Tamarisk 24

[wanzap1]

Hello All,

Curiosity has been looking at the Tamarisk 24 - but details online are scant.

Can anybody provide any details regarding the sailing properties / sea keeping / living with the boat etc. If possbile I'd prefer boat specific details rather than plastic gaffers in general but all discussion welcome

Many thanks

 

[banger]

Yes, had one but only used in Falmouth and the Solent Lake, tends to make leaway as a shallow draft but a good sailing boat, very heavily built as was the way at that time, headroom, I am over 6' so bent head, mine was Cornish built so more headroom than the North Sea built ones, toilet virtually useless unless you stick your head through hatch, North Sea ones that I saw had a separate head compartment mid ship, but that rather ruins the accommodation, wooden superstructure tend to rot big time and have lots of holes for rainwater to lurk leading to rot, mine needed a complete rebuild, not by me though my woodworking skills are non existent, so , in my opinion, a good, entertaining boat for coastal areas, would I have one again, yes, I'm an idiot for gaffers.

 

[banger]

In addition, watch out for osmosis, I looked at on in the Solent a while ago, more pimples than a seventeen year old

 

[LittleSister]

The Tamarisk 24 is a stretched version of the earlier Tamarisk 22. Designed by David Cannell (who also designed the Tamarisk 19 and 22; Samphire 23, 26 and 29; North Sea 127; etc., etc.). In his small yachts he tended to specialise in shoal draft, traditional looking boats, but built with more modern design/construction features.

I don't have any personal experience of the Tamarisk, but know quite a lot about Samphires (I have owned two).

The Tamarisks were (presumably) originally built by North Sea Craft in Wroxham (office was in Norwich at that time). The Samphires they also built were reckoned by both owners and magazine reviewers to be very strongly built. Yard finished boats' interiors were solid, rather than elegant, but the company also sometimes sold hulls (with or without decks) for home completion. Home completed interiors could be better or worse than the yard finished boats. North Sea Craft closed down (like a lot of other boatbuilders) in the early 1980s, and it was probably then that the moulds were sold on. (I seem to recall the moulds for the Samphire 23 ended up in a Cornish yard, who built just one, so perhaps the Tamarisk moulds went with them. The North Sea Craft company (which I believe Cannell had an involvement in) was revived again later and only a few years ago were building (in Essex, I think) the Tamarisk 19 and (I think) the North Sea 127. I think that has now also ceased.

I was in touch with quite a few Samphire owners (all but one North Sea Craft built), and I am not aware of any of them ever mentioning having osmosis. I would also not assume that all North Sea Craft built Tamarisks had a central toilet. The first Samphire 23 (late '70s) had a central toilet, but later boats had a different arrangement.

PBO said of the Tamarisk 22 -
'FOR - Tough construction. Shoal draft. Sturdy fittings. Vintage appeal. Good deck access.
AGAINST - Heavy to steer. Complicated rig. Lack of work surfaces. Cramped toilet compartment.'

Hoskyns Yacht Directories 'A-Z Good Yacht Guide' said of the Tamarisks -
'Tamarisk 22
Trad. gaff cutter on smack/workboat lines. Strongly built (a few with wooden decks) from early '70s. Reasonable accommodation and headroom.
22'2" x 7'10" x 2'10" (long keel)
Inboard engine'
'Tamarisk 24
Traditional long keel gaff cutter with bowsprit from mid-'70s. A stretched version of the Tamarisk 22 and considerably roomier with quite good headroom. Well built plus old world appeal. Decks and superstructure were often wood.
24' x 8' x 2'11"
4 berths
Engine inboard 10hp diesel'

Hope that helps.

 

[banger]

I can't remember who built mine, maybe Cygnus in Penryn. Certainly the one I looked at on the Solent had a lot of osmosis, always have a survey.