sailboat cockpit coamings

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Duracell project: Reinforced coamings for sailboat cockpits

To accommodate the fittings and protect Duracell's new cockpit, Matt manufactures new coamings. Ergonomically and structurally important parts.

A carefully thought-out geometry

The result of Matt's reflections several months earlier on the transformation of Duracell's cockpit for cruising use, the geometry of the coamings has been fixed to meet different needs. A slope at the stern will accommodate the autopilot display and possibly a bow thruster, visible from the helm station. A recess in the coaming will house the larger, aft-most winch, while the forward-most secondary winch and blocker battery will be located on top of the coaming. Part of the interior space will be used to store the crew's minor equipment: telephones, cranks, sun cream...

A structural challenge

Winches and blockers are subjected to considerable stress under sail , transmitted by halyards and sheets. The new coamings need to be sufficiently rigid. Matt therefore uses a sandwich with a core of coosa board, a reinforced foam he has already used in this restoration .

The main winch, partially recessed in the coaming, is bolted directly to the deck through an angled wedge to align with the blockers. The second winch and blockers are reinforced with unidirectional carbon at the base.

Tools and assembly

To complete the project, Matt pays particular attention to the order in which the parts are assembled, in order to keep them aligned. He also makes tooling, such as a circular cutting jig to the size of the winch base.

With its coamings, Duracell gets closer to the definitive back line.

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The Cockpit Coaming which act as Backrests and Cockpit Fence

There is probably a very salty name for this but I don't know it. I'll go for coaming. This is a fence and splash guard, that runs on the inside of the side decks and acts as back rest for the seats. It would also add stiffness to the structure.

I spent some time sanding and smoothing out under the decks. I also added some fillets and a final coat of epoxy. Not much to show. Not my favourite job, but eventually the epoxy was smooth enough for me. Since this will not show, I'm only going to finish enough so that it's waterproof, well glued in and does not snag anything that might get put in there.

I'm getting good use of the Dremel Sander. The triangular foot can get in corners and in narrow areas. The papers are quite expensive and I try to use it sparingly. If I could find large sheets of velcro paper I could cut out the triangles. I'll ask Mr. Amazon if there is any out there.

I also glued in some plywood reinforcements under the spots where I plan to screw on some mooring cleats. This was epoxied in, sanded, and filleted.

I also spent time smoothing out the drainage holes cut in the bulkhead that allow water to move and not pool against the bulkheads.

Fitting the pieces.

I did a final fitting before putting glue on to check that the coaming would go in with no surprises. After a little tweaking it went in.

The piece is stiff and it's tricky to muscle it in place. It slots in between the cuddy side and the carlings that support the deck. It follows the curve of the deck. I'd made the gap just a little too narrow and had to chisel off a layer of ply from the fence. Not difficult when you have sharp just sharpened chisels. --- self satisfied grin goes here.

Eventually I was satisfied it would glue up cleanly so I put some glue down and clamped the coaming in position. We have had very cold weather and the shop is not warm so I had extra working time with the epoxy. It's not complicated but because the plywood needs to bend it was a bit tricky to get it in place and clamp it.

After cleaning up any squeezed out glue and making sure everything was lined up I was able to check everything again and left the epoxy to set. The shop was warming up and I put an extra log on the fire.

Where the fence meets the side of the cuddy, there is a V shaped space that gets a piece of plywood to close in the fence. I cut and fitted this gusset but did not glue it in quite yet. I wanted to have the piece to make sure the angle of the starboard side was the same as the just done port fence.

I spent some time checking the fit of the starboard fence. No surprise there. I went on to glue the second side. There was a slight gap between the coaming and the deck because I had sanded the supporting carling and had rounded the profile very slightly. A little extra epoxy glue fixed that. A quick clean and making sure that the angle of the fence was the same as the other side, I left everything to set.

I'm not sure why this step had worried me but I was relieved that it had gone well. The manual instructions were just a little vague and the photos were not as helpful as I would have liked.

The next step is to fit and glue in the little triangular gusset pieces and put a strip of wood on the outside edge of the coaming.

Both the deck and the coaming have no pencil marks and could be left natural colour. I'm not planning to have a lot of wood showing. I'll decide later. For some reason, varnished wood is a lot more maintenance than painted wood. It's much prettier though.

Both sides glued in and ready for the coaming cap. A strip of wood that gets attached to the edge to strengthen the coaming and get rid of the sharp edge.

With the coaming in place I was able to make a pattern and cut the cuddy side doubler. It reinforces the opening and covers the cuddy side and coaming connection. I noticed that the 2 sides were not absolutely the same. I think this is a result of the bulkhead plywood being slightly warped.

It reinforces the opening of the cuddy.

I glued the doublers and once set, I was able to even out and sand the 2 glued edges. I wanted to do this before closing in the side in case it made it more difficult to access.

