The Dana 24 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 an ocean cruiser and first built in 1974.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 188-189. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 303.

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 refere ...

, 2010.

Production

The design was built by

Pacific Seacraft Pacific Seacraft Corporation is a Washington, North Carolina based sailboat manufacturer specializing in fiberglass monohull cruising boats. Pacific Seacraft is best known for producing the Crealock line of sailboats. These are heavy, overbuilt of ...

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 ...

from 1984 to 1999, but the company went out of business in 2007. The design was acquired by Seacraft Yachts, who commenced building the design again, starting with serial number 351. Over 250 examples of the design have been completed.

Design

The Dana 24 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 cutter sloop rig, a spooned and slightly

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 nearly vertical 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. ...

, 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 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 ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel fitted. The boat is fitted with a Japanese

Yanmar is a Japanese diesel engine, heavy machinery and agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in Osaka, Japan in 1912. Yanmar manufactures and sells engines used in a wide range of applications, including seagoing vessels, pleasure boats, cons ...

2GM20F

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-ca ...

of . The boat's galley is located on the port side of the cabin and has a stainless steel sink and a two-burner

gimballed A gimbal is a pivoted support that permits rotation of an object about an axis. A set of three gimbals, one mounted on the other with orthogonal pivot axes, may be used to allow an object mounted on the innermost gimbal to remain independent of ...

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

stove. The table can swing up and stow when not in use. A second table stows under the forward "V"-berth. The head is a marine type, with a shower. It has a privacy door and is located aft on the starboard side. Additional sleeping space is provided by the dinette settees, which extend under the forward "V"-berth for extra leg room. Ventilation is provided by a forward hatch and opening bronze ports. There is an

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄ� ...

chain locker, just aft of the bowsprit. The cockpit has two

genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

winches and a

mainsheet traveler A traveller is a part of the rigging of a boat or ship that provides a moving attachment point for a rope, sail or yard to a fixed part of the vessel. It may take the form of anything from a simple ring on a metal bar or a spar to, especially in a ...

, which is mounted at the transom. 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 221 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 .

Operational history

In a review Richard Sherwood wrote, "This cruiser incorporates some ingenious interior details that help provide more space. The vee berth forward is not separated from the cabin, but has storage under. In addition, the table for the opposing settees is stored under the vee berth and slides out and around the compression post supporting the cabin-top mounted mast. The setees double as berths, and additional length is attained by extending the foot of the berths under the forward berth." A 2008 review in ''Sailing Magazine'' note "Part of the Dana 24's appeal is its traditional appearance, from its beefy bow pulpit and sweet sheerline to the chrome bronze deck hardware and teak loop handrails on the cabinhouse. This classic feel extends belowdecks, where the saloon exudes the warmth of hand-rubbed oiled teak, with teak joinery and cabinets above a teak-and-holly sole." A 2010 review note, "Bill Crealock the designer of the Dana was simply a genius. When he designed the Dana back in the early 1980s he was about 65 years old and he used all his hard earned experience gained from a lifetime of creating and sailing yachts. The Dana may well have been one of the last yachts designed without the aid of a computer." In a 2010 review Steve Henkel wrote, "this boat was designed to be a diminutive offshore passagemaker, to safely carry a single-hander or small family cross a bay—or an ocean. The solid fiberglass laminate is one inch thick at the sheer and, it is claimed, gets thicker everywhere else. Her hull is heavy and her rig is on the modest side ... That's good for ocean sailing when the wind is blowing, but may cause consternation among the crew in areas where light air is the rule rather than the exception. The boat is elegantly finished, with heavy-duty rigging and quality hardware from Lewmar, Harken, and Schaefer. She is built to last. Best features: The layout below is very functional and has some clever special features. There is foot space for the settee berths under the V-berth, covered with cushions when not in use. During the day, bedding can be stored, hidden in the foot space. The dining table slides out from its hiding place in a slot under the V-berth, supported by the stainless steel mast strut when in use. The galley features everything you might need, including a gimballed stove with oven. Stowage space abounds, with both wet and dry hanging lockers, cabinets, drawers, and more, remarkable for this size boat. Worst features: Some light-air sailors may not like her low SA/D ratio." In a 2016 review in ''Blue Water Boats'', Rosie Mac wrote, "Like all good boats, the Dana 24 is well balanced, fast for her size and seakindly. Her shallow draft allows for exploration in cruising grounds larger yachts cannot, and her design, now over 25 years old, is well proven with a number of ocean crossings to her credit. Yet for all her offshore capabilities she is one of a select few that can go home on a trailer."

References

External links

Video review
{{Trailer sailers and Trailer yachts worldwide Keelboats 1980s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Trailer sailers Boats designed by W. I. B. Crealock Sailboat types built by Pacific Seacraft

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References

External links