Lysander 17

[ridgy]

So a friend has one of these in his front garden that has been in the family for many years though since his father died a long time ago it has sat there doing nothing.

This chap has some issues with family tragedy and alcoholism so I've been encouraging him to make some use of it, remind himself of better days etc. I'm wondering how seaworthy they are . I can find a displacement of 380kg but no keel weight or ballast ratio. Ideally we'd take it to the menai straits and do some fishing etc but I'm not sure if that are made for the sea.

Curious if anyone has stories of derring do on the high seas in one...

 

[Stemar]

If it's epoxy-sheathed ply, which most are, and it's been sitting there for many years' I'd have to guess that that one isn't very seaworthy.

A quick Google came up with these

About the Lysander | LOA

Lysander 17 - (1982) £3,250 - Broadland Yacht Brokers

The price seems remarkably optimistic...

 

[DownWest]

If it's epoxy-sheathed ply, which most are, and it's been sitting there for many years' I'd have to guess that that one isn't very seaworthy.

A quick Google came up with these

About the Lysander | LOA

Lysander 17 - (1982) £3,250 - Broadland Yacht Brokers

The price seems remarkably optimistic...

Not only that, as there seem to be quite a few cabin variations, that got the fugly one.
For epoxy/ply, left out in a garden, the killer would be rainwater inside, likely rotting the ply. Needs a poke around with a screwdriver.

 

[peteK]

Many years ago a friend couldnt decide whether to buy a Lysander or Silloutte both wood,he went for the Silloutte ss it looked more seaworthy.

 

[rogerthebodger]

Designed by Percy Blandford I have somewhere a set of original plans as I was going to build one but never did.

As said if there is rain water lying in side may the ply would have rotted and maybe the frames also.

lysander 17 sailing boat - Google Search

 

[oldharry]

Lysander was my first boat, and although the Silhouette looks prettier, not a patch on the Lysander for handling and seaworthiness. I had the use of a Silhouette for a weeks cruise before I bought the Lysander and never regretted my choice. I sailed mine a lot in W Wales, and found it a good coastal cruiser. Like any 17 footer you choose your weather. I later had a Mk2 Caprice, and found it comparable, though I wouldnt have tried a Shane Acton trip in a Lissie because of the big open cockpit!

However I would take very careful note of the comments above about the condition of the ply. Standing rain water is like battery acid on marine ply! Ply boats nearly always rot from the top down. My last ply boat an Eventide 26, had a hull as solid as the day it was built 30 years before, but the decks, coachroof and tops of the side sheeting were all rapidly turning to blotting paper at the end! Sheathing with polyester grp only makes matters worse as it holds the moisture in! If it was kept properly covered up, you should be OK, but if not, take your dreams elsewhere!

 

[graham]

I had one in the 80s It was a fantastic boat for its size. Longest sail we did was Milford Haven to Cardiff about 90 miles as the fish swims. Very seaworthy and stable and sails surprisingly well.
As old harry mentions the large open cockpit limits its offshore ability . Some had gunter rig , easier to put the mast up but not so good to windward.

To be honest if its a neglected plywood one I wouldn't waste time and cash on it. There were some grp ones .which may have survived better.Ours was the little one on the right rafted on a massive Centaur

 

[Poignard]

Ridgy

The book "Sailing just for fun" by Charles Stock might interest you. It shows what pleasure can be had from a small sailing cruiser without needing to spend much money.

 

[Gwylan]

It was my father's ambition to own a Lysander.
This was a man who wanted so much to go to sea that he ran away to work on trawlers out of Grimsby. Twice.

And didn't make it past 50

 

[Denek]

Like Roger I too have a set of plans somewhere. I was going to build one as I had built a dinghy designed by Percy Blandford (Foamcrest) but one came up for sale locally on a trailer for very little money. The hull was rotted in places as were some frames but I cut this out and replaced it. Mine was just ply no sheathing. I added some lead ballast built a home made wind vane painted her bright signal red and renamed her blood vessel. This was back in the 1970s. Sailed out of west Mersey for two seasons. She was a great little boat but with no self draining cockpit if we had a lot of rain she tended to fill up with water on the swinging mooring

 

[DoubleEnder]