I dug up my steaming apparatus. It's a large coffee can with a hole hear the top. There is an insulated curtain rod/pipe that runs to a aluminium dryer vent pipe. I heat the water on a portable induction hotplate. I had a better lid but it rusted so I used a metal plate with bricks on top. It worked well enough. I insulated the pipe with whatever sweater, shirt, scarf and cardboard I had around. The wood is only 5 feet long so it's not a long set up.

I left the wood in the steamer for over an hour. I worked fast to clamp each piece onto the coaming. I left it on for a couple of days and it seemed to work very well.

I'm using ash. There is a great abundance of it right now because all our beautiful ash trees are being decimated by the Chinese Emerald Ash Borer. This wood has been kiln dried in a local mill. It's lovely to work with. I made my gunwales with it as well.

I made a cardboard pattern to fit the gusset and to my everlasting amazement, both sides were exactly the same. I marked the patterns on the plywood, cut it on the band saw and spent some time fitting it into the space.

I cut some bevels on the sides and once I was happy the pieces were fitting well, I glued them in. That proved to be a comedy of errors. I had a huge amount of trouble clamping the pieces in. Eventually I won but it was a good fight. When the epoxy set I was able to round the edge and put small fillets to allow the glass to fit on better. The glass went on without any trouble. It set overnight.

After cleaning up the excess glass cloth and scraping the edges to flatten them I started fitting the coaming cap. There is a small piece to fit along the gusset and the long piece which I had steamed, bent, and clamped. When I took the piece off, quite a lot of it had stuck to the epoxy. I guess the wood was hot enough to slightly soften the set epoxy and under pressure stuck to it. It came off with no damage but the epoxy definitely softened.

It took me a long time to fit the small piece because it's hard to measure and copy the compound angles. Eventually it was good enough. After sanding and roughing up the edges of the coaming and wooden cap, I glued and clamped it in position, cleaned up the squeezed out epoxy and checked that it was in position.

The wood had enough curve because of the steaming, that I did not have any trouble clamping it in place. There was just enough epoxy that squeezed out to show that it was well glued. It will set overnight and I'll finish putting in the small piece.

I'm debating weather I will put some screws in the wood. I'm not completely happy using just glue when the wood is under tension. I'll keep a few clamps on the wood till I have to decide.

I spent some time fitting the smaller pieces at the gusset and very end of the cap. After a quick sand and dust I glued the small pieces front and back.

The 2 sides are now glued and ready to be cleaned up, shaped and sanded. I also have to decide where and how and where to attach the oar locks before I modify the cap.

I like this sort of job. I spent a pleasant few hours listening to music and trimming the coaming caps. (Did you know that Bob Marley actually recorded "I shot the Sheriff" in French?) The front and back were oversize so I used the Japanese saw to get most of it off.

The coaming cap is now smooth. The back is mostly done except for some rounding and sanding on the underside. The front angle is just a bit odd. It comes from the actual angle of the gusset piece. I photographed it at the angle where the bottom looks the worst. I might have to add a small piece of wood to smooth out the flow of the cap and give me the proverbial fair curve.

The coamings are essentially done now. I will use the router to round the profile once I've decided how to install the rowing hardware. I still have to add a whole lot of very visible (so quite scary) fillets.

emails: Christine

If you decide to build a boat be careful. These tools can be dangerous. If you don't know how to safely handle something find out. There are lots of forums out there.

This web site reflects my personal ideas and doesn't represent anyone else's point of view. I don't claim to be an expert in anything, just someone muddling along.

I pay for maintaining this website by having links to Amazon.com. I choose the ads to be relevant to the content. Mostly stuff that I buy myself or lust after. If you buy after clicking one of the links I get a small fee.

I live in a mostly rural area and suppliers of boatbuilding stuff are pretty thin on the ground. Amazon has proved to be a reliable and well priced resource.

If you decide to build a boat be careful. Some of the tools and materials can hurt you. I offer this page for entertainment and don't want to imply that my method or ideas are necessarily the best way to do things. It just worked for me.

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• Sailboat Reviews

Cape Dory 30

Our pick of these boats is a cutter-rigged late model with full-width galley and pedestal steering..

When the Cape Dory 30 entered production in 1976, it was the largest boat in the expanding line of the Taunton, Massachusetts boatbuilder. In 1986, when production ceased, over 350 Cape Dory 30s had been built, and what had been the largest boat in the company’s fleet was one of the smallest.

In 1986, Cape Dory introduced the Cape Dory 30 Mk II, an entirely different boat, designed in-house (rather than by Carl Alberg), longer on the waterline, 1 1/2′ wider, and with a far roomier and more modern interior.

The old Cape Dory 30 was designed as a ketch, with cutter or sloop rigs optional. In the middle of the production run, the more efficient cutter rig replaced the ketch as standard. The ketch remained an option.

The Cape Dory line always consisted of traditional- looking, long-keel cruising boats, and their appeal has been strongest on the East Coast, particularly in New England, a well-known hotbed of sailing reactionaries.

