For Sale: Benbow Cutter Custom FRP

[BenBowSirocco]

Current Location: George Town Bahamas
Arrival in Tampa Florida: March 2021
Asking Price: $48,500
Condition: Excellent
Year Launched: 1981
Last Refit: Summer 2019


This boat was built in Sarasota FL by an accomplished shipright. All materials are top quality for the period. It is very strongly built.

We love this boat. We have sailed and lived aboard for extended periods over 6+ years, logging over 5,000nm and exploring the east coast of the US as well as the Bahama’s. Covid cut our Caribbean sailing short and covid life has seen us starting a small business and its time to let Sirocco inspire someone else. This boat gives you confidence. She is steadfast and reliable in all conditions to keep you safe and comfortable. Wether you are wanting to take your sailing to the next level offshore, or enjoy comfortable weekends gunkholing in the bay, this boat will take you there and bring you back. She is ready to leave, self sufficient/offgrid and in sail away condition.

My career/work for the last decade has been building and repairing boats. I have also worked professionally as a diesel mechanic. I recently graduated night school with a certificate in computer aided design and another in rapid prototyping. I have worked in the tooling department at multiple boat manufactures and most recently as a design and prototype specialist.

Sirocco is a William Atkin designed BenBow Cutter, a true “deep sea auxiliary”, designed as the third rendition of her type by “Billy” Atkin as his personal cruising yacht. She has a hybrid rig, utilizing a bowsprit to increase her headsail size and pointing ability. She is a US coast guard registered vessel. Her length on deck is 29’-9”, length of waterline is 30’-9” (including rudder) making a hull speed of 7.4, she is of 8.5 tons displacement and 9’-6” Beam with an air draft of 45’.
Like most owners of the infamous Lyle Hess Bristol Channel Cutters will tell you, this type of vessel really can real off the miles with high average speeds due to their long waterlines.

We keep things simple, Sirocco is not full of gadgets. Her biggest electronic consumers of electricity include a Super Cold Machine (with updated controller) set in a very well insulated box (6"+), VHF with AIS and a stereo. She does have a depth sounder- ST60. We navigated with Ipads- not included.

LOA: 36’
LWL: 31-9”
Beam: 9’6”
Draft: 5’-3”
Displacement: 17,000lbs, 8.5 tons



New Summer of 2019:
• Sails:
o Main and Genoa
 Doyle
o Stack Pack w/Lazy Jacks
 Doyle
o Asymmetrical Spinnaker
 Doyle

• Standing Rigging:
o Chainplates:
 316L Electropolished/Passivated
 316L Hardware
o Parts/pieces:
 316L Electropolished/Passiavted
 Isolated with Lanolin
 Cotter Pins: High Silicon Bronze
o Wires:
 Swaged Sta-Lok

• Stern Pulpits:
o 316L Mirror Polished

• Anchor System:
o 55lb Rocna
o Cast silicon bronze anchor roller
o Tiger 555 manual windlass; refurbished, cleaned, repacked
o Bowsprit “Hoop” for snubber
o FX-16 Kedge on pulpit
 300’ ¾ nylon rode in cockpit bench

• Windvane:
o Built from plans of Freehand Self Steering Gear
o Stern mounted wingsail on dual angular contact 100% Delrin pillow blocks
o Trim tab gudgeons; 3/8” solid laminate “T” beams in vinylester resin

• Electrical:
o 400AH Mastervolt AGM Batteries
o 300W of monocrystalline solar panels
o MPPT controller
o Balmar Smart Gauge
o Boss Audio mechless stereo with Bose speakers
o Standard Horizon VHF with AIS
o 5x 747 high efficiency 2-speed fans
o LED Spreader Flood Lights
o Interior Light Fixtures
 Chromed Brass
 LED
 White and Red
 Reading Lamps

• Ritchie Bulkhead Compass

• Cockpit Benches:
o Marine ply coated with Velum set in vinylester resin
o 316L Piano hinges/hardware

• Engine:
o Control Cables
o Engine Mounts
o Paint: POR system
o Stainless Exhaust Elbow
 Heat wrapped
o Impeller, Belts, Zincs +spares
o 3” continuous duty blower

• All Hoses:

• Lapped/lubricated tapered bronze seacocks

• Water Tanks:
o 7 coats food grade epoxy resin
o Heat cured to 120 degrees
o Scrubbed and washed
o Foot pump for fresh water at sink
o Electric pump for salt water at sink

• Deck Paint:
o Petits Monourethane

• Topside Paint:
o Rustoleum Topsides

• Bottom:
o “Home-Brew” Copper Coat
 Pure Copper Dust set in Epoxy
 Activated/Faired to 400 Grit
o “Bill King Fairing”
 Keel to Rudder Gap Filled
 Rudder Gudgeons Faired
 Through Hulls Faired

• Head:
o Natures Head Composting Toilet

• Mattress:
o 5” Memory foam mattress in Waterproof cover

• Upgrades: (Not “New” but refurbished/installed)
o Bronze Harken Barbossa 42 self tailing sheet winches
o Bronze self tailing halyard winches
o ST60 Depth Sounder
o 300’ 3/8 Chain

Other Boat Accessories:

-Large capacity electric emergency bilge pump

-Automatic magnetic switch bilge pump

-Whale Gusher Titan manual pump in cockpit

-Automatic engine room fire suppression system

3” continuous duty blower for engine room

3- 4” bronze dorade with bronze blocking plates

-Cockpit shower with curtain

-Hanging locker in V-birth

-Triple thick privacy curtain and fan for head area

-Bowsprit net

-We have stored 6 months of cans and dry food for 2 people as well as 1 months worth of water


While there is always things that could be done on a boat. But I like to think this boat is in solid, safe, sail away condition. There have been more upgrades as we cruised, like a teak cockpit grate in the cockpit, but since we cannot go aboard at the moment, these are the pictures we have.

