SPIRIT OF TRADITION
It would be easy for a casual observer to assume that yacht (or ‘sailboat’) building in North America has never recovered from the financial crash ten years ago. A number of previously big names are now a shadow of their previous operations, or have vanished completely. However, this masks a healthy and innovative industry, much of it in New England, where a number of renowned designers and boatyards are creating interesting spirit of tradition yachts and daysailers that blend many of the latest advances in design and construction with stunning ‘retro’ styling. Marblehead-based Doug Zurn designed the prototype of this appealing daysailer a few years ago and is now planning to build it on a production basis in the Netherlands. The boat offers a delightful blend of tradition and innovation, with an eye-catching sweeping sheer – one of Zurn’s trademarks – plus an impressively easy to handle rig.
An easily driven hull shape with narrow beam is matched to efficient modern keel and rudder shapes. The former benefits from a decent sized bulb and enough chord length to tame any flighty tendencies. While many boats of this size have a lifting keel, this design’s fixed fin helps to enhance the boat’s simplicity, and draught is barely more than 1m.
“The design is targeted at someone who may have been a performance sailor in the past and now wants to enjoy a performance oriented boat that has more comfort and is easier to sail – it gives single-line sailing with great all-round visibility,” Zurn says.
“The idea behind it was to create a boat that you can enjoy day sailing without a whole lot of fuss. You can easily sail it single-handed, but there’s plenty of space to take out kids or grandchildren.”
A square-top North 3Di sail is set on an unstayed carbon cat rig from Hall Spars. This makes for the simplest possible sail handling, aided by the top mast bending off in gusts, which opens the leech and spills power from the top of the sail. The 3.6m long cockpit is larger than that of many considerably longer yachts, making sailing with a crowd just as easy as single-handing. The small cuddy forward is primarily intended for stowing gear.
A Mastervolt electric pod drive provides auxiliary propulsion. “It’s a really neat system, with low drag and the
ZURN MARBLEHEAD