Carol Ketch - John Hanna

[Ben M-P]

Does anyone have any information or experience with a Carol Ketch designed by John Hanna?
Any know problems with them?
It is like a similar to the Tahiti Ketch but is 36 LOD I think not sure about the LOA
Thanks,
Ben

[shadow]

I wish, but sounds interesting.. Not to get off subject or be a jerk, but isn't John(jack) Hanna that animal guy from the San Diego Zoo?? LOL.. just kidding mate.. I'd be interested too..

[Butler]

Maybe I can get close enough to help. Nothing new here about these full keelers I suppose but…
The Carol is a larger version of the Tahiti and I think the design has been used for the production of some steel boats. Should perform similarly I'm guessing.
While the Carol Cruiser is 37’ lol 32.9 lod 12 ft beam with a design draft of 4 ft
The Dreadnought I sail is 38lol, 32 lod, and 10 ft beam with a 4, 9” draft and a I think about 200 more sq ft of sail area with everything flying. The hull shape and keel configuration are similar… mine being maybe a bit more slab-sided not quite as rounded.
Based on the similarities my experience has shown that you will find that the Carol, like most any of these “fat girls”, including the venerable Tahiti, is happiest and the most fun to sail somewhat off the wind. She won’t like a close reach and will let you know by dragging her heels. At first it was an odd, frustrating sensation to come up close on the wind on a brisk day and slow down ( and this reaction from a Columbia Challenger/cutaway forefoot full keel sailor!)!
The ride is smooth… a knockdown we once had seemed in slow motion both down and back up. I like the fact that in most of these boats it’s the internally placed ballast that can make a lot of difference in motion and sailing qualities but the motion is always going to be better than a boat in which the ballast is too concentrated in the keel alone as can be the case in some more modern underbodies
Rudder size is everything when it comes to maneuverability and with handling in following seas.
Some of these can be cranky with heavy weather helm… sail cut helps with this.

Try the Tahiti Ketch user group on yahoo… great bunch of people.

Buzz and June Champion built their own Carol Cruiser LITTLE BEAR from wood in the Bay Area in the 40s deepening the keel by 12” and instead of a central cockpit built a fishhold and used her to catch Tuna commercially for two years.. their best haul was one ton… building up their cruising kitty. They then re-configured the boat for living aboard and sailed extensively through the South Seas. Got all this info from the Hiscocks Voyaging Under Sail where they diagram and describe Little Bear as an example of a worthy cruiser.

BTW one and all I get to keep my wonderful Molly B though the cruising calendar is delayed… thanks Zeehag for a nice morning coffeeand the encouragement to think outside the box

[otherthan]

iv only read a little about hanna's ketch...my view is this!
I cauld pick up an old betten up project...take whatever time is needed to restore it...eventualy I will end up with a marvel of enginering that will outlast me...will it sail better then contemporary boats??? hell no!! but in my hart she will be the best ever.

I am not looking for a hanna boat...but I am contemplating an old wood craber...she cauld become my favorit boat?? never know.

what I do know is that no modern plastic will ever come close to these wooden wonders...they dont have the looks, dont have the feel and surely dont have the warmth...even I as a non sailor can feel the bond one has for a wooden sailboat.
cheers

[Butler]

Steeve...
Check this listing out. This boat has a pedigree and I think you couldn't ask for a more elegent and rugged exterior.
The price is more than right...
1962 TAHITI KETCH (TEAK CONSTRUCTION) Ketch Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

[otherthan]

Originally Posted by Butler

Steeve...
Check this listing out. This boat has a pedigree and I think you couldn't ask for a more elegent and rugged exterior.
The price is more than right...
1962 TAHITI KETCH (TEAK CONSTRUCTION) Ketch Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Sir that to me is a real boat...its got everything you need and nothing you dont...id discard the fridge in favor of a cod wood burner

I am hopefull the boat I am going to see next week, will eventualy look like this.

rgds

[Ben M-P]

We went down and saw the ketch, and really liked it but after thinking is over and going over all the details and pictures we took we decided to pass on it, not because it wasn't (with some work) a beautiful boat but she just wasn't quite what we need.

But if you are looking for a boat like this I would recommend taking a look at her.

Hannah Carol Ketch Sailboat

[btrayfors]

Some years ago I had occasion to sail aboard a Hannah-designed Carol ketch on two deliveries. One of these was from Piraeus, Greece to Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia. The second was from Gibraltar to the Canary Islands.

Licole belonged to a colleague of mine. She'd been built by a loving owner on a Mediterranean island who, unfortunately, passed away shortly after completing her. She was in charter service in Greece for many years, captained by my colleague's nephew. She was all wood, of course, 38' overall and had a wishbone rig...not one of my favorites, but functional nonetheless.

As would be expected of a boat with such pedigree, she was a good sea boat and a very comfortable sailor. Not fast, but definitely not slow either. One of my fondest sailing memories is of the leg between Corfu and Dubrovnik in thick fog....all the way up the Dalmatian coast, navigating with a radio direction finder taking back bearings on Bari and Brindisi on the Italian coast.

Here's a pic enroute to the Canaries, taken about 100 miles south of Gibraltar. As you can see, I was a bit younger then :-)



Many years later I shared an anchorage with Licole in the British Virgin Islands, and had occasion to talk with her then owners. They'd sailed her to Brazil, back to Europe, and done another trans-Atlantic with her. When I went aboard she was much as I'd remembered her from the two earlier deliveries. Simple, workmanlike, functional. A very good boat whose second owner, my colleague, passed away all too soon after taking her transAtlantic to the West Indies.

Bill

[Ben M-P]

We didn't take this one out but when my wife climbed aboard the boat didn't even move. Very solid feeling.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Ben M-P

We didn't take this one out but when my wife climbed aboard the boat didn't even move. Very solid feeling.

She would behave roughly the same when sailing ;-)

Unless you want just a liveaboard.

We have a Tahiti ketch here in our marina, steel. Pretty.

b.

[Ben M-P]

Just to let you know it appears to have sold (I can't figure out how to delete the link in the previous post)

If you want to see pictures of her there are some on our blog: Goingafloat:Carol Ketch

[Garrett]

hey I just bought this beauty. Were going to be sailing her up to Morro bay from newport where she is now. Any other carol ketch owners around? I cant wait to start bringing her back to her original beauty. These boats are built like tanks. I couldn't believe the size of some of the timbers in the frame work. Definatly very happy with my new boat.

[Ben M-P]

Hey Garrett,

Great boat, there is some more information on our blog about her if you are interested.
I'd love to see pictures of her when she is restored.

Godspeed,
Ben

[jamesjle]

I owned a Carol ketch in the late 70's, "Prana" built in France. We took her across the Atlantic in 79. She was a great load carrier. There was a saying about the type of boat at the time, "very safe, she will get you there every time but so slow you'll starve to death on the way". If you want safe a good boat, dull sailing though.

I would be interested if anyone has seen Prana, I sold her in Martinique in 1980 to an Ammerican/German couple.

[Jolie]

My father had a Carol built in Aigues Mortes, France. I and two Frenchmen sailed it from there to Miami, FL in 1963. It was named the Jolie Reve. Would the Prana be the same vessel?