NEW CRABBER 24
We test the classic with a carbon mast
When your car starts developing weather helm because of strong beam winds on your way to a boat test, you know you’re going to be in for a lively time on the water.
So it was as I headed west to sail the new Cornish Crabber 24 in Falmouth. The forecasts had promised a moderate to fresh northerly accompanied by wall-towall sunshine, so it looked like a day we shouldn’t miss.
As soon I hit high ground on the A35, however, it became apparent that the predictions were wildly inaccurate. Only five days earlier a forecast 12-15 knots in the Solent had turned out to be closer to 30 knots and it looked as though the met-men were on similar form this time.
Peter Thomas from Cornish Crabbers confirmed that it was ‘blowing old boots’ in Mylor, but we decided to press on. Crabbers are capable little boats and you can always find a lee somewhere in the Carrick Roads.
At least I hoped the new Crabber would be as capable as her predecessors, of which there have been several since Roger Dongray’s original was launched by Westerly Boats in 1973.
The first Cornish Crabber became so successful it changed the name of the company and the rest, as any enthusiast will tell you, is history.
Crabbing forwards
We all know what makes a Cornish Crabber a Cornish Crabber, don’t we? It must be pretty and of traditional appearance, with a chined or simulated-lapstrake hull, wooden spars, a gaff rig, a bowsprit, a long shallow keel and a centreplate. Right?
Most of the time that’s exactly what Crabbers have been. The 24 Mk I set the theme and it continued with the Mk II – essentially the same boat but designed for
GRP rather than plywood and with a token coachroof. Then things changed: the Mk III was much heavier, with a deeper full-length keel, running backstays, less form stability and a smaller cockpit. She was more of a small yacht than a large weekender; more expensive, more complicated and less manoeuvrable than her predecessors. While her looks helped ensure she attracted a dedicated following, she appealed to a different audience.
The Crabber 22, introduced to plug the gap between the 24 and the Shrimper 19, was in broadly similar vein. So, when the 26 was launched in 2010, it left the two heavier, deeper-draught models between the evergreen Shrimper and the then-newest addition, both of which had centreplates and were arguably more in keeping with the original Crabber philosophy.
Shrimper owners wanting to move up then found themselves in a bit of a quandary. Many wanted a bigger Shrimper but the Crabber 22 wasn’t it. She was nowhere near as trailable and the extra length still didn’t give them a separate heads.
That’s why, in 2015, Crabbers launched the Shrimper 21. Substantially lighter than the 22, roomier and eminently trailable, she had a shallow keel, a centreplate and, yes, a separate heads compartment. She was the obvious step up for owners of the 19 and took off in a big way.
It remained a big jump from the 21 to the 26, however, and production of the 24 (latterly in Mk IV form with higher topsides and a modified deck moulding) had come to an end. It was time for a new 24.
New ideas
When you have as strong a following as Cornish Crabbers, it’s not easy to introduce a new model. It has to be roomier, faster, more comfortable and easier to handle than its predecessors, yet still exude the required quantities of traditional charm and not be prohibitively
expensive to build. Boats like this by their very nature cost more than an identikit modern production cruiser, but Crabbers have developed and built enough of them by now to know how to keep costs within reason while giving owners the levels of robustness, trim and detailing they expect.
The man entrusted with the design this time was Andrew Wolstenholme, a new name in Crabber circles but known to many for his Kite, Norfolk Gypsy and Duchy motor launches among others. His brief was to come up with a boat conceptually more akin to the original Crabber, with shallow draught and a centreplate, a generous cockpit and a weight that would allow owners to trail it home at the end of the season if they wanted to. At the same time it needed to sleep four, have an inboard engine (and a separate heads, of course) and meet the requirements of RCD Category B.
The Mk V Crabber was announced at the Southampton Boat Show in 2016 and appeared in the flesh a year later, superficially complete but still some way from being ready to sail. Plans for my testing were set back in the early spring by a few snowflakes and some chilly breezes from the east. Nonetheless, having over the years tested the Shrimper 19 and 21, the Crabber 22 and 26 and the Adventure 19 (the Bermudan-rigged version of the Shrimper), I was keen to see how the new arrival measured up.
She’s a pretty boat on paper, with a
pronounced sheerline and a Crabbermeets-Wolstenholme appearance that makes her look very much at home in the current line-up. Considering that the 21, 24 and 26 are from three different designers they all sit together very happily as a family.
What Wolstenholme has done, with commendable subtly, is to continue the modernisation of the hull shape that has been taking place gently and progressively in recent generations of Crabbers and Shrimpers. For example, the beam is carried slightly further aft to a broader transom and the keel is notably shorter, finishing well forward of the transom even though the flat steel centreplate is a traditional wedge-ofcheese shape rather than the higheraspect ratio profile used on the Shrimper 21. When you see the boat in the flesh, the flare in the topsides is also noticeable. It leads to a relatively narrow waterline and the entry is finer than we’ve seen before.
Significant though this all is, the most obvious headline news is the carbon mast. What? Carbon on a Crabber? Yes, really – and for good reason, because it allows the boat to meet the stability requirements of Category B with four people aboard. Weight aloft has an enormous bearing on stability and righting moment, not to mention other comfort-related aspects like pitch and roll, even with a short mast like this. A bonus is that it’s a doddle for one person to step and, as it’s finished in off-white (to match the deck), there’s nothing to give the game away.
Swift results
Carbon or no carbon, you don’t buy a gaffer for its performance. That has always been the case and it still is. Then again, bear in mind that it’s not only the rig that counts: it’s the boat underneath.
