What is this boat?

rogerbum":25midfdv said:
The Maple Bay is a fiberglass hull, the Devlins are wood. I love the way the Devlins look and the way they are laid out BUT no way to I want the maintenance associated with a wood hull. Practicality is in the eyes of the beholder.

Also, just a question for the experts here (Bob?). I noticed that the Maple Bay has a "canoe" like stern where as the Devlin is more flat. I assume the Maple Bay would be better in following seas as a result but I have no practical experience in this regard. Who can comment on this?

The exterior of most Devlin boats is epoxy over wood -- there is not much more exposed wood trim than on your typical Grand Banks. Prolly more brightwork than I would want, but certainly not what an older wood boat would require.

To address what Jim said, I am not interested in moving up from the Tom Cat unless and until it is something in the 40-50' range, and that will be for a long multi-year coastal cruise. But I like boats and learning about them, and this one was quite unusual, hence it piqued my interest.

All the boats I am interested in -- such as the Willards, Kadey-Krogens, some DeFevers, Nordhavn (I wish!) -- have a stern like on the Maple Bay. They are blue-water boats. Read Beebe's Voyaging Under Power for more on this.

Warren
 
Roger-

I'll certainly defer to Bob on the final say on the canoe stern issue, but I'm sure you're thinking right about the rounded canoe stern being better in a following sea that a flat stern. Just think about what shape the hull presents to the powerful waves approaching from the rear

I'd also think a true double-ender would be even better, as found in many heavy weather tolerant sailboats of traditional European design. Some of those have very small cut-off transoms, which are essentially the same as a double-ender.

Some folks make the mistake of taking a coastal cruiser type sailboat across the Atlantic and find out that there's a big difference between a pretty fiberglass coastal or bay cruiser that's at home in, say, Southern California, but not in the real ocean.

If they don't learn otherwise in a Mexican or Carribean tropical storm or hurricane, the Northern Atlantic will make 'em wish they had a heavy boat of a storm-tested design.

The key elements: lots of ballast, a full keel, a moderate sail area divided into easily handled segments, a over-built mast section with heavy rigging, a double ended or nearly so hull of at least 35 feet or so, fully fortified hatches and vents, plenty of hand and safety rails, large redundant bilge pumps, etc.... all of these are things that allow the storm to pass over you safely, since you usually can't avoid it. And not that you have to have all of these elements in their ultimate form, but you get the idea, of course.

(Pardon the extra comments, we sailors just can't get it out of our blood, you know!)

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
The boat is a Maple Bay 27 built by Dallas Selman, Motorboat Industries in Cobble Hill BC, circa mid to late 80's, maybe early 90's. Dallas eventually sold the company and became a Marine Surveyor. He retired this month. :)

MBI also built the Target 22 yacht a similar but smaller design.
 
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