Blue Clipper Van de Stadt Legend 34

To kick off 1001 Boats I’ve chosen Blue Clipper a Van de Stadt designed Legend 34, built in 1970 by Tylers a famous UK yard.

E.G . Van de Stadt has a reputation for designing fast and sea worthy yachts and Blue Clipper was no exception, she was easily driven, close winded and comfortable. It’s only many years after she was sold and with the experience sailing many other boats that I realise how good and forgiving a boat she was.



What made her special is that in 1997/8 she carried Erica and I safely for ten thousand miles, sailing from Portsmouth, England, across the Bay of Biscay to Spain and Portugal, out into the Atlantic to Madeira and the Canary Islands, then south again to The Gambia in West Africa before crossing the Atlantic to arrive in Barbados. Our cruise in the “islands,” took us south to Trinidad and then north visiting most of the Antilles; the Windward and Leeward Islands, before returning back across the Atlantic, stopping at the Azores and finally returning to England.

Blue Clipper was a bit small, certainly compared to a modern 34 yachts, but she coped with light winds, huge ocean swells, what might have been pirates, gales and a frisky whale. She took us out of our comfort zone, stretched us as sailors and individuals, she will always have a place in our hearts.

Emerald Bay

We headed over to Catalina Islands Emerald Bay last week, expecting lots of activity for the Fourth of July holiday. This was the Finisterras first voyage to our favorite cove. We left the marina in Long Beach at 1500 and tacked up the harbor toward Angels Gate in light air. The UV cover on the jib let go after four or five tacks at the spot where it rubs on the mast mounted radar antenna, so we looked a bit ragged as we passed through the Gate, with a foot-long tatter trailing off the leach of the jib, but the boat sailed well until we ran out of wind. We motored the rest of the way to the cove, arriving at 1845.

Finisterra moored at Emerald Bay

We picked up a mooring behind Indian Rock and sat back to enjoy the view as the sun set behind the hills. On the trip over from the mainland we used the autopilot and about every twenty minutes it conked out, with "Drive stop" on the display. According to the manual, that message means that the linear drive quit because the force required to turn the rudder is too great for the system. That doesnt sound right to me because the helm was pretty light at all times, so in the next few days Ill be tearing into the system to find out whats really going on there.

The boat is equipped with electric heads that use fresh water to flush. Im not a fan of them and, sure enough, the aft head stopped working. So well swap them out for the tried and true Jabsco manual heads. Aside from that little glitch, the boat and its systems worked well throughout our stay.

Calm weather prevails as we look toward the west end of the Island 

Since this was our first trip aboard the boat, there were lots of little things to fix, and this took some time, but we still had plenty of opportunities to hike and putter around the anchorage in the dinghy. We met some folks from Corsair Yacht Club, John and Judy, who sail a beautiful old Ericson 41. They invited us to a barbeque at their club site, which is located next to the scout camp near the west end of Emerald Bay. It was nice to connect with them. The next day we hiked out toward the west end of the island past Parsons landing, where the views were spectacular and we saw lots of signs of deer, island fox and bison.

Not far from Parsons Landing we encountered this bison on the trail. Notice that his horns have been clipped. For several years the Island conservancy kept them out of the the west end of the Island, but nowadays they roam freely.

The weather stayed cool and overcast until our last day, and we departed the island under beautiful blue skies and sparkling sunshine. The Finisterra sailed under main and raggedy jib, doing seven and a half knots, until we reached the entrance to LA harbor. Passing the lighthouse, we hardened up and reefed the jib in about 20 knots of wind and sailed up the main channel to get a glimpse of the famous old battleship USS Iowa, which recently took a permanent berth near the maritime museum. The ship first deployed in 1943, and participated in bombardments of Japan in WWII. As the war drew to a close, the Iowa was present along with the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay for the official surrender of Japan, marking the end of the World War. It is interesting to note that it was during WWII that the battleship, with its big guns was supplanted by the aircraft carrier as Americas premier seaborne combat weapon. Already obsolete by the end of the war, the USS Missouri was the last US battleship to be built. 

USS Iowa at her permanent home in Los Angeles harbor

The big guns on the Iowa are impressive artifacts of a bygone era

Leaving the Iowa behind, we headed back down LA harbors main channel and bore off for Long Beach, only to be confronted with the sight of a large ship entering the harbor loaded down with several new hammerhead cranes destined for service loading cargo in the Port of Long Beach. It was quite a sight to see the ship with its cranes working its way, with the help of a couple of tugs, through the harbor entrance and into her berth. The cranes were painted with the COSCO/SSA emblem. COSCO, not to be confused with Costco, is short for China Ocean Shipping Company. SSA is an American logistics company that manages marine shipping terminals.

Its hard to imagine this shipload of cranes crossing the Pacific. The weather routing service earned their pay on this project. Shipping companies, like us regular yachties, use routing services to route their ships to avoid weather systems. 

Three tugs guide this unwieldy ship to her berth in Long Beach harbor.