I had one. Bilge keels no sheathing and a rig from I think a Merlin Rocket. Loads of fun in Falmouth harbour but I wouldn’t go too far, the cockpit is wide open and I think it would be easy to be swamped, wouldn’t take a lot. But lovely for a day out, park on the beach! Mine was purple and called ‘Amethyst’. Bit of a wreck really but I had a decent outboard and she sailed ok. One time I left the boat unattended for too long on the mooring and a duck nested on board. Tricky

 

[Stemar]

You don't have to leave things unattended for long do get wildlife claiming squatter's rights. I had a robin set up shop in my workshop a few years running. I got a right bollocking every time I went in there

 

[DownWest]

You don't have to leave things unattended for long do get wildlife claiming squatter's rights. I had a robin set up shop in my workshop a few years running. I got a right bollocking every time I went in there

I have a pair of Redstarts that nest in my w/shop every year. They sit on top of the open door and scold me until I move further in, then go and feed their young. Doesn't help production much.

 

[Mataji]

Annie on Derwentwater

 

[ridgy]

Some interesting comments there chaps. I was more interested in the seaworthiness of the design rather than the possibility of an individual boat being unsafe through neglect etc which can happen to any boat.

As it happens I got the covers of yesterday and there behold was a full grp version with encapsulated keels. We'll need to fettle the trailer and I'll treat it to some new rigging but looks like it's in fine condition.

A quick shakedown somewhere once the virus thing settles down then off to the Norfolk broads to relive his youth. Super.

 

[mjcoon]

You don't have to leave things unattended for long do get wildlife claiming squatter's rights. I had a robin set up shop in my workshop a few years running. I got a right bollocking every time I went in there

Should have offered some live meal-worms. Your entrances would have been eagerly awaited then!

Mike.

 

[oldharry]

Some interesting comments there chaps. I was more interested in the seaworthiness of the design rather than the possibility of an individual boat being unsafe through neglect etc which can happen to any boat.

As it happens I got the covers of yesterday and there behold was a full grp version with encapsulated keels. We'll need to fettle the trailer and I'll treat it to some new rigging but looks like it's in fine condition.

A quick shakedown somewhere once the virus thing settles down then off to the Norfolk broads to relive his youth. Super.

Lucky You! The GRP ones were well built from what I remember. You will have a lot of fun with it.They sail and handle well. I remember I used to keep about 40kgs of ballast (2x 20kgs sandbags) up forward to stop it slamming if everyone is sitting well aft. Sailed and handled much better in a slop!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I never sailed one, but Lysanders, Silhouettes and the like were very much the norm when I was a teenager. By today's standards, they lack safety features - the main one being that the cockpit drains directly into the bilge, so the boat can (theoretically) be swamped by a large breaking wave. I've never heard of one sinking that way, but it is certainly possible. The OP is lucky to have found a GRP one; original plywood boats are likely to require very careful checking and replacement of panels, as the glue in plywood of those days was not as waterproof as that used today, and of course, any rot will spread like wildfire - as others have noted, usually from the top down, as freshwater promotes rot. Unless very lucky with the storage conditions and previous upkeep, a plywood boat of that vintage is likely to be end-of-life, though, of course, there are exceptions.

A major failing of plywood construction is that the unsupported plywood between frames can be stove in very easily by debris in the water, and is difficult (if not impossible) to repair while at sea. I had first-hand experience of this when about 10 or 11 (or thereabouts!) - I was crewing for a friend on the River Humber in his plywood boat when debris in the water cracked a plywood panel. Between us, we kept the water down while my father's boat towed us into North Ferriby, but the incident made me a believer in the old adage that a scared man with a bucket is the most effective way to shift water!

It is, perhaps, noteworthy that the Robinsons and the Baileys in the two great epics of survival at sea both started their epic stories of survival when their plywood boats were stove by encounters with (probably) Killer whales. It is unlikely that a GRP boat would have been seriously damaged by such an encounter.

 

[graham]

Lucky You! The GRP ones were well built from what I remember. You will have a lot of fun with it.They sail and handle well. I remember I used to keep about 40kgs of ballast (2x 20kgs sandbags) up forward to stop it slamming if everyone is sitting well aft. Sailed and handled much better in a slop!

Good Point about the sandbags .I had some sash weights fastened down in the bilge forward.

 

[ridgy]

To be clear, this isn't for me. If I was looking to add to my boat collection it would have to be alot more sporty than this thing.

I'm trying to rejuvenate my friend by rejuvenating his fathers boat for him and understanding what we can do with it when it's sorted. I'm just providing the knowledge, motivation, and probably the money!