Sailing Performance

No one buys a Cape Dory looking for a flashy speedster. The original ketch rig has a lot of windage, and relatively small, inefficient sails. The rig does, however, give the boat a distinctly “shippy” traditional appearance.

A PHRF rating of about 220 shows the ketch to be a slow boat. By way of contrast, the old original C&C 25 carries about the same rating. The cutter-rigged Cape Dory 30 is about 15 seconds per mile faster.

The Cape Dory 30 was originally equipped with worm gear steering. This type of gear is powerful, foolproof, and requires no steering pedestal in the cockpit. The wheel will also hold the rudder in position without a brake. The disadvantage is that there is almost no rudder feedback, so that it’s hard to tell when the boat is properly balanced. Worm gear steering will not make you a better sailor.

The worm gear steerer is especially compatible with the original ketch rig. Since the mizzen is stepped in the middle of the cockpit, it’s nice to get the steering wheel back aft where it won’t take up any usable space. The top of the steering gear box also serves as a good helmsman’s seat.

With the cutter rig, it became feasible to put a more conventional pedestal steerer in the boat. However, moving the steerer further forward meant that the old steering box—now a storage locker—was too far away from the wheel to be used as a seat.

In practice, you usually sit to the side of the wheel with a pedestal steerer, not behind it. But this re- quires a wheel that is big enough to let you get far enough outboard to see sail trim. Most helmsmen will only sit directly behind the wheel when the boat is under power and they can see straight ahead, with no sails in the way.

The big steering wheel that’s the easiest to use with pedestal steering almost requires a T-shaped cockpit for easy maneuverability. The Cape Dory 30 stuck with the straight bench cockpit seats, and used a fairly small destroyer wheel. Although you don’t need the leverage of a big wheel on this boat, it will make steering less tiring, and there is room between the seats to fit a larger-diameter wheel. It would make it necessary to climb over the seats to go forward, however.

Most owners report that the boat—with either rig—is easy to balance under sail. The percentage reporting difficulty in balancing the boat complain of excessive weather helm on a close reach.

Hard steering when reaching is a common complaint on boats with attached rudders and a lot of rake to the rudderpost. The Cape Dory 30 does have a relatively efficient Constellation-type rudder, even if it is located about 2′ further forward than it would be with a comparable fin keel and spade rudder underbody.

Weather helm when reaching is frequently caused by overtrimming the main. On a boat without a vang, the boom tends to lift quickly as the sheet is eased, and the top of the sail twists off and begins to luff. Thinking they’ve eased the sheet too much, many sailors will at that point overtrim the main, shifting the draft of the sail aft and creating weather helm. Under those conditions, the proper thing to do with the Cape Dory 30 is use mainsheet tension to create a fair leech, then ease the traveler down to keep the whole sail working.

On both rigs, the mainsail is controlled by a traveler over the main companionway.

With the ketch rig, the mast is stepped further forward than the cutter, and the mainsheet attaches to the boom about two-thirds of the way aft, giving reasonable leverage. With the cutter, the mast location means that the mainsheet attaches almost exactly at the boom midpoint, reducing leverage and making the sail somewhat harder to trim.

In either case the traveler location at the forward end of the companionway is out of the way, but it makes installing a cockpit dodger more difficult.

The cutter’s main boom is at a reasonable height, but the taller helmsman should still watch his head when tacking.

With the advent of modern headsail reefing systems, the cutter rig is really superfluous on this boat. The small gap between the forestay and headstay makes it difficult to tack a big genoa, yet you really need a big genoa if this fairly heavy boat is to be properly powered in light air. The double head rig is fine in breezes over 15 knots, but in lighter air it’s much slower than a good number one genoa.

According to owners, the boat’s only sailing weakness is light air. With a lot of wetted surface and an inefficient foretriangle, the boat is simply not going to be fast in very light air. All in all, though, owners say the boat is faster than they expected it to be in all conditions.

With a 40% ballast/displacement ratio, the Cape Dory 30 is reasonably stiff despite the very narrow beam. You can get stability with a lot of ballast down low, or with a lot of beam. The Cape Dory 30 gets it from a lot of ballast, placed low in the hull.

With less weight aloft, the cutter should be slightly stiffer than the ketch.

Both the ketch and cutter rig use simple, untapered aluminum masts, stepped on deck. With a stiff section and double lower shrouds, these rigs are fairly foolproof.

Unlike many builders, Cape Dory put diesel engines in every inboard-powered sailboat they built after 1975. You won’t find an Atomic 4 here.

What you will find, unfortunately, is an engine installation and selection that is somewhat less than ideal.

Because this is a narrow boat with slack bilges, it wasn’t possible to get the engine far enough down in the bilge to be out of the way in a normal installation. Instead, the engine is mounted under the cockpit, using a V-drive. The engine is kept out of the way, but out of sight in this case means poor access for servicing. Getting to the alternator belts for adjustment, for example, requires crawlingunder the cockpit through a locker.

