that was me.... Anyway - theres a whole lot more to these great boats than meets the eye!

Links:

• Hout Bay 30
• Hout Bay 33
• Hout Bay 40
• Hout Bay 50

There is also a Hout Bay 70, and 65. See www.dixdesign.com

One other thing - the Pratique 35 is really part of the same family.

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Boat Plans Catamaran | The Sad Story of SV Tara

Boat Plans Catamaran

This post is dedicated to the memory of George Mills and Rachel Daly, 

and in support of PJ Daly, the sole survivor of this tragic accident.

Tara, a beautiful 47 Holman and Pye Traditional Wooden Yawl.
Solidly constructed of Mahogany Planks over Oak frames,
she was a strong and well-found vessel displacing 13 Tons.

Images of Tara before the wreck courtesy of Roy McBride of CKD Boats. See his excellent blog here.

George Mills, Taras most recent owner. Larger than life, and very humble at the same time.
George was a true Scot, a true sailor, happy soul, and an enthusiast of Traditional Scottish Music.
You just have to see this impromptu recording of George in action at HBYC just a few days before this accident.

Taras most recent owner was George Mills, a member of both Hout Bay and Royal Cape Yacht Clubs. Sadly, George perished along with Rachel Daly at approximately 3 a.m. on Monday 1 Feb 2016, when this boat was wrecked near Bokpunt on the Cape West Coast (near Yzerfontein, South Africa). We have a short tribute to him and the crew (all wonderful people and well known at HBYC) - on the club website. Georges death was widely reported in several UK newspapers including The Sun, The Daily Record, The Daily Mail, The Scotman as well as a number of local news agencies.

George spent a lot of time on this boat and kept her immaculate.
Tara also served as the Committee Boat for the previous two
Admirals Regattas at HBYC, with George at the helm.

Yesterday, just six days after the accident, a gathering was held up at the site of the wreck, in a small bay (now called Tara Bay by those who knew George). This is a very remote and wild piece of coast, access possible only with 4x4s or similar vehicles. A number of folk arrived on horseback too from Ganzekraal.

Some beautiful bunches of flowers placed in a remnant of the hull,
 in memory of George and Rachel.

A few of the 4x4 arrivals from HBYC at Bokpunt.

The stern section of the hull was the only piece "in shape"

Friends of George, PJ and Rachel examining the wreck.
Tara had received a severe pounding on the rocks and the remnants
had been prepared for recovery in small piles.

"Bill" (surname unknown to me) - manager of the Bokpunt conservation area - related the events as he recalled. Tara had wrecked at around 3 am Monday morning, in pitch darkness and heavy mist (suspected possible auto-pilot error - but  investigation still in progress). PJ had scrambled ashore and found the vehicle track along this part of the shore. Fortuitously he followed it Southwards and found the (completely unlit) cottage of Bill about two kilometres further down. He (PJ) banged loudly on the door, as one would expect. An equally shaken Bill responded and together they set off back down the track to locate the wreck in the dark. The managed to spot a small section of the mast pointing upwards and so found the wreck. Bill (via his wife in Cape Town at the time) raised the alarm and a fast and well coordinated disaster plan was effected, including National Sea Rescue and all the related disaster teams. By 9 am the project was complete, save for the visit of SAMSA (SA Marine Safety Authorities), who arrived just two hours later.

I came to know of this tragedy earlier in the week, and we posted a piece in memorial in the HBYC Club website, and laid flowers in the club. I knew George personally via HBYC and had many good drinks with him. But I must confess that this memorial visit to the wreck was absolutely chilling. Besides the human aspect, seeing this beautiful yacht so completely smashed up - along with the rawness of this bleak and vicious coastline - was quite disturbing. To think it all happened in the middle of the night, with dense fog, must have been a complete nightmare.

Go well George, Go well Rachel. 
Our thoughts are now very much with PJ.

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