The Siren 17 is a Canadian 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 terminology ...

, that was designed by

Hubert Vandestadt Vandestadt and McGruer Limited (sometimes styled as Vandestadt & McGruer) was a Canadian boat builder based in Owen Sound, Ontario. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of fibreglass sailboats. The company was founded by Frase ...

trailer sailer A trailer sailer is a type of sailboat that has been designed to be easily transported using a boat trailer towed by an automobile. They are generally larger than a sailing dinghy.Royce, Patrick M.: ''Royces Sailing Illustrated'', pages 52-57. De ...

and first built in 1974.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 86-87. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 74.

International Marine S&P Global Inc. (prior to April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013 The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financ ...

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 referenc ...

, 2010.

Production

The boat was built by Vandestadt & McGruer Ltd in

Owen Sound, Ontario Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist attractio ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, between 1974 and 1987, but it is now out of production. The Siren 17 was one of the most successful small sailboats ever built and 3200 were completed during its 13-year production run.

Design

The Siren 17 is a small 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

fibreglass 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 ...

and foam flotation, with

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

wood trim. 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 hinged mast step and jiffy-reefing, 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 ...

and a retractable

centreboard A centreboard or centerboard (US) is a retractable hull appendage which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat, known as a ''centreboard trunk'' (UK) or ''centerboard case'' (US). The retractability allows the centreboard to be raised t ...

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 ...

. The cockpit is self-bailing and long. It displaces and carries of iron ballast. It has foam flotation for positive buoyancy. The boat has a draft of with the centreboard extended and with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer. 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 ...

of up to for manoeuvring. It 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 . The design has sleeping accommodation for four people, including two adults. The galley is equipped with a moulded-in

icebox 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 ...

, with an alcohol stove optional. The

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 ...

is a portable type. Cabin headroom is .

Operational history

In a 2010 review Steve Henkel wrote, "Siren is a good design for an overnight cruiser for two adults and two small children. Versus her comp titor, she has the lowest SA/D, making for relatively good stability, but at the expense of light-air performance. And she has the lowest draft, meaning relatively easy launching and retrieving from a trailer. Best features: Below she has foam flotation, a molded-in icebox, space for a stove and a toilet. Space is allocated in the cockpit for a gas tank and storage battery—though its aft location may not be optimal for proper hull trim. Construction and finish are above average. Worst features: Among her comp titor, she has the lowest Space Index, although for any 17-footer space is going to be tight. A steel centerboard, even though galvanized, may cause maintenance problems, particularly in salt water. Her outboard well doesn't permit an engine to be tilted, causing drag unless engine is removed and stowed—a good reason to choose a small, lightweight engine." In a review Michael McGoldrick wrote, "The Siren 17 is one of the better "micro cruisers"... It's possible for two adults to sleep in its small cuddy cabin, albeit in very cramped quarters. Many people would prefer to rig a small tent over the boom and sleep in the cockpit (and a custom made tent was actually a factory option for this boat). The Siren 17 has a large cockpit that is longer than what is found on many 23 or 24 footers. With a displacement of only 750 pounds, launching, hauling out, and towing this boat is an extremely feasible proposition with a mid size car."

References

External links

* {{Trailer sailers and Trailer yachts worldwide Keelboats 1970s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Trailer sailers Sailboat type designs by Hubert Vandestadt Sailboat types built by Vandestadt and McGruer Limited

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References

External links