Looking at the shape and numbers of the new Crabber 24, you might expect her to sail pretty well – and she does. We pushed harder on our test than many owners might choose to, heading out in about 25 knots of wind under full sail, but you tend to learn more about a boat if you make her work a little.
To give her a fighting chance we decided to seek out a lee, so we left the sails down as we motored out of Mylor and turned north. A Yanmar 2YM is fitted, ours driving a three-bladed feathering prop rather than the standard fixed two-blader, and it pushed us into the wind and chop against the last of the ebb with 5.2 knots showing on the GPS. In flat conditions it would have been a good 6 knots through the water.
One problem with sailing close to a high and wooded windward shore is that you get dirty wind, but that made life all the more entertaining. Hard-hitting gusts would sweep across the water from unpredictable angles to keep us on our toes. The little Crabber took it all in her stride even though some active engagement with the mainsheet was called for. Naturally we harnessed a relatively small part of the mainsail, leaving the forward half lifting most of the time and sometimes driving with only the leech which, in a first for a Crabber, has battens to counter any hooking tendencies.
When we ventured away from the shore into a more consistent breeze, we found we were clocking speeds into the mid 4s upwind, our extra pace in the slight chop accompanied at certain angles of heel by a little slap-and-tickle from the shallow bilge runners that are moulded in as part of the hull. As an option you can also have deeper, bonded-on mini bilge keels so the boat sits upright when dried out.
Balancing act
One characteristic commonly found among gaffers is what you might call a firm feel to the helm. Because of her relatively short keel and a fair amount of balance to the rudder blade, however, the Crabber’s tiller exerted much less of a tug than many.
It still reminded me that it was there, not surprisingly given the conditions and the fact that, once away from the lee of the shore, we wound in the jib and continued under staysail and full main. That’s hardly the most balanced of sail plans, especially when the only part of the mainsail working is the leech.
Downwind we trammed along at nigh on 7 knots at times, which is some going for a roomy little cruiser with a waterline less than 22ft (6.7m) long. Apart from the occasional broach in a stronger gust when the wind was at the critical
quartering angle that tests many boats in brisk conditions, all was well.
All told it was a thoroughly reassuring performance. We couldn’t have done much more to provoke the poor boat if we had tried. I’m confident she will go nicely in lighter conditions too, given what is clearly an easily-driven hull, a displacement/length ratio of 212 and a sail area/displacement ratio (under all upwind sail) of just over 19.
In terms of handling and ergonomics there was little to complain about. A major plus is a cockpit that’s big enough for four people to move around in when actively sailing the boat. For bimbling along it could accommodate six.
This is very much a ‘sit-in’ boat so there’s no point in trying to helm from the coamings when she’s heeled in any breeze. Besides, most of the time you don’t need to: visibility forward is good and you have a clear view of the luff of both headsails.
Two pairs of Barton G8 winches handle the jib and staysail sheets, the latter passing through jamming foot-blocks on the coachroof. Rubber self-tailing conversions can be fitted, though I suspect some buyers will be happy to pay extra for proper self-tailers.
All decked out
Our test boat had the optional two-tone decks which, to my mind, are well worth the modest extra charge. The moulded-in non-slip seemed effective even if, when clambering around as we made upwind, I wondered whether grabrails on the coachroof wouldn’t come amiss to act as foot-braces as much as anything.
A biscuit-tin hull-to-deck joint creates a modest upstand around the gunwale and the decks are a decent width. Hardwood rubbing strakes help protect the topsides and add to the traditional feel.
The bowsprit hinges up to reduce the boat’s length in a berth and, of course, the mast is in a tabernacle.
Back in the cockpit, we find the centreplate’s lifting line at the forward end, led from a drum under the companionway steps. There’s a full-depth locker each side extending all the way aft and the gas locker is beneath the tiller. A full-width mainsheet track runs across the transom.
Accommodation
Given the length of the cockpit, the new Crabber fits in a good deal below decks.
It’s an appealing interior, based on a full internal moulding but not looking plasticky thanks to plenty of hardwood trim and white-painted tongue-and-groove.
Layout-wise it seems well planned. The centreplate case doesn’t intrude, being neatly incorporated within the companionway steps. To starboard back here is the galley, with a two-burner cooker, a sink and reasonable stowage for a 24-footer. The heads compartment opposite is of generous proportions.
Sleeping space for four is provided by two sets of overlapping berths. The V-berth in the bow has a flap at its aft end that hinges down to create a backrest at the forward end of the saloon seating, behind which you can stow bedding. Hinging up the flap extends the V-berth to its full length of 7ft 7in (2.31m) and the saloon berths to 6ft 5in (1.95m).
Beneath the forward end of the V-berth is the water tank. Otherwise, under-bunk space is free for stowage. Diesel and holding tanks and the calorifier (hot water comes as standard) are all abaft the cabin.
Headroom is 4ft 11in (1.5m).
PBO’s verdict
It’s hard to see how Cornish Crabbers could have done much better with the new 24. The Mk V looks good, sails well, is remarkably forgiving when pressed and will even steer in astern under power.
She’s comfortable and easy to handle while providing the space and creature comforts demanded by today’s buyers. Both the structure and fit-out are relatively simple to keep weight and costs under control. At the same time, aesthetic appeal has not been sacrificed: she still ticks all the modern-trad boxes, simply steering clear of anything ornate or unnecessarily complicated.
As a pretty and capable cruiser that also makes a handy, practical, shoal-draught weekender with bags of Cornish character, this new Crabber looks sure to hit the spot.