The original engine was a single-cylinder Yanmar diesel rated at 12 hp. This engine is too small for the boat, and single-cylinder engines are notorious for their vibration.

Starting with 1977 models, the Yanmar diesel was replaced with a Volvo MD7A, rated at 13 hp. The Volvo engine has more displacement, and has two cylinders. Nevertheless, some owners still complain that the boat is underpowered with the Volvo diesel.

Despite the long keel, the Cape Dory is reasonably maneuverable under power. The exception is handling in reverse, which according to many owners varies from unpredictable to impossible. This is not a characteristic unique to this boat; it is a fault of most long-keel boats with attached rudders. You learn to act as if reverse were nothing more than a set of brakes—not very good ones, at that.

Other than its location, the engine installation itself is pretty good, with dual fuel filters, 1″ bronze shaft, and oil drip pan under the engine. The fuel tank capacity of 20 gallons should give well over 200 miles range under power with any of the engines.

During the 1983 model year, a switch was made to a two-cylinder Universal diesel. We would definitely prefer a boat with either the Volvo or Universal engine over the original small Yanmar.

Construction

The Cape Dory 30 is solidly built, although there is nothing particularly innovative or unusual about the construction. The hull is a solid fiberglass laminate, the deck is balsa cored. No owners in our survey mention problems with either hull or deck construction.

A number of owners have reservations about the hull-to-deck joint, which is not through-bolted. Other owners mention that there are washers but no backing plates on deck hardware such as lifeline stanchions. Although none report problems either with deck hardware or the hull-to-deck joint, their concerns are valid. Backing plates on deck hardware help distribute loads, and reduce the chance of stress cracks around fittings. Likewise, a through-bolted hull-to-deck connection offers a foolproof mechanical backup should the polyester putty bond between the hull and deck fail. Bolts won’t stop leaks, but a through-bolted joint won’t come apart until the surrounding glass fails.

As in most boats this size, the lifeline stanchions are only 24″ high. This is too low for any real security—the lifelines strike most people just about at knee height, the right height for tripping. There are some bolts through the hull-to-deck joint, since both the lifeline stanchions and chainplates fasten through the inward-turning hull flange. We would, however, prefer to see closely-spaced bolts throughout the length of the joint.

Chainplates are cast bronze lugs bolted through the hull and deck flange. As long as the hull and deck are adequately reinforced—and they are, in this case—this type of installation is fine.

We’ve seen the same general type of chainplates on 40′ boats with Lloyds certificates, so they can’t be all bad.

All Cape Dory boats came with deck hardware— cleats, winch islands, bow fittings, seacocks and chainplates—by Spartan, a sister company to Cape

Dory. This is good stuff that will last the life of the boat and then some. The only disadvantages are that it is heavy, being bronze, and is not very well finished.

Going from burnished to polished finish just about doubles the price of a piece of hardware— polishing is very labor intensive—and on most Cape Dory 30s you’ll find burnished hardware. It’s rugged, though.

There’s a fair amount of exterior teak on these boats, including cockpit coamings, toerails, hatch trim, and eyebrow trim around the cabin on later models. This gives the boat a yachty appearance, but it does increase maintenance.

You could get the Cape Dory 30 in any color you wanted, as long as it was Cape Dory white with a nicely-contrasting tan deck. Several owners report discoloration of the colored portion of the non-skid decks. The non-skid itself is quite functional.

Early boats in this series have an unusual water tankage arrangement. One tank is plumbed to the head sink, the other to the galley.

Since you use a lot more water in the galley than in the head, that tank runs out first. Many owners have replumbed these tanks so that you can use the entire water supply.

Some early boats also have the water tank fills located below, which may be fine for keeping salt water out of the tanks, but can make for a fire drill when trying to fill them without making a mess. On later boats there is a 30-gallon water tank under each main cabin settee, and the system is correctly plumbed.

There are proper seacocks on all fittings below the waterline.

The deck-stepped rigs in both the cutter and ketch are well engineered, as no owners in our survey report any deck deflection or stress cracking in that area.

Unlike a lot of 30-footers, the Cape Dory 30 was designed as a small seagoing boat. For example, it has a reasonable bridge deck, although it is lower than the main cockpit seats and the cockpit coamings.There is also a sea hood over the main companionway hatch.

The main companionway is an unusual design. The vertical part of the companionway is fairly narrow and straight sided—good features in terms of seaworthiness. The sliding hatch and its opening are wider, letting more light and air below.

Relatively few owners in our survey report gelcoat blistering. The only glasswork complaints were gelcoat crazing in an early model, and discoloration of the gelcoat in the hull liner, cabin overhead, and non-skid areas in the deck.

Compared to newer 30-footers, the Cape Dory 30 is cramped below. The boat is more than a foot narrower than the typical cruiser/racer built today, and about 2′ shorter on the waterline. There’s no way around it: this is a small boat.

