Paul Gartside originally produced his Beach Cruiser, Design #226, in 2017, “as a fast, light, lug-and-mizzen boat at 17′ overall for a fellow on the coast of Texas.” The following year, for a customer in California, he built a 16′ version with a gunter main, jib, and mizzen: Centerboard Yawl, Design #226A. In 2022 that 16-footer appealed to Andy Weimer of Zurich, Switzerland, when he enrolled at the Boat Building Academy (BBA) in Lyme Regis, England. “I liked the shape of the hull and the plumb stem—I am a bit of a sucker for West Country working boats—but I didn’t like the gunter-yawl rig, so I asked Paul if he could draw a gaff rig with a topsail and bowsprit.” Paul obliged and the result, the Centerboard Sloop of Design #226A, is the same 16′ hull as the Centerboard Yawl, but with the mast and centerboard moved forward to balance the new rig.
Courtesy Paul GartsideDesign 226A was originally conceived as a yawl with a gunter-rigged mainsail, overlapping jib, and leg o’ mutton mizzen set to a short boomkin. Paul Gartside drew a new gaff-sloop sailplan for Andy Weimer.
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Reading through this might give the impression that I built this all on my own, but I would like to point out that it was only possible to get this boat on the water on launch day with a lot of help from my fellow students at the Boatbuilding Academy, especially Nick and Mark, who were both assigned to this project, and the fantastic support by the tutors giving us the skills: Matt, Rob, Mike (who worked on the boom, gaff and bowsprit with his class), Joe (Centerboard), director Will ( he made all the sole boards until 3am on launch day!) and many other members of staff who kept it all rolling (Jerry & Sam supplying wood, Tim sourcing materials, Mark teaching us to make the sails, Wendy providing tea, Paul making sure everything was up to standards and we passed the exams, Janine pulling the strings in the background… I think this could go on for a while!).
Thank you everyone for that amazing experience!
Andy
Nice looking boat.
Thank you, Bert
This will be my next boat!