It is very dry, inside and on deck. I am sad to see her go, but thats life.

This website contains photos, videos and a more detailed write up.
https://kanddconcepts.wixsite.com/sirocco

[BenBowSirocco]

Sirocco is now in Florida. We are still moving to the west coast, but she will be available for showings at the Gulfport Municipal Marina in Tampa Bay as of April 1st.

We will update this posting with a new set of photos that do not include our belongings in the next couple weeks.

Having sailed a thousand miles since the hull fairing all I can say is this boat has high average speeds. We passage plan at 5kn and regularly arrive early, we spent multiple days sailing home from the Bahamas without starting the engine.

Also perhaps not noted clearly above, this is a truly one of a kind boat. She is the only fiberglass BenBow known to exist. A highly regarded and experienced designers personal yacht built by a highly experienced professional as his personal yacht to a high standard.
Her Hull is 1” thick, bulkheads are in awesome shape and 1-1/2” thick, bulwarks are solid glass with nearly everything mounted to them, very few deck penetrations.

Sirocco is solid and ready for sea and a great sailing boat.

[BCCLover]

What a gorgeous boat. Good luck with the sale.

[BenBowSirocco]

Available for showings in Gulfport Florida. New Price: $46,000

Updated photos:For Sale WEBSITE

[BenBowSirocco]

Had an accepted offer fall through due to personal emergency. Reducing price to: $44,000


Great boat for a good price.



Just re-caulked companionway hatch. Fresh varnish on most of the boat now as well. Liveaboard slip in Gulfport FL available, great sailing bay 5 min of motoring with the Gulf of Mexico right around the corner.

[BenBowSirocco]

Make an offer. Currently priced at: $41,000


All new Standing Rigging

New Chainplates

New Mainsail and Genoa
Stern mounted Freehand Self Steering windvanve
Entire hull filled and faired smooth= Very Slippery Fish



Only selling because we started a business during Covid.

[BenBowSirocco]

$39,000

[hopeful]

What is the construction? Is it solid FRP with a lead encased keel? Does the deck have any coring or is it solid FRP? Is the keel bolted in? Do you have the original designs and blueprints? Thank you

[BenBowSirocco]

My wife and I did not build the boat, but we have spent time with the original builders, who we met by happenstance and then became friends with, a rather private couple who built Sirocco in a rented building. The builder was a shipwright and him and his wife become finishing specialist for the remainder of their careers post build.

The hull does have Airex foam coring in topside areas (1/2"), but has no coring in the high stress areas of chainplates, keel, bow or stern. The overall hull thickness in the topsides is over an inch and grows as you move down towards the keel. Relatively 3/8" skins where the foam is present and solid glass where its not.

Sirocco was built over a male mold, so the lead was added as 55lb ingots, ingot trimmings and wheel weights as applicable in order to make the lead as solid as possible. All of this was set in a thickened resin, then filled with thickened resin and then completely glassed over- creating an incredibly strong encapsulated keel. The water tanks were then glassed in on top of the keel.

My wife and I used a food grade epoxy coating and diligently applied 7 coatings to the water tanks during out 2019 refit.

The deck is laminated teak/mahogany beams set on an actual 2"x4" mahogany panting beam that runs the perimeter of the entire hull. It is then capped in Lloyd's marine ply with copper brads and glassed over on top. Below it is insulated and then covered in ply/Formica between the beams: which is awesome as it cleans perfectly and is done to very high standards of fit/finish.

The hull was made 4" taller above the deck line and the hull to deck joint is the deck glass laps up upon the hull/bulwark itself, making a completely laminated and water tight joint. All stanchion bases and most of the deck hardware is bolted to this same solid glass bulwark. The bulwark is nearly 1-1/2" thick. It also has all of the dock line fairleads and cleats attached to it eliminating most of the leak points found in production boats.



Original write up and drawings of the boat:

Atkin & Co. - Ben Bow


You will notice her rig differs from the original drawings. The bowsprit is to increase her ability to sail to weather and give a more balanced helm. It also lowers her center of effort, but provides move sail. This rig is very familiar to anyone acquainted with the BCC's and its use is well understood. Nothing beats the ease of use in a cutter offshore, tons of versatility for the weather without having to change any sails.

Sirocco does have a custom fitted Asymmetrical spinnaker, which is flown from the bowsprit iron and is honestly one of our favorite sails because cruising along at 6+ knots in calm water is a real treat.

These classic full keelers benefit greatly from making the hull smooth/fair as we did with Bill King's Westsail 32 fairing method and their long waterlines make for high speed sailing. With the rudder, Sirocco's waterline is 31', which is a 7.4kn hull speed- even without the rudder hull speed is 7.2kn.

Fresh tight rig, well designed new sails, smooth hull: this boat really sails.

[hopeful]

Seems it seems like a nice boat. What kind of a business did you open up, a boat yard? Well I do not know if you can private message me but if you can let me know and we can talk more about your boat.

[BenBowSirocco]

My wife and I convert Sprinter Vans into high quality RV's.



I sent you a PM. Let me know if you got it.

[BenBowSirocco]

Leaving for the South Pacific in two weeks.

If you want a steal of a deal- bring cash and make an offer- we know exactly what it would cost us to hold it while we are gone.

[usedwood]

Is your boat still available?
Tim

[BenBowSirocco]

SOLD.

[pressuredrop]

Congrats! Made me sad for the market, and people's tastes, that this took so long to sell