We got back into our slip before sunset after a nice sail down the harbor. I have been pleasantly surprised by the performance of the boat with the small roller furling main sail and look forward to sailing with the new rig. The mast has been shipped from the manufacturer and we expect it to arrive this Friday. 

Rig Conversion Update

The new mast is scheduled to be delivered in early July. US Spars says the standing rigging from the original mast will fit so we wont have to buy new rigging. When the mast arrives well unship the old one and transfer the instruments and antennas, including radar and TV. We will also install a Tides Marine sail track and lazy jacks. There wont be much to do on the boom except add some sheaves and reefing lines. On deck well add a set of rope clutches for the reefing lines.  The new mainsail is also on order and we expect to have it in mid-July.

Morris 45RS Review

M45RS with non-overlapping jib and in-boom furling main. 

Weve been having a grand time tinkering with the Finisterra but the previous owner was so meticulous in his care of the boat that there is little for me to repair or rebuild. So while were waiting for the new mast, I thought it would be fun to take a look at the M45RS, the latest offshore racer/cruiser from Morris Yachts. Morris has been around since the 1970s and has had a longstanding relationship with Chuck Paine, who designed this boat as well as the pretty double-enders that Morris was originally known for.

A modern and powerful rig on the M-45RS. Notice the spreaders and non-overlapping headsail.  This is a racing rig on a sleek hull with a deceptively cruisey deck.

Morris describes this new boat as a "Fast yet extremely durable IMS and PHRF racing yacht, [yet] she is also highly qualified for long distance adventures." Im not too sure about optimizing for PHRF, but the M45 is clearly a faster ride than we ordinarily expect from Morris. The rig certainly would not look out of place on a pure racing machine. Its tall, with non overlapping headsails and a carbon fiber three-spreader mast. The sail area/displacement ratio is a healthy 19.30 and the displacement/length ratio is 149. These ratios indicate a fairly powerful rig on a medium displacement hull. The ballast/displacement ratio of .42 is somewhat indicative of a stiff boat that should go upwind quite well, but the drawback in these impressive performance numbers is the draft, which is only 5.83. That will compromise the upwind performance of the M45. Of course there are many parts of the world where more draft would limit the places you can go in this boat, so the choice is to put a deeper keel on the boat and go get some trophies, or settle for fewer trophies and more cruising destinations. Since I live in California where the water is plenty deep, Id go with a deep keel if theyd offer one.

Notice the mid-cockpit main traveler and exposed windlass.

The deck layout of the M45 is an interesting compromise for racing and cruising and it exposes the difficulty of trying to be both a racer and a cruiser. Starting at the bow, notice the traditional pulpit. It works fairly well for a cruiser, but makes handling the asymmetrical spinnaker, which is set on an extendable pole, tricky. The foredeck, which is quite small is further cluttered by the windlass, making scrambling around up there a bit more challenging for the bowman. Moving aft, there is a pair of dorade vents just forward of the mast which will be much appreciated when its hot and sultry in the galley, but add more clutter to the foredeck. I was surprised to see the drawings showing the mainsheet led forward along the boom, admirals cup style, then aft along the deck to a pair of winches adjacent to the traveler. Im certain that arrangement was quickly changed to a cabintop traveler and conventional mainsheet system. The cockpit is too small for that sort of arrangement and few cruising families would tolerate the traveler bisecting the cockpit. Aside from those small items, dont you think the proportions of the sheer and cabin trunk are simply elegant? I also like the slim lines of this boat. It is a bit narrower and finer in the stern than youll find on similar sized production cruisers. This gives up some space below but will result in an easy motion and good all around performance.

Morris offers the boat in two basic versions, galley up and galley down.  In the galley up version, the main salon is forward and a step down from the raised portion of the cabin trunk. Just forward of that is the forward cabin, which includes a queen size berth, plenty of seating and storage and lots of varnished wood.

Sweet lines are evident in the hull shape. Is this a practical layout?

In the raised part of the cabin youll find a large galley to port, offering the cook lots of light and splendid views through the large windows. The nav station, to starboard is equally inviting, with lots of finely crafted wood and all the instrumentation you need to circle the globe. Adjacent to the companionway is the boats only head. Its spacious and incorporates a shower stall. Opposite the head is a quarter cabin to port, with a double berth and what appears to be plenty of storage.

Galley down arrangement. I like the shape of the underbody, but not so thrilled with the saildrive.

In the galley down arrangement, the main salon is in the raised part of the cabin, along with the head and nav station while the sleeping cabins are the same as in the other arrangement. In this version, with the galley forward where the motion of the boat is greater, cooking will be a bit more challenging. I like this arrangement almost as much as the other, but neither seems quite right to me. I think its better to have the dinette as well as the galley in the raised part of the cabin, and the head forward, next to the forward cabin. I keep trying to imagine us living aboard this boat and I have a feeling Id want to change things around before long. Imagine yourself living on this boat. What do you think?

