Over the last eight years we have seen the type of basic and simple racing yacht from Leif Beiley really catch on. This period coincides with the introduction of the J/24. The parameters that produced Beiley's design focus on trailerability and speed.

A B-25 sails up on the wind.

A B-25 sails up on the wind.



If you make trailering under the legal limit of 100 inches (8 feet 4 inches) a goal of any design, you are seriously limiting the designer. This limitation can be seen as a drawback but it can also be seen as a challenge. With the limitation of beam the designer must pick up power from hull form or radical ballast placement.

In the design Beiley has gone all out for speed and reduced waterline beam to 7 feet 4 inches. Consider this with the 800-pound lifting keel and the overall displacement of 1,850 pounds and you have the makings of a very lively sailing boat. This works out to a D/L ration of 86.1. With a rig that gives a SA/D ratio of 29.64 you can see that this design is not for the timid. I think that it will sail like a rocket as long as you can keep it on its feet.

So much for numbers on drawings. We should take a look at real life and see how these numbers are altered when the boat is in sailing trim. If I were going to race this boat, I would race with a crew of five with an average weight of 160 pounds per person. This ups the displacement to 2,650 pounds and due to a pounds per inch immersion figure of roughly 500 pounds, it extends the waterline to 23.25 feet. This in turn gives us a D/L ratio of 94.1 but reduces the SA/D ratio to 22.8. Even so, the numbers are radical enough that this will be an exciting boat to sail.

For comparison, take a look at the J/27 that weighs 3,600 pounds and is designed to the same legal trailering beam limit. A J/27 has done very well racing in Seattle over the winter season. The boat sails with six crew averaging 200 pounds each. The boat has been almost unbeatable in moderate to heavy air.

Note that there is no camber on the transom. This would be aesthetically effective but would theoretically result in a small loss of potential sailing length.

The rest of this design is pretty simple. At 1,850 pounds there is not much to work with. Bruynzeel plywood was used for the bulkheads and ring frames and the hull is Kevlar with epoxy over a PVC foam core. The deck is end grain balsa cored and the cabin sole is teak and holly veneer over Verticell honeycomb. The entire weight of all interior components is less than 50 pounds.

The B-25 was molded by Dennis Choate and finished by Steve Douglas in Long Beach. We look for this boat to be PHRF of possibly MORC candidate for honors this season.

Boat Specifications
LOA25'
LWL21.25'
Bmax8.33'
Draft5'
Displacement1850 lbs.
Ballast800 lbs.
Sail Area273 sq. ft.

 

SAILINGlogo-115This story originally appeared in Sailing Magazine, and is republished here by permission. Subscribe to Sailing.