The Stone Horse (sometimes called the Stone Horse 23 or Stone Horse 26) 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 Samuel S. Crocker as a cruiser-racer and first built in 1931.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 152-153. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 258. 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 has a length overall of and a waterline length of , but with a

bowsprit The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay A bobstay is a part of the rigging of a sailing boat or ship. Its purpose is to counteract the upward tensio ...

and aft boomkin, the total length of the boat can exceed . Stone Horse is a shoal in

Nantucket Sound Nantucket Sound_(geography), Sound is a roughly triangular area of the Atlantic Ocean offshore from the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is long and wide, and is enclosed by Cape Cod on the north, Nantucket on the south, and Martha's Vineyard on ...

, south of

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

and had an associated

lightvessel A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, t ...

stationed there for many years.

Production

The design was initially built starting in 1931, with 38 built out of wood before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The boat was redesigned for construction in

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 ...

and was built by Edey & Duff in

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

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 ...

starting in 1968. Edey & Duff was a boat builder specializing in fiberglass versions of traditional wooden boat designs. A total of 150 Stone Horses were completed up to 2009, but Edey & Duff shut down when its general manager, Dave Davignon died that year. The boat is now out of production.

Design

The design goals for the boat were established by the first customer, "a gentleman who asked Crocker for a stout boat that would handle the seas on Buzzards Bay and south of Cape Cod, have a good turn of speed, a large cockpit for sailing with friends and a comfortable cabin for occasional overnighting." The Stone Horse 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 ...

, designed as a fast racer and cruiser for the

and

Buzzards Bay Buzzards Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is approximately 28 miles (45 kilometers) long by 8 miles (12 kilometers) wide. It is a popular destination for fishing, boating, and tourism. Since ...

waters of the US east coast. The boats built between 1931 and World War Two were made from wood. The design was later built with Airex core fiberglass construction, with wood trim and built from 1968 to 2010. The design has a

cutter rig A cutter is a type of watercraft. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan) of a sailing vessel (but with regional differences in definition), to a governmental enforcement agency vessel (such as a coast guard or bor ...

(although the manufacturer referred to it as a sloop rig, due to the small headsail size), 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 canoe transom, a keel-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 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 long

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 ...

. It displaces and carries of lead ballast. Either of the two headsails made be fitted with a boom or a wishbone boom. The staysail is self-tacking and the jib has

roller furling Roller furling is a method of furling (i.e. reefing) a yacht's staysail by rolling the sail around a stay. Roller furling is typically used for foresails such as jibs or genoas. A mainsail may also be furled by a similar system, whereby the ...

. The

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 i ...

has two reefing points. The boat has a draft of with the standard long keel fitted. The boat can be fitted with a Westerbeke Vire , BMW

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 ...

or 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. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . The raised deck design provides good headroom in the cabin. Accommodation includes three bunks, one in the bow and two small quarter berths in the cabin, with the portable marine head located just aft of the mast. The galley is split between the port and starboard sides. The port side sink does not have a drain and instead a sink inset is emptied over the side. A cabin heater is also located on the port side. The cabin sole is typically carpeted and interior woodwork is mahogany. Cabin headroom is . During the years in production the design was offered with a wide variety of options. 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 246 with a high of 243 and low of 255. 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-t ...

of .

Operational history

In a 2006 review in Cruising World, Ginny Walters, wrote, "Technically a sloop with two headsails, the Stone Horse, with its large mainsail, moves in the merest whisper of a breeze while the long keel holds it on course and facilitates self-steering. The boat is safe, kicky, and a sheer delight even in high-wind conditions that leave other boats at their moorings. The 8-foot cockpit welcomes guests and stays dry." In a 2010 review Steve Henkel termed the design, "a fine little cruising boat for two people" and noted, "she's quite a pretty boat in a traditional way ... but in light air ... she's no speed demon." In a 2011 user boat review on boats.com writer Steve Knauth described the design "The 23-foot Stone Horse sloop has enough room below for a spontaneous overnight or a weekend away, thanks to a deep, beamy hull with a full keel and keel-hung rudder. Above the waterline, she shows a distinctive profile with a spoon bow and a gentle faux sheer line ... The flush deck makes for a low cabin house, giving the boat pleasing proportions. Crocker gave the Stone Horse an ample cockpit, made larger by running the backstay to a boomkin."

References

{{Trailer sailers and Trailer yachts worldwide Keelboats 1930s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Trailer sailers Sailboat type designs by Samuel S. Crocker Sailboat types built by Edey & Duff

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References