Leisure 17

[Praxinoscope]

There seem to be a lot of forumites that have a Leisure 17 in their past, there were I think over 2500 of these great little boats built, and many of us started our cruising on one, it would be interesting to learn how many of those on these forums have a Leisure 17 in their past.

 

[Mark-1]

Love them but no direct experience.

However, I do remember someone in 1985 telling my Dad you couldn't sail one to the Med. Which has given me a burning desire to sail one to the Med. ?

 

[Praxinoscope]

Love them but no direct experience.

However, I do remember someone in 1985 telling my Dad you couldn't sail one to the Med. Which has given me a burning desire to sail one to the Med. ?

The Med? John Adams sailed his across the Atlantic.

 

[ProDave]

Not in the past, but in the present. I have a share in the L17 in my avatar.

 

[mdonnelly]

First boat in which I learned to sail was a fin keeled L17. Loved it.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

Definitely a classic.

I've never sailed one, but it's a boat that brings a smile to everyone's face.

 

[dunedin]

My first “keelboat” experience was in “the other one” - 17 foot Silhouette Mk 2.

Frankly it was a scary experience, with very little stability, and could have put me off for life - except that enjoyed sailing Mirror then Enterprise, which felt much safer
Now prefer deep lead keels (plus more space, heating and hot showers - going soft!)

 

[penfold]

If you want a leisure 17 in the med it would be a lot more sensible to tow it there.

 

[Seashoreman]

I owned 'Perfect Pitch' for a few years in the early 2000's after another few years break from keel sailing.
It worked well for me as a weekend river boat with a few jaunts down the Suffolk coast. Great fun was had
and single-handed skills improved. It was easy to sling a cover over the boom and spend the occasional night up the local sheltered creeks.
However one needs to be a bit of a contortionist to spend the weekend aboard. The original brochure shows a family of 2 adults and 2 children aboard, haha. I liked the design and the Owners Association so much I progressed to a Leisure 23sl, Sea Sharp.
The other sailor I know who has affection and started on these boats was Paul Heiney. They are very popular in Northern Europe,
highly valued and restored to very high standards.

 

[ProDave]

A couple more pictures from last year

 

[Praxinoscope]

I almost feel ashamed to admit that our Leisure 17 (bought direct from Cobramold on Stansted Airport) was named 'Eskimo Nell'
And yes I can recite the complete tale.

 

[neil_s]

Slightly larger, in the same style and also designed by Arthur Howard was the Sunray 21. Greatly enjoyed mine!

 

[Praxinoscope]

Slightly larger, in the same style and also designed by Arthur Howard was the Sunray 21. Greatly enjoyed mine!

We met Arthur Howard on the Leisure stand at the Earls Court Boat Show, and he spent a good half hour going through the design and manufacture of the L17, and made a point of explaining that he kept telling Cobramold that they were mounting the mast 6" too far forward.
Interesting guy to talk to and he convinced us that for our first cruiser the L17 was a great little boat, which we found it was.

 

[dolabriform]

First boat was a bilge keeled L17, and sometimes I miss the simplicity. Like Seashoreman, second boat was a L23 SL. Now onto something slightly bigger.
My avatar was taken aboard the L17 and for some reason I've never gotten around to changing it.