Flush Deck - No Cockpit

[Fotoman]

Yep, now you're talking! It looks like a very decent boat and if you can get it for the right price you'll probably enjoy it a lot more in the long run.

[SabreKai]

Nice boat, that Cheoy Lee. But you won't come near it at $10K. Send a message to the seller and ask what the reserve is. I'll bet $20K plus.

Now as far at the cockpit-less beastie goes, I'm going to go out on a limb and say Go ahead and make an offer *subject to survey*. From what I can make out in the photos, all the gear appears to be there, and if it all works so much for the good. Now that cockpit is easy to work in. You park your duff on the deck, stick your feet in the well and you are fine. Only thing is you don't have any back support. But thats a thing only you can tell if you can live with it. Even so there are ways of adding removable backrests so thats no problem. The interior has a very good amount of space, given its a flush deck design for all intents. You have a large bunk in the stern, and a couple of singles up forward.

She will be wet if the weather goes Delta Sierra, but again, that is up to you how much you can take. The cockpit on both of mine are deep bathtubs and you are half buried below deck level if sitting in the cockpit. Vision forward is a pain for that reason.... Here you are at deck level with nothing to impede your view but the little doghouse. Most of the time I'm sitting on the lazarette hatches on Espina or on the cockpit combing on Sabre Dance. The hatches are small and the combings are narrow. On this boat you will have lots of space for your derriere. Given the small combing at the front of the cockpit area, I suspect under most conditions you will be fairly dry. That combing will keep the water from hitting you. But it will be a very wet derriere if the boat starts to take solid water over the side or bow.

Just one thing. If you do buy her, for god sakes paint the interior. My eyes just about melted from those pictures! Talk about colorful!

[speedoo]

Originally Posted by b-rad

The boat doesnt really look like a race boat or is set up like one. I dont have any plans for long cruises. Just maybe weekend trips. Maybe over to the bahamas.
Most of my trips would likely be day sails on weekends.
Heres a link to rest of the pictures.
1983 Bruce Kelly Custom sailboat for sale in Florida

What do you like about the boat?

[Greg-D]

There are a lot of intersting and potentially useful features about that boat but....

I sailed my Pearson 26 from Tampa Bay to the Dry Tortugas, Key West and back plus up and down the Florida west coast. So I am a day sailor, short trip guy like you want to be. Good luck, be safe and have fun.

Here is the down side to that cockpit as I see it. You are going to become uncomfortable pretty quickly. You'll be sitting on a cushion with your feet in front of you and you'll have to tack. Look at where the jib sheet winches are located. You are going to have to flip over and crawl to get to the winches. Can you hold the tiller and work the jib at the same time?

It looks like you will have little back support.

To be comfortable (and stay awake at night) I found it necessary to stand up and steer a significant amount of the time. In the Pearson, I could fall down from a standing position and still be in the boat. If you are working your way through a reef you are going to want to stand up to see better. That is a big consideration.

On the other hand, if the previous owner knows how to work around those issues, make him show you. He or she may have perfectly viable solutions. My advice is before you put any money down, go sailing with the owner for at least two or three hours and insist he show you how to sail this boat and you do the sailing.

[zombiescantswim]

Hello, I just sold this boat. A few of the post's have incorrect and uneducated advice. I owned Katapoul and sailed her so maybe I can clear up the confusion so someone else considering a flush deck / footwell design won't run away from it on poor advice!

1. The flush deck is a stronger design. Personally on a 30ft boat the added deck space was a lifesaver in foul weather. If you want inside height over deck space that is up to you.

2. The footwell cockpit is designed to keep the aft from becoming swamped with water ( also desirable for offshore cruising ). Since katapoul has a tiller & a flush deck the cockpit height / design wasn't an issue. It was quite comfortable to steer. And as far as getting wet and feeling more out on the open....it's a sailboat....I suppose everyones comfort level is different.

Also, this boat is in no way shape or form a racing boat! She was built without a motor and built specifically as a cruiser / sturdy blue water boat.
This boat has a 12.5 ft beam. a 2 ton solid lead swing keel ( 6 ft) 4,000 lbs of removable ballast and the hull is 2 inches thick. She has multiple Water tight bulkheads and a shorter mast. The displacement is comparable to most 40 - 45 foot boats and the rigging to match. Our ideal sail weather was 25 - 35 knots and it took quite allot to get her to heel & go faster than 6 knots. This boat was a bit slow but the perfect island hopper and handled the crossing like a champ! So to most on here - you were totally wrong!

To the next person considering this design - don't take rash advice! you could be giving up a very very seaworthy vessell.

[Greg-D]

Congratulations on selling your boat. It's always a nice feeling to be out from under, until you do it all over again.

A couple of things. You only addressed a few of the issues brought up by those who replied to the original inquiry. It's nice that your vessel had all those fine blue water qualities, but they weren't that apparent from the photos. Perhaps if you had the opportunity to jump into the thread earlier on.

However, I, for example, addressed cockpit comfort and winch position. I see now how the winch position did not matter much to you. For a passage you set the sails and left them there for a week. (I still don't understand how you sailed any distance without having your own personal chiropractor on board, but apparently you managed.) But Rad wanted a boat for day sailing in the Miami, FL area. Half the year is light or no air except during thunderstorms. A blue water boat with no engine, only sails best in 25 - 30 knot winds and has trouble moving better than six knots was definitely the wrong boat for him. I hope the buyer was someone who wanted to follow in your wake and not someone who wanted to spend his time gunkholing.

[Kenfickett]

A bit late on this thread but the boat being discussed was built by Mirage Mfg in Gainesville Florida and finished by the owner Claude Apaldo. It was sailed extensively and circumnavigated. It has a sister ship built at the same time and still owned by the original owner Claude's younger brother Richard. Richard keeps his boat in the Abacos and also has cruised extensively.