The Watkins 17, also referred to as the W17, 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 terminology ...

that was designed by the Watkins brothers and first built in 1975.

Production

The design was built by

Watkins Yachts Watkins Yachts and Marine was an American boat builder, based in Clearwater, Florida. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. The company was founded by the four Watkins brothers, Redford, Richard, Robert ...

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...

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 ...

from 1975 to 1981, with over 100 examples completed. Production was curtailed in 1979, when the company was sold, with few boats built in 1979-1981. The design's moulds were eventually abandoned behind the old plant building when the company was wound up in 1989. The building was sold to an electrical contractor and the moulds are presumed to have been destroyed.

Design

The Watkins 17 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of hand-laid 24 oz rove

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 wood trim. The deck is a single piece of moulded fibreglass and the cockpit is self-bailing. 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

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 made by

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, a small, storage cuddy cabin, a spooned

plumb 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 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 ...

made from Philippine

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 ...

controlled by

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

centerboard 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. It displaces and carries of encapsulated lead ballast in fibreglass, with of sail area. The boat has a draft of with the centreboard extended and with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer. A hot-dipped galvanized trailer was included with the boat. The design has a hull speed of .

Operational history

The boat is supported by an active class club, the ''Watkins Owners''. Most of the Watkins 17s built were sold to a local Florida sailing club for use as one design racers.

References

{{Trailer sailers and Trailer yachts worldwide Keelboats 1970s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Trailer sailers Sailboat type designs by Watkins brothers Sailboat types built by Watkins Yachts

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References