A growing number of wealthy yachtsmen are discovering that owning a mega-yacht is not much fun. For one thing, no matter how rich you are, most people are not comfortable with the massive waste of money, time and energy invested in something which is used so little. Well, US East Coast "Old Money" yachtsman already learned this a long time ago. Now many own smaller (50' and less) yachts set up for day sailing and weekending, not overnight passage making.
Although I took my own boat to Alaska this summer, travelling over 1800 nautical miles, we were in harbor every night, and seldom cooked underway. A boat like the Alacrity 50 would have been just great for the purpose with the addition of a dodger and heater.
A more realistic use is a quick turn around the bay on a long summer evening, ending with cocktails onboard back at the slip. Or slip off on Friday night to a harbor 10 or 15 miles away, then spend the weekend enjoying the breeze and exploring. Ease of handling is key since the crew will often be friends who are not dedicated sailors, and you may have to do most of the sailing yourself. This means you also have most of the fun, as it should be since you are footing the bill!
Day sailers usually don't have standing headroom below, but at this size we can have good headroom in the deckhouse while retaining an elegant profile. Low freeboard has a purpose. The feeling of speed a sailboat has is greatest when you can see and hear the water rushing by. Boarding is much easier when the boat doesn't tower above the dock. And in this design, an elegant beauty is top priority.
I decided on a mostly flush deck, and a deck house with big windows so we can appreciate the view at anchor. Wheel steering, electric winches and a bow thruster make handling simple, but a boat this size is not for beginners or the ham handed. But if you have the skill and finesse to handle a craft like this, it is far more to be proud of then just writing the big check for the crew of a megayacht!
I haven't drawn a layout yet, but I imagine the galley and dinner seating in the deckhouse, with a lounge forward of that, and a generous sleeping cabin in the bow. Smaller day sailers often lack anchor rollers but a boat this size needs to be able to anchor in a hurry, and the ground tackle is too heavy to lug around, so I propose a below decks windlass and an anchor recess to make it as unobtrusive as possible.
Unlike most of my previous designs, I don't have a client for this one, so I have a lot of freedom to choose the parameters. The preliminary numbers look like this:
Dimensions:
L.O.A. 50' L.W.L. 40.7'
Bmax. 12.25 Draft 11'
Displacement 23700 lb
D/L Ratio 153.4
If any of you have any suggestions for features to include,
When the plans are complete, they will be offered as a royalty free license to manufacture the boat . The price will be $50,000 USD.