Within these limitations, the interior layout is pretty good. There are V-berths forward, with a dropin insert to form a double. The forward berths are narrow at the foot.

Ventilation in the forward cabin is provided by two opening ports plus an overhead Bomar aluminum- framed hatch. There are drawers and lockers beneath the berths.

The head compartment utilizes the full width of the boat, the way it should on a boat this narrow. Outboard of the toilet is a hanging locker. Opposite the toilet there is a dresser with sink.

A grate in the head sole for a shower was standard equipment, but the pressure water necessary to use it was an option. If you’re going to spend more than a weekend on a boat, a shower is almost mandatory.

Inexplicably, the head sink and shower drain into the bilge. This is unacceptable. Because of the boat’s low freeboard, the head sink is too low to be plumbed directly overboard if you expect it to drain on port tack. The best solution, although it is somewhat awkward, would be to install a closed sump tank in the bilge. It could be emptied overboard by either a manual or an electric pump. You wouldn’t want your bathroom sink and shower to drain into your basement, would you?

Two opening ports plus a cowl vent in a Dorade box provide ventilation in the head. If it were our boat, we’d also install a small venting hatch or another Dorade box over the head, even though the standard arrangement is better than you find on many larger boats.

The main cabin has settees which double as berths along either side. There are narrow shelves above and outboard of each settee.

Since the water tanks take up most of the volume below the main cabin settees, there is little storage space available in the main cabin.

As in most boats this size, the main cabin table folds down from the forward main bulkhead. It will seat four, although in a somewhat cramped fashion.

In the original layout, the galley aft runs the full width of the boat. On the port side there is a pressurized, two-burner gimbaled alcohol stove with oven.

If you want to stay with alcohol cooking fuel, we recommend switching to a non-pressurized stove such as the Origo. Despite the fact that alcohol fires can be extinguished with water, pressurized alcohol stoves can be dangerous because most people underestimate the volatility of the fuel.

The sinks are aft of the stove, and are somewhat difficult to reach because the slope of the bilge intrudes into the space where you would normally stand.

Opposite the stove there is a good galley dresser containing an icebox, storage bin, and drawers. The icebox drains into the bilge. This is a poor arrangement, since organic matter from the icebox will inevitably contaminate the bilge, even if it is pumped daily. The icebox could either be pumped into the galley sink, or into the sump you install for the head sink and shower.

With this layout, you use the top of the icebox as a navigation table. The lack of a good place to do chart work is a common failing in older designs of this size.

Late in the production run, the interior layout was “modernized” by adding a quarterberth and small chart table. The arrangement takes up a lot of the space that was formerly used for the galley. You get another berth—which you don’t need—at the cook’s expense. We don’t think this layout is an improvement, despite the fact that the navigator gets his or her own workspace.

Headroom on centerline in the main cabin is just over 6′, with slightly less further forward.

Main cabin ventilation is good, with four opening ports—excellent bronze Spartan ports—and an overhead Bomar hatch. We’d add a pair of cowl vents in Dorade boxes on either side of the ventilation hatch. The space is there, and the job is pretty simple. Although the galley has reasonable storage, there is little storage space in the rest of the boat. This makes the boat unsuitable as a long-term cruising boat, unless you want to do a fair amount of modification to the interior.

Joinerwork and finishing detail throughout are of good production boat quality. Since a lot of teak is used for interior woodwork, the boat is quite dark below.

You could brighten this up a lot by finishing the interior with gloss varnish, rather than the standard satin oil finish.

Conclusions

With her narrow beam and short waterline, the Cape Dory 30 is a lot smaller than newer boats of this length and displacement. The boat will have a strong appeal to the traditionalist who places a high value on appearance.

The boats are well constructed, suited for serious coastal cruising, and perhaps for limited offshore sailing.

Cape Dory boats were quite expensive, but they hold their value well. When production began in 1976, the Cape Dory 30 had a base price of about $29,000. By the time production ceased a decade later, the price had almost doubled—but so had the price of just about everything.

Although some might prefer the “shippiness” of the ketch rig, the cutter is both faster and more practical. Some boats were built as sloops, and this would be the best rig of all. Inevitably, the Cape Dory 30 will be compared to the Alberg 30. The Cape Dory 30 is longer on the waterline, wider, heavier, and has a roomier interior. The Cape Dory 30 cutter is slightly faster than the sloop-rigged Alberg 30.

Our choice in a Cape Dory 30 would be a latemodel cutter with full-width galley, Edson pedestal, and the Volvo or Universal diesel. For the money, you get a well-designed traditional boat that is a good coastal cruiser for a couple or a small family. We don’t think the boat is big enough for four adults for anything more than weekend sailing.

If you want the looks of an older boat but the construction details and diesel engine found in newer boats, the Cape Dory 30 is a good choice.

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14 comments.

