The differences between the Stevenson's Design Pocket Cruiser and the Classic Cape Cod catboat are really insignificant. The things that make the difference are the constraints of design between wood strips on frame, molded fiberglass, and plywood construction.
The Catboat Association defines a catboat as— a boat traditionally fitted with a gaff-rigged sail on a single mast set well up in the eyes of the boat. Cruising catboats have cabins and normally range in the overall length from 14 to 26 feet. Others are fully or partially decked and suitable for day- sailing or camp cruising. They are beamy boats with their breadth being from 1/3 to 1/2 of their length. Most cats are round bottomed and have a centerboard although some have keels. Many have an overhung or Barn Door rudder, but some are built with an underslung rudder. There are many different types and variations of the catboat. Charles Wittholz, a noteworthy Naval architect has successfully adapted several catboats for plywood construction, having a hard chine and a vee bottom.
The
catboat was used by the watermen to oyster, lobster and to fish for marlin
and sailfish, they could take them off shore to catch lobster and marlin,
or sail into the shallows to oyster, as it only drew a couple of feet
of water and was quite stable. They were often racing against other boats
to be the first back and get the best price for their catch. The well-to-do
yachtsmen of their day saw the merits of the boat's design and it became
popular with the yachting crowd. They competed and were constantly adding
more mast and canvas to the boats in an effort to be the fastest. They
declined in favor with the advent of the Marconi rig (triangular sail),
and sloops took over the spotlight.
The true, traditional cat has a round or vee bottom and heavy framing, which allows the boat to roll some and avoid the chop that is characteristic of the flat bottom design.
The Stevenson's version, however, is a flat-bottomed skiff, using minimum framing and twin bilge boards to cut down on the wasted space of a centerboard. It is a good compromise between the extensively built traditional boat and the plastic boat. In addition, the Stevenson version works well as either a daysailer or a weekender. Also, the formula of length to width in the Stevenson version is consistent with the catboat as well as the placement of the mast.
Sailing in the Stevenson Pocket Cruiser is usually a nice ride, but you need to be vigilant that the wind doesn't get up too much. When it does, you'll be fighting a weather helm and will need to take a reef in the sail. It sails pretty flat as there is a lot beam to heel over. In fact, I don't think it's possible to knock down the boat; you'll most likely break the tiller, or the boat will round up into the wind.
The sloop sail set up that is used on the Stevenson Pocket Cruiser is not out of line with the Catboat concept. Many of the older cats, in fact, packed jibs and set so much sail that they were in constant danger of capsizing. When I built the Stevenson Pocket Cruiser, I increased the size proportionally to 124 per cent.
I submitted my enlarged version of the Stevenson Pocket Cruiser to the Chesapeake Catboat Association, and the design was immediately accepted as being a true catboat! The only caveat was that the mast was too far back and the boat needed more sail area.
So, here is the 124% P.C. with a new mast and sail. The sail area is 197 square feet and the boom is 16 feet long. The mast is from a Marshall Sanderling and is 21 feet tall.
For more information, see the Catboat Association website— http://www.catboats.org
For a closer look at a Herreshoff 18-foot catboat, see Mary Rose Shaughnessy's
website.
She sailed her boat in Lake Michigan for 15 years— http://www.shaughnessy.us/Sailing.html
Back Yard Yacht Builders
A non-commercial association of amateur boat-builder enthusiasts.
All our wooden boats are Stevenson designs.