The Achilles 24 is a British
sailboat
A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture.
Types
Although sailboat terminology ...
that was designed by
Oliver Lee and
Chris Butler as a cruiser-racer and first built in 1968.
[Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 154-155. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. ]
The Achilles 24 is a development of the open
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
.
Production
The design was built by
Butler Moldings in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, but it is now out of production. A number of boats were also constructed by amateur builders from kits supplied by Butler.
Design
The Achilles 24 is a recreational
keelboat
A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open wat ...
, built predominantly of
fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
, with
teak
Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...
wood trim. It has a
masthead sloop
A masthead rig on a sailing vessel consists of a forestay and backstay both attached at the top of the mast.
The Bermuda rig can be split into two groups: the masthead rig and the fractional rig. The masthead rig has larger and more headsails, ...
rig, with a deck-stepped mast, a spooned
raked stem
The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively.
Description
The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...
, a vertical
transom
Transom may refer to:
* Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar
* Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet
* Operation Tran ...
, a
skeg
A skeg (or skegg or skag) is a sternward extension of the keel of boats and ships which have a rudder mounted on the centre line. The term also applies to the lowest point on an outboard motor or the outdrive of an inboard/outboard."A small fin f ...
-mounted
rudder
A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...
controlled by a
tiller
A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder. ...
and a fixed fin
keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...
or optional triple keel. It displaces and carries of ballast.
The boat has a draft of with the standard keel and with the optional shoal draft triple keel. The triple keel allows
beaching the boat in an upright position. The manufacturer claims that the triple keel only exacts a 3% performance penalty. However ''Yachting Monthly'' magazine reported in 2009, "Butler competed in AZAB and OSTAR races in the Achilles 24, which featured a bulbed fin keel. This gave the boat quite respectable speed and windward performance but a triple-keeled, shoal draught version was much more pedestrian."
The boat was initially fitted with a small
outboard motor
An outboard motor is a propulsion system for boats, consisting of a self-contained unit that includes engine, gearbox and propeller or jet drive, designed to be affixed to the outside of the transom. They are the most common motorised method ...
, with an
inboard
An inboard motor is a marine propulsion system for boats. As opposed to an outboard motor where an engine is mounted outside the hull of the craft, an ''inboard motor'' is an engine enclosed within the hull of the boat, usually connected to a pr ...
gasoline engine
A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...
optional for docking and maneuvering. Many were retro-fitted with
diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...
s. The fresh water tank has a capacity of .
Early production boats had three cabin windows, but this was later changed to a single long window.
Accommodations in the narrow-beam boat include two quarter berths and a forward "V"-berth, with a chemical
head
A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
under the "V"-berth. It has a split
galley
A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...
, with a port side double sink and a starboard side two-burner stove. An anchor well is provide in the bow on boats after about serial number 250.
The design has a
hull speed
Hull speed or displacement speed is the speed at which the wavelength of a vessel's bow wave is equal to the waterline length of the vessel. As boat speed increases from rest, the wavelength of the bow wave increases, and usually its crest-to-tro ...
of .
Operational history
The designer, Butler raced the boat in the Azores and Back (AZAB) Yacht Race and
Observer Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race
The Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (STAR) is an east-to-west yacht race across the North Atlantic. When inaugurated in 1960, it was the first single-handed ocean yacht race; it is run from Plymouth in England to Newport, Rhode Island in ...
(OSTAR) races.
In a 2009 review, ''Yachting Monthly'' magazine said, "factory-built boats were sound, strong but simple. The quality of the many home-built models will be variable."
See also
*
List of sailing boat types
The following is a partial list of sailboat types and sailing classes, including keelboats, dinghies and multihull ( catamarans and trimarans).
Olympic classes
World Sailing Classes
Historically known as the IYRU (International Yacht Racing ...
Similar sailboats
*
Atlantic City catboat
The Atlantic City catboat is an American sailboat that was designed by D. Martin as a cruiser and first built in 1980.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 114-115. Houghton Mifflin Company ...
*
Balboa 24
The Balboa 24 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by W. Shad Turner and William Downing as a racer-cruiser and first built in 1981.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages ...
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The C&C 24 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by C&C Design and first built in 1975.
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*
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The Challenger 24 is a Canadian sailboat that was designed by Alex McGruer and first built in 1973.
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The Challenger 24 is a recreational k ...
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The Columbia 24 is a series of American sailboats that were designed by Joseph McGlasson and first built in 1962.
The Columbia 24 is a development of the Islander 24, which in turn was derived from the wooden Catalina Islander.
The Columb ...
*
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The Islander 24 is an American sailboat that was designed by Joseph McGlasson and first built in 1961.
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*
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The Islander 24 Bahama, also called the Islander Bahama 24, is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Joseph McGlasson and first built in 1964.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 316. Internat ...
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*
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*
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The Mirage 24 is a Canadian Trailer sailer, trailerable sailboat designed by Cuthbertson & Cassian, the naval architecture design division at C&C Yachts, as a Midget Ocean Racing Club (MORC) Sailing (sport), racer and first built in 1972.Henkel ...
*
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The Northern 1/4 Ton is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Cuthbertson & Cassian as an International Offshore Rule Quarter Ton class racer and first built in 1972.
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The Nutmeg 24 is a Canadian trailerable sailboat, that was designed by William Shaw and first built in 1964. The design is out of production.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 367. International Marine/McGr ...
*
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The San Juan 24 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Bruce Kirby as an International Offshore Rule Quarter Ton class racer.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 261. International Marine/M ...
*
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*
Shark 24
The Shark 24 is a Canada, Canadian-designed 24 Foot (length), ft sailing yacht which has earned itself a reputation of extraordinary reliability and longevity among sailors both in North America and Central Europe. Having been designed by George ...
*
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References
{{Reflist
Keelboats
1960s sailboat type designs
Sailing yachts
Sailboat type designs by Oliver Lee
Sailboat type designs by Chris Butler
Sailboat types built by Butler Moldings