In this issue, we will look at some big boats that are well-suited to families living aboard or doing extensive cruising. All are in the “clipper” style. See that thingy sticking out from the stem, under the bowsprit. I don’t know what that feature is called. I’ve always called it the “bilican” or “bilikan”. Nobody has ever corrected me, so maybe that’s what it is. You can see it on the old square-rigged clipper ships, so that’s why it’s called a “clipper bow” by most.
I’ll start with the CT 54. I was about 28 years old and working for a Seattle designer who thought ferro cement would be the home builder’s solution to the high cost of yacht building. I’d work pounding out “stock plans” aimed at home builders. My boss would sell these plans as a package to sailors deluded by the idea of a low-cost boat. Unfortunately, they don’t make ferro cement engines, spars, or winches. More often than not, the home builder would never finish his ferro cement boat as the reality of the finished cost came into view. I watched that happen over and over, and it depressed me.
I would go home at night and work on my own designs for fictitious clients, usually choosing the name of a friend for my title block. Eventually, I produced a design for a 47’ ketch that I was pretty proud of. I sent my design off to NATIONAL FISHERMAN magazine. What did I have to lose? They had an active design section, and they were featuring some ferro designs. One day, I opened my NATIONAL FISHERMAN magazine and there, on the front page of their design section, was my design. I was ecstatic even if I misspelled “Accomodations” in big black ink lettering. I still can’t spell it.
