'Nothing naffer' enthusiasts - which small plastic gaffer?

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maxr_r

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Small plastic centreplate gaffers 19'-24' for estuary and inshore day sailing - opinions on which one please, sailing qualities, etc? I know the Shrimper 19 is in a number of ways the obvious choice 'cos there's so many about, but I'm more than happy to read opinions on others.
 
Depends what you want. Best sailing by far (based on the OGA races) must be the Memory. Got stuck between 2 Memory sailors at the EC OGA dinner and they were really into various racing/sail permutations. Heards look great boats if deep keels not an issue, and even so Colin/Plum who posts here takes his Heard 23 everywhere on the East Coast. Do you need an inboard & want to trail? Perhaps Cape Cod 19? The "nothing naffer than a plastic gaffer" was mainly aimed at Mk 1 Cornish Crabbers - I have one & it's really not a great sailing boat, but two adults + 2 dogs can live aboard for extended summer holidays, I can drop the mast easily and get under very low bridges (I can do 4' 6" air draft), very easy centreplate lowering/raising etc, and have motored Harwich to Lowestoft with no problems. The Norfolk Gypsy types look similar and see a lot around the EC as well.
 
Thanks folks:

RobbieW - I had a look at the Memory at Southampton last year. The one there had much bronze and teak on it - a very nicely made boat. However the galley unit is the first thing you meet inside the companionway, so you have to squeeze or twist past it to sit in the cabin - makes getting into a Shrimper cabin look easy.

jwilson: Heards look like lovely boats, but a little too traditional for me - e.g. Heard 23 length on deck 23', LOA 33''. That's a 10' pontoon sweeper. Also, not ideal for drying out or creek crawling, with 4' fixed draft.
 
If you want something just a little larger than Memory / Shrimper but not quite as heavy / deep draft as a Heard 23 you could have a look at a Tamarisk. There is a Tamrisk 22 on apolloduck fo £5k - it was my boat 9 or 10 years ago and now the current owner is keen to sell. The Lines are off an Itchen Ferry so pretty seaworthy for a small boat.
I also had Memory before the Tamarisk - fast powerful small boats. Equally you won't go wrong with Shrimper especially the inboard version though they are a bit more costly
 
I too had a Tamarisk, lovely boat, but if you are tall go for the Cornish build ones, headroom around 5.9' , or build your own, chap I know bought an itchen ferry, the 1970/80 one in GRP, the hull was based on the original, the topsides rubbish, he is chopping off most of the superstructure and building a proper deckhouse etc, will be very pretty when done. Fancy doing one myself.
 
maxr_r said:
......... the galley unit is the first thing you meet inside the companionway, so you have to squeeze or twist past it to sit in the cabin - makes getting into a Shrimper cabin look easy.
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If you are looking for a small gaffer for day sailing, and you are not an enthusiast of squeezing awkwardly into cabins, go for an open boat, so you can have more room to enjoy the sailing, and take pals out with you. Open version of a Memory would do that job nicely, and outsails the shrimpers of this world. Of course it would be much more gentlmanly to commission something made of wood.
 
This is very nice and beautifully built by David Moss, khaya over Columbian pine. I doubt it is more upkeep than grp.

Quite small though.

http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/feature.phtml?id=380945

No connection etc

The problem with so many of this type of boat is the contradiction between minimum draft for estuarine adventures and windward sailing ability. Do think about a big open Drascombe Longboat, they are quite powerful and shallow with the plate up. I had an ex sailing school one once, very tatty but great fun.
 
Romeo said:
If you are looking for a small gaffer for day sailing, and you are not an enthusiast of squeezing awkwardly into cabins, go for an open boat, so you can have more room to enjoy the sailing, and take pals out with you.
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+1. My poor, dust-covered Hunter 490 has been replaced by my Longboat because I never used the cabin much and the Longboat offers about three times as much cockpit space, which means I can take seven or eight people out in reasonable comfort.
 
.... although if I was forced to accept a plastic boat with a cuddy cabin and a centre board, it would have to be a Romilly:

3.jpg
 
banger said:
I too had a Tamarisk, lovely boat, but if you are tall go for the Cornish build ones, headroom around 5.9' , or build your own, chap I know bought an itchen ferry, the 1970/80 one in GRP, the hull was based on the original, the topsides rubbish, he is chopping off most of the superstructure and building a proper deckhouse etc, will be very pretty when done. Fancy doing one myself.
Click to expand...

...the plastic "Itchen Ferry" with the top heavy topsides is the same hull as the 22/24' Tamarisks -apparently based on the (actual) Itchen Ferry "Nellie" and sawing the top off is quite right and proper, in my view!
 
Romeo said:
.... although if I was forced to accept a plastic boat with a cuddy cabin and a centre board, it would have to be a Romilly:

3.jpg
Click to expand...

+1, I would have a Romilly over all the others (despite the fact that it's a lugger not a gaffer :-). I'd like a Roxanne too!
 
Rhoda Rose said:
For looks I rate the Mk1 Crabber 24 as a real classic. The looks of a fishing smack and lovely to sail.

I really miss my one.
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Absolutely agree with that. We had many happy years with our Mk1 Crabber.
When I had our Heard 28 built I told Martin Heard that we wanted it to be like the Crabber but bigger, which is what he made.
Our Crabber
9e51cac16546acfe4f4fe5d7f8664f40_zpsmbfmjljy.jpg

Our larger Heard28
2d5d79d0604c9900715adffc1e902a9c_zpsvhjctpvl.jpg
 
If you are even thinking about an open/half decked boat, then have a look at the older (pre about 2005) Lune Whammel by Character Boats. We had 10 very happy years owning one.
 
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