The Coronado 23, also called the Sailcrafter 23, is an American trailerable

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 terminolo ...

that was designed by

William Crealock William Ion Belton Crealock (23 August 1920 – 26 September 2009) was a yacht designer and author. He was one of the world's leading yacht designers from the 1960s through the 1990s, and his yachts were owned by the famous and wealthy, including ...

as cruiser- racer and first built in 1969.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 226. International Marine/

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes refere ...

, 2010. The design was originally marketed by the manufacturer as the Coronado 23, but a new and unrelated design was also introduced as the Coronado 23 in 1974 and replaced the original in production. The 1974 design is now usually referred to as the Coronado 23-2 to differentiate it from the earlier boat. The Coronado 23 is a development of the Crealock-designed Columbia 22, but with a different deck and coach house roof.

Production

The design was built by

Coronado Yachts Coronado Yachts was a US sailboat manufacturer located in Southern California which produced several popular lines in the 1960s and early 1970s. Many of the boats they built are still sailing and racing today. In the 1970s Playvisa obtained a li ...

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 territori ...

between 1969 and 1973, but it is now out of production. A number of boats were sold as

kits Kits may refer to: *Kitsilano, a neighbourhood of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada *Kits, an American taffy candy made by Gilliam Candy Company * KITS, a San Francisco, California radio station * Kottayam Institute of Technology & Sc ...

for amateur construction, under the name of Sailcrafter Custom Yachts.

Design

The Coronado 23 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 w ...

, 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 clo ...

, with 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, 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, an internally mounted spade-type

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 air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

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 a stub keel and centerboard. The boat is normally 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 ...

for docking and maneuvering, located in a centered aft well. The design has sleeping accommodation for four people, with a double

"V"-berth A berth is a bed or sleeping accommodation on vehicles. Space accommodations have contributed to certain common design elements of berths. Beds in boats or ships While beds on large ships are little different from those on shore, the lack ...

in the bow cabin, a straight settee quarter berth on the starboard side of the main cabin and a drop-down dinette table berth on the port side. The galley is located on the starboard side amidships. The galley is equipped with a recessed stove, an

ice box An icebox (also called a cold closet) is a compact non-mechanical refrigerator which was a common early-twentieth-century kitchen appliance before the development of safely powered refrigeration devices. Before the development of electric refrig ...

and a double sink. The head is located in the bow cabin, under the "V"-berth. Cabin headroom is . The design has a

PHRF Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) is a handicapping system used for yacht racing in North America. It allows dissimilar classes of sailboats to be raced against each other. The aim is to cancel out the inherent advantages and disadvantages ...

racing average handicap of 270 and 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-t ...

of .

Variants

;Coronado 23 :This fin keel model was introduced in 1969 and built until 1973. It displaces and carries of

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...

ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard fin keel. ;Coronado 23 CB :This stub keel and centerboard model was introduced in 1969 and built until 1972. It displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the centerboard down and with it retracted.

Operational history

In a 2010 review Steve Henkel wrote, "Here is a boat that packs a lot of stuff into a limited space: four berths, a dinette, head, stove, icebox, and sink. There's also space in the cockpit for an outboard in a well, right at the feet of the helmsman ... For someone on a limited budget, this boat might be on their short list—or they might choose the almost identical Columbia 22 (with a different deck mold and a less extended bow) ... Best features: The placement of the outboard engine well under the tiller gives the helmsman very good access to the engine controls (although it reduces cockpit space somewhat). Worst features: Her PHRF seems to indicate a performance deficiency versus her comp titor."

References

External links