Seascape 24
This is the new kid on the block and, like her siblings, she’s by no means just another sportsboat. She’s designed to be easy to rig, launch, trail and sail, all single-handed if necessary, and she comes with a keel that swings up inside the hull rather than lifting vertically. Options include a cockpit tent and, as with the 18, the 24 is aimed very much at the trailer-sailer camper-cruiser market.
Peter Wanstall, who sells the Seascapes in the UK, makes the point that camper-cruising on light, fast, simple boats like this is extremely popular in mainland Europe. The Seascape 18 is widely and competitively raced over there, but many owners also trail and sail with their families and friends. Only in the UK, it seems, has she been viewed as a slightly detuned sportsboat that’s designed for racing and little else. In fact, with her fully-retractable swing keel and light, easy-to-raise carbon rig she would be ideal for raids and would undoubtedly run rings around many of the more traditional offerings.
Inshore offshore
One factor that differentiates the Seascape from most of her more extreme round-the- cans competitors is that she’s compliant with RORC Category 4, meaning she can be used for coastal passage racing if you’re so minded. Peter recently completed a 25-mile upwind/downwind race from Plymouth in 15-20 knots of breeze, finishing not far adrift of a J/105, X 332 and Sun Fast 3200. Not surprisingly, he didn’t quite hang on to them upwind but pulled a lot back on the downwind leg.
My introduction to the Seascape 24 was in a Wednesday evening club race in Plymouth Sound in a mixed handicap fleet. The light and shifty breeze ranged between about 7 and 12 knots – not ideal for this boat – and we were only three-up, so a bit short of hands at the marks. We still won our class, finishing a little way behind a Mumm 36, a J/109 and an X 99 on the water.
The following day for our test we had a spanking 15-20 knots that let the boat off
the leash. The first point to make is that she’s incredibly easy to sail; taut, responsive and predictable. She’ll fizz along at a more-than-respectable 5 to 5.5 knots upwind as long as you don’t oversheet the mainsail. The sheet is taken to a bridle and there’s no traveller or backstay, so you have to use the vang and resist the temptation to point too high. Your VMG is better if you put the bow down a little and let the boat heel to around 20°.
The helmsman’s perch is comfortable and there’s plenty of space in the cockpit if you’re not racing and your crew wants to stay inboard. That’s where the Seascape really scores: you can race competitively or blast around if you want to, or sail on half throttle with a family crew and still leave most boats in your wake. That low-cg keel gives a draught of 2m
(6ft 7in) and a lot of righting moment.
Every aspect of how the boat sails and is handled has clearly been thought out. The deck hardware is efficient and in the right place. There’s no slop in the steering and the feedback from the twin rudders is as good as I’ve experienced on any boat with two blades. Everything is light, precise and responsive; there was no hint of slack or play anywhere, even when we bounced over some meaningful waves off the western end of the breakwater. I expected some thudding from the centreplate, but it was like sailing a fin-keeler. It makes a delightful change to sail a boat on which things work as they should and where no areas appear to have been overlooked. The fact that the Seascape team are experienced short-handed offshore sailors and fully up to speed with Open Class designs really shows. In fact, Sam Manuard, the designer, has a second place in the Transat Jacques Vabre to his credit. These guys know what they’re doing.
Our test boat had the single, 450mmhigh guardwire that comes as standard and is low enough for the crew to hike efficiently. It’s not ideal for the helmsman because you can’t get your torso outboard unless you’re not racing, in which case you can dip underneath it. For racing, twin guardwires would be better for the helm (and are Cat 4 compliant) and they would work for the crew too, providing they’re good at unthreading themselves during tacks.
downwind with distinction
What is there to say about the Seascape’s performance downwind? It was 10-12 knots all the way. During one gybe we dropped below 10 knots only for a few seconds before heading straight back into double figures. There’s next to no load on anything. Not once did the boat even threaten to broach. A little more wind would have made things livelier, of course, and every boat has its limits, but at no stage were we anywhere near them.
If your interest is cruising or family sailing, you might choose a smaller jib and a Code 5 asymmetric on a furler that could stay on the end of the bowsprit. Detuning is simple: there are options for however you want to sail.
Accommodation
The photo tells the story: it’s light, simple and totally open-plan. Buoyancy is beneath the berths at both ends, so under-bunk stowage is limited. This is a weekender, and removable soft stowage bags will accommodate the essentials.
An interior moulding forms the bunk fronts, but that’s it: otherwise the structure is fully accessible and there are no superfluous mouldings or linings adding weight and taking up space.
You have comfortable sitting headroom, berths for four people to stretch out horizontally, space for a chemical toilet, a table for use in the cabin and cockpit – everything you need for the simple campercruising life.
PBO VERDICT
The Seascape 24 is a very appealing little boat. She’s fast, enormous fun to sail and dead easy to handle. We started and finished the day with her ashore on her trailer in Queen Anne’s Battery, so I saw how simple she is to launch and recover. The light weight is fundamental to her performance, yet construction appears reassuringly tough: hull and deck are vacuuminfused cored laminates with a higher-density core in the bottom of the hull. Longitudinal and lateral stiffening members abound. The whole approach smacks of honesty, simplicity, intelligent design and a complete lack of pretentiousness.
As the designer says, he wanted a boat that’s fast, fun and hassle-free. There’s no doubt he has succeeded. The Seascape 24 does what she’s designed to do incredibly well.