The Falmouth Cutter 22 (often just referred to as the Falmouth Cutter) is an American

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 Lyle C. Hess as a cruiser and first built in 1980. The design is based on the traditional British Falmouth work boat.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 140-141. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.

Production

The design was built by Cape George Marine Works of

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and Sam L. Morse Co. of Costa Mesa, California, both in the

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. A total of 40 examples were completed, but it is now out of production.

Design

The Falmouth Cutter 22 was derived from a boat called ''Renegade'', which was larger and had a

gaff rig Gaff rig is a sailing rig (configuration of sails, mast and stays) in which the sail is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the ''gaff''. Because of the size and shap ...

. Larry Pardey asked Hess to design a similar, but smaller boat, with a Marconi rig and the prototype was named ''Seraffyn''. This was followed by the larger Bristol Channel Cutter design. The Falmouth Cutter 22 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 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 ...

, 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 t ...

, a near-vertical transom, 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 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. While the design has a hull length on deck of , the length with the

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 boomkin is . The boat has a draft of with the standard long keel. The boat is fitted with a Japanese

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of . The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . Accommodations include two quarter berths which double as seats for the dinette table. The table can be slid aft under the cockpit when not required. The port-side galley includes a

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 ...

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two-burner stove. The

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is on the starboard side, as is the navigation station. The navigation station seat is a quarter berth. A double berth is found in the bow, along with the head. The design includes a forward opening hatch and fix bronze opening portlights. The wood is all mahogany except the bowsprit, which is made from fir. The bowsprit protrudes , allows headsail reefing and can be retracted to shorten the boat length. Two

halyard In sailing, a halyard or halliard is a line (rope) that is used to hoist a ladder, sail, flag or yard. The term ''halyard'' comes from the phrase "to haul yards". Halyards, like most other parts of the running rigging, were classically made of ...

winches are fitted to the mast and four sheet winches are located in the cockpit for the

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsail ...

and staysail. The design 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 review, Richard Sherwood described the boat, "this cutter is designed and built for cruising ... Beam is wide and displacement heavy. The keel is full and bilges are firm. Because of the wide beam there is a remarkable amount of space below." In a review Peter Reuter wrote, "Her seaworthiness in heavy weather is legendary and the bowsprit allows the use of cruising spinnakers and large genoas which gives her remarkable light air performance for such a traditional boat ... Of course there are several downsides to all this. The Falmouth Cutter is expensive for such a small boat, used boats are also expensive and only a few come onto the market each year." In a 2010 review Steve Henkel wrote, "one feature seen as a plus by owners is the boat’s trailerability, but with a towing package of 10,800 pounds a big truck is needed, which may not fit everyone's concept of feasibility ... All that wood, mostly varnished, will take a heap of loving care to maintain in the style most owners desire."Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 170.

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, 2010. A 2015 review in ''Blue Water boats'' stated, "It’s said the best way to describe the performance of this diminutive cutter is to prepare yourself for a vessel that’s only 21 feet on the waterline, then be pleasantly surprised by the relative turn of speed, with the key word being "relative". True to design her seaworthiness in a blow is remarkable and, like most heavy displacement boats, she retains a slow easy motion in trade wind type sailing. She’ll also track well down the face of large swells. In lighter conditions, the bowsprit can be used to fly a cruising spinnaker or a large genoa which gives this tradition boat a surprising performance in light airs."

References

{{Reflist Keelboats 1980s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Sailboat types built in the United States Sailboat type designs by Lyle Hess Sailboat types built by Sam L. Morse Co. Sailboat types built by Cape George Marine Works

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References