The Blue Crab 11, also called the Gloucester 11, is an American utility

dinghy A dinghy is a type of small boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel for use as a tender. Utility dinghies are usually rowboats or have an outboard motor. Some are rigged for sailing but they differ from sailing dinghies, which ...

that can be rowed, used as a

motorboat A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gea ...

or as a

sailing dinghy Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using five essential controls: * the sails * the foils (i.e. the daggerboard or centreboard and rudder and sometimes lifting foils as found on the Moth) * the trim (forward/rear angle of ...

. It was designed by Harry R. Sindle and first built in 1971. The design is named for the family of crustaceans.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 8-9. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.

Production

The design was built by Lockley Newport Boats and

Mobjack Manufacturing Mobjack may refer to: *'' SS Mobjack'', a coastal steamship owned by the Old Dominion Steamship Company. *USS ''Mobjack'' (AVP-27), laid down as a United States Navy seaplane tender in 1942 but converted while under construction into motor torpedo ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, but it is now out of production. Lockley Newport Boats was originally known as Newport Boats and later known as Gloucester Yachts. A total of 900 examples of then type were completed.

Design

The Blue Crab 11 is a recreational

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 ...

, 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 ...

. It has a fractional

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

rig, with a loose-footed

mainsail A mainsail is a sail rigged on the main mast of a sailing vessel. * On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast. * On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the sail rigged aft of the main mast. The sail's foot ...

and

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

spars, a

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 plumb

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 transom-hung

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 retractable

daggerboard A daggerboard is a retractable centreboard used by various sailing craft. While other types of centreboard may pivot to retract, a daggerboard slides in a casing. The shape of the daggerboard converts the forward motion into a windward lift, cou ...

. It displaces . The boat has a draft of with the daggerboard extended and with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer or car roof rack. The boat has a reinforced transom to allow the fitting of 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 ...

. For sailing the design is equipped with transom-mount

mainsheet traveler A traveller is a part of the rigging of a boat or ship that provides a moving attachment point for a rope, sail or yard to a fixed part of the vessel. It may take the form of anything from a simple ring on a metal bar or a spar to, especially in a ...

and can be sailed by one person, although a crew of two is used for

racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...

. When sailed three people may be carried and as a motorboat it has a capacity of five people. The design has a

Portsmouth Yardstick The Portsmouth Yardstick (PY) or Portsmouth handicap scheme is a term used for a number of related systems of empirical handicapping used primarily in small sailboat racing. The handicap is applied to the time taken to sail any course, and the han ...

racing average handicap of 110.8.

Operational history

In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "Blue Crab is a beginner’s boat. It is dry and easily rigged, and it can be sailed by one person. For its size, it is a light boat and may be car-topped or trailered. Capacity is three adults. The transom is reinforced, so additional brackets are not required for an outboard. Blue Crab may be rowed; when not sailing, it has a capacity of five adults."

References

{{Sailing dinghies and skiffs Dinghies 1970s sailboat type designs Sailboat type designs by Harry R. Sindle Sailboat types built by Lockley Newport Boats Sailboat types built by Mobjack Manufacturing

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References