Some photos would be useful in an article like this. Remember a photo is worth how many words? Regards

Agree – at least one picture of the entire boat would’ve been appreciated

Good article. very informative

If you’re a sailor you’re proud to show your boat! Where are the photos of this boat???

Pictures would’ve been great

If readers are accessing this story on-line, a quick search for “Cape Dory 30 Mark II” produces 1.7 million images.

…so even less excuse for not putting a couple here… 🙂

Cape Dory apparently ventured into trying to have a little more modern design by producing around 75 or so boats with a fin keel and sloop rig – Intrepid 9m by Cape Dory. Ours was originally outfitted with the Volvo diesel but was at some point changed to a 27hp Yanmar 3 cylinder. Much of the Cape Dory 30 interior description sounds similar. It’s been a slow project for us with much to do.

This article was previously published in the 6th edition of Practical Boat Buying in 2003, and perhaps in earlier editions as well. Originally, the article included a sail plan and line drawing of the layout.

i have the Cape Dory 31. One foot difference makes a big difference in the layout. I love the boat.

I bought a 1978 Cape Dory 30 ketch a few years ago, my first big boat, in the hopes of coastal and some blue water cruising. I appreciate the comments made in the article, there are many good points made. A few comments/questions: -I agree with the discussion of backing the boat; I cannot claim to do it well, especially in crosswinds out of a slip. Nice to know I am not alone. -Not sure I understand why the ketch would be more tender than the cutter; its mainmast is a foot or two shorter with a resulting shorter lever-arm. -It should be mentioned that the ketch has a longer on-deck space than the cutter, making it possible to carry a small dinghy on deck; I’m not sure this would be possible with the cutter. -The ketch allows flexibility in sail handling: I can sail with furling genoa and mizzen with good balance, raising and trimming without leaving the cockpit. This is a real blessing for single handing, of which I do a fair amount. -I have installed a Schaefer furler for the genoa, replacing the much older poorly functioning furler that came with the boat. I can self tack the genoa using the jibboom that came with the boat, or raise a storm jib with the jibboom and self tack with a sail well back off the bowsprit. Again, nice for cruising, single handing, and heavy air. -It probably should be mentioned that the Cape Dorys have internal ballasted molded in keel. This may be an advantage in an older boat since one does not have to worry about aging keel bolts. The 4 foot draft, with long keel and attached rudder is an advantage in places like the Louisiana Gulf Coast with plenty of shallow, quite muddy water. Yes, unfortunately, I know this from experience. -Recent hurricanes have put a number of boats ashore. Friends from Texas have told me that one of their members’ Cape Dorys went ashore losing mast and rigging, but little damage to the hull. Anecdotal, but the hull is thick with good glasswork. -I agree with the assessment of the bronze steering gear that came with the boat. It seems bulletproof and simple. Any assessment as to whether it would work with an autopilot system? -thanks for the article.

How does this boat look like, no photos, Great article, not.

For those not entirely reading the fine article…

“ By Darrell Nicholson – June 14, 2000”

Solid review.

What the cape dory cutter rig really needs is a Bowsprit a rather long one at that. Put a 3-4 ft bow sprit on it move the head stay out to the end and the move the staysail stay to where the head stay was and you then have a far better sail plan and you would increase the displacement to sail area ratio to quite speedy levels. Also the main needs a boomvang. The mast without a bowsprit is still too far forward for an efficient cutter rig. (Ona cutter the mast should really be center of the sail plan. I can see looking at the standard sail plan why it would have excessive weather helm not enough head sail area to overcome the main and over all not enough sail area. Carl Alberg included a small bowsprit on the Cape dory 28 and looking at the design of the 30 most of the extra length was added aft. Of the keel. I would really like to see what a long bowsprit would do (would also help with anchoring as you could get the bow roller further out)

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Tayana 37: Coamings cut off - is this repairable?

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Looked at a Tayana 37 today. The current owner, in an attempt to fix a leak that according to him most Tayana's suffer from, cut off both cockpit coamings flush with the deck. This removed the mounting surface for the main whinches. I wonder if this is repairable (to original aesthetics and strength) such that one would be able to rely on the winches staying in place in a blow. Any suggestions and ideas on how to do such a repair from the astute membership will be appreciated.  

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Unless you are really into learning how to do this job, and develope the experiencxe as you go, get a good estimate on what it would take. My guess...to much. You may want to see what else he "fixed"'  

Jesus H. Christ.... WTF was he thinking.... Thats like doing a Hysterectomy to cure a tooth ache. If you can fix it great, if a boat yard does the repair (reconstruct) your probably looking a several thousand dollars.  

Easy repair. No point in using teak for the sides as it will be a paint finish. Teak for the top would be about 200 250 US$ per side. I think I would through bolt a couple of blocks to transfer the winch loads below but it would most likely be overkill. Might be good to talk to the designer. Paging Bob Perry.  

