Quote:
Originally Posted by Benfavorite
So, I would consider myself a rookie. I do have sailing experience, but not a ton! Mostly small...laser, sunfish...but also a week long charter ona 42' Beneteau and day sailing a Bavaria 39 and a Catalina 320. Now I have my sights set on a Nantucket Island 38. There aren't many out there and info is hard to find. Anyone have any knowledge or inputs?
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Greetings, been watching the Cruisers Forum for a few years now and enjoying the extra knowledge and nuggets of gold I have found here, so let me start by saying thanks! Hopefully I can give something back here. I would like to be upfront and say I do have the boat for
sale, but that’s not what I am doing here, promoting selling my boat, but rather shedding some light onto a little know sailboat design that I have grown rather fond of and why? I am so impressed by this boat design that I actually created a website that sheds a little more light on a really rare and unique
classic sailing yacht, with origins from the “Land Down Under”, crafted by Artisans in
Taiwan.
Nantucket Island Yachts – Nantucket Island Sailboat
Long story short, I spotted my first Nantucket Island 38’ on Lake Michigan some 30 yrs. ago. At that time her name was SV XIPHIAS, which essentially means “Swordfish”. She was sleek, smooth and sophisticated looking. At the
dock I was able to get closer and my idea of what a proper cruising yacht under 40’ should consist of, forever changed. Our paths crossed again in
Florida last
winter and she was on the market and I was in the market, so I wrote the check…. However her name had changed to SV Jingles, which was appropriate, given the owners name, but didn’t fit me at all.
I know some folks say it’s bad juju to change a boats name, and most tend to go with names of ladies…
I have two daughters and a wife of 35 yrs. My options were call it Annette, which just didn’t fit this boat, or…. name it after one of my daughters, essentially creating WW3 with the other…..so I did what any smart granddad would do, I tossed the hot potato over to my two grandsons……the only name that they could agree on……”PaPa” which is what they call me.
Which leaves me with a question; if a boat has a males name do you call it a “He”?
Sorry I’m from Montana and we tend to get off on bunny trails sometimes.
Ok, back to the Nantucket Island Sailboats. Stumbling upon this design at the beginning of my interest in sailboats pretty much ruined it for me for many years. Few sailing vessels under 50’ compared in the feeling when you’re aboard. Sleek smooth lines, clean and sharp, looked like it was moving when it was sitting still. This boat broke the
mold to what I had seen everywhere else. Flush decks were the first thing I noticed, clear clean and uncluttered, you could move around fast on this boat without tripping over stuff. Perfect for
single handling, this is why most
racing sailing vessels have flush decks today. The really cool thing about this boat is guest can ride on the aft deck looking forward as the
Captain does his thing, or turn around and face aft and watch your wake trailing off into the distance. There is plenty of room for entertaining on deck, or spreading out and taking in some sunshine. Few other sailboats can match this ability as most of the deck is taken up by the
cabin sticking up out of the decks. In a blow, a flush deck can take heavy seas with much less of a pounding as the seas simply wash over the decks, instead of around the
cabin. Locating the
cockpit in the center of the boat up high where you could see 360 degrees around the boat increased
safety exponentially! It also meant a drier ride in heavy seas. The cockpit on a Nantucket Island 38 is large enough to sleep in, or for 8 adults. The hull design is modern, fast and stable in heavy seas, yet still nimble and able to safely sail in the
Caribbean and
Bahamas. The
Sloop rigged vessel is easy to manage and points well with the correct
head sails trimmed properly. She is fairly quick and in my opinion well founded in spite of her shoal
draft, because they are heavily ballasted. The
keel is encapsulated FRP which means no
keel bolts to shear off! This can result in a really bad day, especially a thousand miles from shore. Even if you ran her up on a reef and the
keel was grinding on the rocks, the keel will remain and the hull will not take on water as the keel has been sealed off from the bilge. The bow section is super stout
bronze castings, which almost looks like a battering ram. I pity any other boat that drags
anchor and ends up against the bow of a Nantucket Island Yacht. The ground tackle arrangement on the Nantucket Island obviously was designed by someone who lived at
anchor before. The engine room is located right under the
center cockpit which allows excellent access to everything mechanical and most
electrical. Having spent time dangling upside down on friend’s boat trying to fix this or that, it has become increasingly important, the older I get to be able to properly maintain it. On a Nantucket Island Sailboat, there is 300 degree access to the
propulsion system. About the only place you don’t have access is from below as the hull is in the way. There are large removable
panels in the alleyway and
companionway, Port and Starboard, as well as access from forward under the steps to the cockpit. Aft access is through a door in the Masters Cabin.
I have been on many sailboats and few feel as spacious as a Nantucket Island Yacht. The 33 footer seems as though you’re on a 40 footer and the 38 footer seems like a 50 foot
monohull. Form follows Function in this design and it seems to flow very well. The
Galley is very well thought out and offers plenty of space to prepare and serve
meals. Compared to most other sailing yachts in this class, the
Galley design is probably the best I have encountered and has been confirmed by some with far more experience than I process. The
Salon is forward and offers ample room for six adults; the adjacent Settee can also be utilized, as the table is expandable to facilitate the Settee, which can seat another three to four adults, depending on the version of vessel, 33’ or 38’. Better yet the table can be lowered and a berth for two unfolds. Cabinets and bookcases are on both the Port and Starboard sides, providing plenty of
storage space. Moving forward is a VBerth on the 33’ and a forward
Head on the 38’ version of the Nantucket Island. Chain locker is in the Bow section.
Saving the best for last is the Aft Stateroom, which I feel is very spacious and luxurious for a sailing yacht in this class. A queen size berth along with a decent size Settee provides comfortable long term living quarters. There is plenty of storage in this area as well as well as the rest of the yacht. The
teak joinery in the Nantucket Island speaks of quality and thousands of man hours to create, fit and finish is excellent. The cost to duplicate this
interior today is very expensive. When you add everything up, in my opinion, the Nantucket Island is in a class of classics. The Nantucket Island is a unique design, well-engineered, quality build, excellent craftsmanship, which equates to a very functional vessel, which also just happens to be one of the best looking, in the Bay.