Shrimper 17 - opinions?

[Maxra]

Anyone have experience of the Shrimper 17, particularly club racing it? I'm a member of a great club, where the Shrimper 19 is raced keenly in numbers. The Shrimper19 cabin is an interference fit for me, and good S19 Mk2's (Mk1's have even less headroom) can be expensive. The Shrimper 21 is ideal but out of budget. On paper, the S17 has a greater sail area to displacement ratio than the 19, so might be faster in light winds. The 17 has a big cockpit with a sizeable pram hood dodger that may be just as useful for getting out of the rain when moored as the S19 cabin, and I intend to use it as a day boat.

Any other ideas? It has to be a gaffer to race in the same class as the Shrimper 19s. I had a Hawk 20 which IMO is a great boat, but being Bermudan it would end up racing in a class with 25'-40 foot deep keel yachts. I've done that elsewhere, unless it's light winds it keeps the timekeeper out of bed.

Thanks, Max

 

[LittleSister]

I'm afraid I don't have any practical experience to report, but I was always much taken by the 17. It's a handsome looking boat, seemed to be nicely thought out, and aimed at an interesting niche between a simple open boat and one with a lid and full facilities for overnighting.

 

[Tranona]

You need first to buy one of those captain's caps with the gold buttons on the band and a red and white polka dot scarf so you will fit in!

Seriously there is a very active Shrimper scene where I live in Poole and they all seem to have a whale of a time.

I suppose the most obvious alternative is the Cape Dory 19 but not so many about. Reports suggest they sail better than Shrimpers but I don't have any direct experience.

 

[eddystone]

I used to keep what was then called the Crabber 17 on a mooring at Lyme Regis about 10 or more years ago, much admired for its looks (although it's never been nearly as popular as the Shrimper, now the Shrimper 19). I should say it sails well, better than a lot of traditional styled day boats but in spite of the heavy steel centre plate it needs reefing quite early; it doesn't point very high but you'd expect that being a gaffer and to use the appropriate language, in very light winds it's easy to miss stays. Think the layout is quite well conceived with large open cockpit then a mini cabin forward of the thwart covered by the sprayhood - there should also be rear section to enclose it completely. Plenty of lockers. Couple of things to be aware of. If you get the gunwhale underwater, the forward cockpit is not self draining! It was designed when a 4 or 5 hp 2 stroke could be lifted out of the well and placed in the locker to reduce drag (there should be plate to fill the gap) but 4 stroke engines are too big for that. Assuming you are buying used look out for all the extras such as full sprayhood/tent, tonneau cover, teak side decks etc.

In the day fleet at Lyme there were a few Memory 19s. I think they were faster but with fewer refinements that the Shrimper,Crabber 17.

 

[Maxra]

I used to keep what was then called the Crabber 17 on a mooring at Lyme Regis about 10 or more years ago, much admired for its looks (although it's never been nearly as popular as the Shrimper, now the Shrimper 19). I should say it sails well, better than a lot of traditional styled day boats but in spite of the heavy steel centre plate it needs reefing quite early; it doesn't point very high but you'd expect that being a gaffer and to use the appropriate language, in very light winds it's easy to miss stays. Think the layout is quite well conceived with large open cockpit then a mini cabin forward of the thwart covered by the sprayhood - there should also be rear section to enclose it completely. Plenty of lockers. Couple of things to be aware of. If you get the gunwhale underwater, the forward cockpit is not self draining! It was designed when a 4 or 5 hp 2 stroke could be lifted out of the well and placed in the locker to reduce drag (there should be plate to fill the gap) but 4 stroke engines are too big for that. Assuming you are buying used look out for all the extras such as full sprayhood/tent, tonneau cover, teak side decks etc.

In the day fleet at Lyme there were a few Memory 19s. I think they were fast

 

[Maxra]

Thanks all for the info. No self draining in the forward cockpit is a bit of a drag - I guess that means you either have to leave the dodger up all the time the boat's unused on a mooring, or cover the whole cockpit when you leave it. I wonder if they ever fixed that, in the way that they made the Shrimper 19 cockpit self draining in the Mk2 version?