Some people shouldn't be allowed to buy tools. Seriously.  

Not a hard fix just need a few carpentry and fibreglassing skills.Should be able to do it yourself for under a grand.Librarys a great place to start.  

Heres a thought, fabricate the replacements out of aluminum and then bolt them onto the deck. this would give the strength to hold the winches.  

I was thinking foam blocks shaped to be like the original coamings then glassed over. Yes you will need a pedestal for winch mounting. WTF is with the plywood????  

Looks like a good place to try C-flex or other type of pre made FG materials. A boxed in space can't breath, wood would rot.  

deniseO30 said: Looks like a good place to try C-flex or other type of pre made FG materials. A boxed in space can't breath, wood would rot. Click to expand...

I think this post should be re-named, 'WTF'. That is one of the stranger things I have seen done to a boat. Like others said, I would be really worried about other strange DIY projects on board.  

The aluminium fabrication sounds like a good solution.Solves leaks, winch mounting and storage. A teak cap could make it look like it belongs. I'd build one out of light plywood for test look.  

It is fiberglass, everything is repairable. I wonder how much water has been wicked into all of that exposed core. It could be a much bigger project than you expect.  

Im confused by some of the responses, while this looks catastrophic, thats clean cut surgery... sometimes glass and wood combos are beyond repair...its not like he cut down the cockpit sideways or something the aluminum mounts are a good idea...buy you also have some think outside the box options here... a redesign of the coamings...bigger stronger coamings...smaller, etc... glass work and ply if you want to stay simple, I would not go teak just for the cost concerns... maybe its me but if your familiar with this kind of work this can be fixed for sure... cheers  

The cockpit coaming adds significant 'stiffness' to the 'fanny area' and cockpit of a Ty37; plus that coaming prevents the cockpit from being flooded by a boarding/breaking, etc. windward (high) side waves. That this 'removal' now leaves a 90° 'notch' (significant structural stress riser) at the interface of the coach roof/cabin and cockpit area surely weakens the design. Click to expand...

Why not take advantage of the internal volume, install an access window on the inside face, and make them into cockpit cubbys? That's what they did on my Bristol. Or were they like that in the first place? Seems strange if they were not.  

I see it Rich. I'm in the WTF camp. Those coamings were never very comfortable., I'm sure the owner can come up with something more ergonomic.  

Hi Bob! I said earlier that the OP must of cut them away to "Make more room" It just doesn't make sense they would cut that much of the boat away just for a leak.  

Hell, to 'make more room' his thigh bones must have been over 5 ft. long. Now its like sitting on the edge of a full sized ping pong table. Where do you put your back? ;-) I guess why Im against this is: to my way of thinking Bob Perry probably put in thousands of erasures on the line drawings so that the 'visual eye' would carry effortlessly from end to end of such a boat and ending to focus on that canoe stern, giving the visual design impression of a much longer boat. Its all a matter of taste, I suppose; but, this to me is like adding a garish metallic pointy-brassiere to the Mona Lisa, or removing a marble column from the Parthenon so one could add a telephone booth. *<:-o  

No. Rich is correct. Again. With 601 Tayana 37's I'm pretty confident that the size of the cockpit is correct for that boat. But hell, I was 28 years old. I did improve my deck and cockpit designs over the years. It was most probably not done to "make more room". Maybe though,,,the guy came out of the NBA?  

I am in the camp that says, any boat has a value... it may be negative. If not, and you want a project, offer what you think it is worth (maybe a lot less than 30k for a hacked up boat on a lake).  

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Boat Test: 2024 Monterey Elite 30

• By Randy Vance
• August 28, 2024

Nothing calls for change like an election year, and at this writing, Monterey is offering a bold new candidate for performance- and luxury-minded boating enthusiasts. We don’t use the word “unique” casually in referring to this sleek boat with sports-car flavors and cutting-edge ­European style—there’s nothing like it on the water.

The Elite 30’s appeal for votes begins with its square stem and sleek, tucked-to-the-stem, custom, polished stainless-steel anchor, a fresh look at a center helm, and a broad hardtop that straddles the cockpit port to starboard.

We’ve seen square-stem boats in the US before, and they can have an alarming gift for stabbing into the next wave, spraying water all over the cockpit. In hard turns, doubling back over rolling wakes, we saw none of that bad behavior. Though the stem brings up the foreword freeboard in a near-vertical angle to the water, that freeboard doesn’t begin until the hull beneath it flares out broadly to keep the stem comfortably above the seas. The 21-degree hull deadrise at the transom cleaves chop for a comfortable ride without allowing it to roll excessively with shifting crewmembers, broad seas or crisp turns. The power of dual Mercury 250 hp V-8 outboards offers exciting acceleration—3.2 seconds to plane and 5.6 seconds to 30 mph. Our top speed was over 53 mph, and the joy of having all this in your throttle hand comes not just from the raw power, but also the unique centered helm that you’ll need to see to believe.

