my new boat

Cape May 25, Trailable Gaff Cutter

Thirteen years ago Nick and Lindsay Voorhoeve commissioned the Cape Cutter 19 design, which they built in GRP in South Africa. They marketed it very successfully in UK for a few years before selling the company to Honnor Marine, who moved production to UK. It continues to be sold by them through Cape Yachts. We also sell plans for amateurs to build this design in plywood and it continues to be one of our popular small cruiser designs.

"Tiptoe", Cape Cutter 19 built by Ian Allen in New Zealand

Time showed that there was considerable demand for a slightly larger version of the same concept. That resulted in  a client in Australia commissioning the Cape Henry 21. To date we have sold plans for 130 plywood boats between the two designs, with a slight leaning toward the bigger boat.

Cumhur Regay built his Cape Henry 21 in Turkey

More recently I have been commissioned to design two more bigger sisters to the Cape Cutter 19 . The Cape Charles 32 has been waiting in the wings for a long time and will remain there awhile longer. The design is about half-finished and there are a few people waiting for it but there are other things getting in the way (life, sailing, surfing etc). The other one, the Cape May 25, is now complete and plans are ready for anyone who wants to build her.

The Cape May 25 is 25'3" long on deck and 24'0" on waterline, with beam of 9'8". Draft is 2ft with the centreplate up and 5'4" with the plate down. Lightship displacement is 4500lb. Her weight and beam mean that she is not really a trailer-sailer but is trailable with a large vehicle and will require special permits to be towed on public roads. Her forte will be the ability to sail into shallow areas that are inaccessible to most other sailboats of her size and to be taken home for the winter to save storage costs. Another strong point that she shares with her sisters is excellent speed, resulting from the long waterline, fine bow and generous sail area.

Cape May 25 Sail Plan

My client for this design is a tall person and needs extra long berths and ample sitting headroom, so the forward berths are 2.2m long. The cockpit is also long enough for him to sleep there on balmy nights.

Unlike the smaller sisters, the  Cape May 25 has guardrails. It also has wide cockpit coamings that are comfortable for sitting out, leaning against the guardrails.

Construction is lapstrake plywood, over stringers and permanent bulkheads. This is more challenging than basic stitch & glue construction but it does result in a gorgeous boat that really shows off the builder's achievement. The smaller sisters have shown that these boats can be successfully built by amateurs with reasonable but not expert woodworking skills.

To see our full range of designs, go to http://dixdesign.com/priceabr.htm.

To see our range of plywood designs, go to http://dixdesign.com/priceply.htm.