One thing we can be certain of is the quality Morris puts into the boats they build. There are photos of the M 45RS on the Morris web site (www.morrisyachts.com) which is where I got the drawings and photos for this review. I encourage you to visit the site and enjoy not only the photos of this boat, but the earlier boats that Morris built. You cant help but admire them.

Morris 29 Review

As you may know, Morris Yachts was recently acquired by the Hinckley Company. When I learned of the sale I thought it was another example of smaller boatbuilders in the US being swallowed up by the bigger ones. In  my opinion this is a necessary evolution, a sign of the changing economic times. It takes deep pockets to survive in this business, and this is true not just because boatbuilding is becoming more and more technology driven. These days environmental regulations demand expensive equipment and methods, the cost of industrial space continues to rise, qualified labor is both scarcer and more expensive, insurance costs are going up every year, and the list of challenges for boatbuilders continues on. So I was not surprised to see that Morris was taken over by a bigger and financially stronger company. In fact, you may recall that Hinckley itself was acquired a few years ago by Scout Partners, LLC an investment firm based in New York. It could be argued that absentee ownership of these companies does not bode well for the creativity and innovative drive of these companies, but I dont think that is necessarily so. It takes money to innovate, experiment and develop new products, and I think enlightened ownership that is dedicated to preserving and supporting companies like Hinckley and Morris can help them maintain the levels of excellence they have been known for. At least thats my hope. 

I thought it would be fun to take a critical look at one of Morriss current products, the M29. This boat was designed by Sparkman & Stephens in 2008 and is the smallest of Morriss M line, which includes 36, 42 and 52 foot models. I have to say Im partial to this baby sister of the bunch because in  my opinion, it comes closest to delivering the pure, undistilled essence of sailing pleasure.    

Morris 29
Could anything be sweeter than sailing this little gem on a Sunday afternoon?

Here are some numbers:

LOA:         29-2"
LWL:         20-10"
BMAX:      7-4"
Draft:         4-6" or 3-8"
Disp:          4,735 lb
Ballast:      1.958 lb
Sail area:    395 sf
D/L:           214
SA/D:        23.6

In studying the hull of the M29, notice that the waterline length is about 70% of the overall length. Those long overhangs in the bow and stern, combined with the narrow beam will give this boat a very easy motion in a seaway, but more importantly in a boat of this type, give it lovely proportions. It will not sail nearly as fast as a modern 29 footer with a plumb bow and wide transom, but it will sail more beautifully. And while speed is important, so is beauty.

M29 reaching under mainsail and asymmetrical spinnaker.
Photos courtesy of Morris Yachts

The M29 looks like a classic yacht above the waterline, but below it has fairly racy features including a deep fin keel and carbon fiber spade rudder.  The mast is also made of carbon fiber, clear indications that Morris is taking performance seriously in this boat.

The deck is of classic proportions, with a short cabin trunk and graceful coamings around the generously proportioned cockpit. With such a small cabin trunk, a sliding companionway hatch becomes problematic.  Theres just not enough room for it, so it has to be made removable. Ive grappled with this problem on several of my smaller designs over the years.

Morris has done away with winches on the M29, using 2:1 purchase on the main halyard and a block and tackle system for the jib sheets. This limits jibs to the small self tacking unit shown in the drawing above. This is probably a good trade-off, given the boats very generous sail area. The jib sheet is led under the deck to a bank of cam cleats built into each cockpit coaming. I have not used this type of arrangement before so I cant attest to its efficiency, but it does make for a very clean deck layout.

Headsail controls built into the cockpit coamings

Back in the 1970s, when I was in the early years of my career as a yacht designer, I was commissioned to design a similar boat and it was amusing to pull the old drawings out of my archives and compare them to the M29, The design brief was for a traditional sloop of 26 feet, to be built of cold-molded mahogany. The client wanted the boat to have classic lines but was not particularly concerned with what it might look like below the waterline. So I designed the boat with traditional looks and a fast underbody. 

Gryphon 26, "Cinnamon Girl" circa 1979

The M29 embodies the same approach as the G26 about thirty years later.

The Morris M29 has a basic accommodations plan that includes a pair of settee berths and a Porta-Potty, which is all thats necessary for this daysailer. I like the reliability of the inboard diesel.

Just enough accommodations for an overnight

Cinnamon  Girl
The boat was given a deeper keel and rudder in 2003

Cinnamon Girl
Still going strong in 2014

M29x
The deep keel is probably a bit much for this boat. 

Morris also offer an M29x version, which includes a bowsprit, deeper keel and more sail area. According to data Ive seen, the model x is about 18 seconds per mile faster than the standard M29. This boat reminds me of 1969 Jaguar XKE roadster. Its exquisitely beautiful with plenty of horsepower straight out of the box. The extra deep keel and tall rig are a bit like replacing the Jaguars beautiful 3.8 liter engine with a Chevy 327 V-8. Itll be faster but not quite as perfectly balanced as the original.

The M29 a wonderful example of classic design and very high quality execution. Its expensive, but what a sweet ride!