Interior and Accessories

Helm styling is straight out of a performance sports car, with a pair of bucket seats separated by a center console that positions the throttle levers as comfortably as an eight-speed racing shifter and makes the joystick equally reachable. In top-level race boats, the throttle is so ­arranged as one-half the skippering crew manages the wheel while the throttle man reacts to the seas by varying rpm and 150 mph speeds. You could employ a throttle man in this vessel just for fun if you wish, but even at its maximum throttle speed, it handles like a charm, thrilling crewmembers while protecting them from unexpected changes to direction and acceleration.

The next remarkable plank to this compelling candidate’s platform is the design of the hardtop and windshield. Mention center console and hardtop, and you’ll picture enormous stanchions springing from the console fore and aft of the helm, blocking sight lines. The top may extend only halfway to the gunwales from the helm ­perimeter, leaving much unprotected from the sun. Not here. The hardtop rests on highly styled and brilliantly sturdy supports affixed to the gunwales, and it extends well forward of the racily raked windshield and aft over the lounge and bar back-to-back with the helm bucket seats. The safety-glass windshield is full width of the helm and bucket seats, but the windshield stops at the helm sides, allowing fresh air (and passengers) to pass through the cockpit on port or starboard passageways, refreshing us on our test day’s 95-degree, 95-percent-humidity summer swelter. The arrangement is a moderate blend of the extremes of a dual-console windshield and a typical fishing center console. Nothing better than a well-balanced candidate!

We scoured the marketplace for a similar deck and helm plan to no avail, but the Four Winns H9 at a length overall of 29 feet, 11 inches brings a challenger with that vertical-stem style and with a comfortable standard bowrider setup ($343,025 base price with test power and hardtop). It too boasts a glass cockpit, and the hardtop lowers and raises on concealed ram screws to shrink storage height and can even be dropped down for more rain protection while running from a storm. Four Winns’ new designs from across the pond are the result of the company’s purchase by Groupe Beneteau, the world’s largest boat manufacturer.

Forward of the Monterey Elite’s windshield is another lounge that swings on hinges to reveal a comfortable changing room with a head and freshwater outlet that competes well with the Four Winns H9. There’s a ton of storage in drawers and cabinets on the Elite. While neither offers stand-up headroom, it’s deep enough aboard the Elite for comfortable movement. Door closed, the Elite’s forward lounge completes a triangular seating area with bow seats and padded coamings to allow crew to relax and chat.

Read Next: Monterey 255 SS OB

Aft of the helm is the back-to-back lounge that I mentioned earlier. Nestled up to it is a refreshment bar with sink and fresh water. There are large coolers beneath the lounge. This faces a large lounge astern, giving up to six people face-to-face conversation in comfortable seating. A transom door leads to a spacious swim platform. The seatbacks rock forward, allowing boaters to face the water over the transom, or lay the ­seatbacks down for a comfortable sun lounge.

In a market filled with big, strong ­dayboat candidates, the Elite 30 stands out on the ­campaign trail. It may well emerge as the new sheriff in town.

How We Tested

• Engines: Twin Mercury 250 DTX
• Drive/Props: Outboard/Mercury Rev 4 14.6″ x 20″ 4-blade stainless steel
• Gear Ratio: 1.85:1 Fuel Load: 200 gal. Water on Board: 0 gal. Crew Weight: 430 lb.

High Points

• Glass-cockpit design displays all switching, engine functions, temp, oil pressure, speed and more via the flush-mounted MFD.
• Foredeck and cockpit can be quickly shaded with carbon-fiber poles and canvas ­covering, installable in two minutes or less.
• USB and USBC charge points throughout. The skipper gets an inductive charger.
• Natural light and/or ventilation in the form of a window or port would be welcome inside the console head compartment. 

Pricing and Specs

Speed, Efficiency, Operation

Monterey Boats – Williston, Florida; montereyboats.com

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Removing cockpit coaming?

• Thread starter Cincy020
• Start date Apr 29, 2016
• Catalina Owner Forums
• Catalina 22

I have refinished all of my teak except the coamings. How do you remove these? Can't figure out how to do it. Thanks  

It's going to depend on what they happen to be bedded with: but as a starter you might try some modest heat from a heat gun to help start the process -- light prying (Light! ) from a corner may reveal how much of what you might have to resort to- use a broad thin tool with as much surface area as possible: think 8" drywall knife. When mine came off all four joints on both pieces essentially gave up-- but easily epoxied and repaired if necessary.  

It's not worth it... tape off the non wood area and finish by hand.  

Dynamite, pool acid, sawsall, I agree tape it off and finish by hand, saves trying to repair it when it comes off in chunks.  

Thanks guys. So sounds like it is put on with adhesive versus a faster? I assumed a faster then was baffled when I couldn't find one!  

yes, adhesive. If you try to remove it, your next question will be to replace with synthetic vs. teak.  

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