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 ...
in
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
Kenyan
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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.
See also
*
List of sailing boat types
The following is a partial list of sailboat types and sailing classes, including keelboats, dinghies and multihull ( catamarans and trimarans).
Olympic classes
World Sailing Classes
Historically known as the IYRU (International Yacht Racing ...
Similar sailboats
*
DS-16
*
Nordica 16
*
Sirocco 15
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