skipper 17 sailboat data

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Skipper 17 Yacht / Trailer Sailer

Skipper 17 yacht

This popular trailer-sailer was designed by Peter Milne (of Fireball fame), and between 1963 and 2003, over a thousand were built under the various names Skipper 17, Skipper Mariner and Eagle 525. The 40-year production run may be the longest of any commercial cruiser.

Skipper 17’s have always been popular because they are light to tow, easy to launch and recover, relatively safe in heavy weather, and fun to sail. In the early production years, they were made as day boats with a forward storage cuddy, but in later years, most were produced with a proper cabin. All had pivoting steel keel plates – early boats had a single centreplate, but from the late 70’s onward, all had twin bilge plates. The keels are fully retractable and the boat will dry out nearly upright.

The Skipper 17 has a big cockpit with space for up to 4 crew to sit on the windward side. The crew sit well forward, reducing the tendency to squat at the stern with a heavy crew seen in other mini-cruisers of similar size. The cockpit is self-draining and has two stowage bins – handy for fenders etc.

The cabin is big enough for 4 adults to shelter, or for 2 adults and a child to overnight. The keel cases of the twin-plate versions fit unobtrusively down the sides of the berths, and are almost totally sealed. There is plenty of storage space, with room for a cooker and a loo. The inside of the saloon has good sitting headroom, and a table slides down from the roof on the king post.

The cabin is admittedly difficult to clamber around for mooring etc, because the coachroof is high and sloping, and the side decks are narrow. However, visibility round the coachroof from the cockpit is quite good.

The Skipper 17 is not a racing dinghy, being short, beamy and too heavy to plane easily. However, she will beat most mini-cruisers up to 17 feet. The boat is directionally stable but always tacks readily. She handles heavy weather competently, sails well to windward, and when sailing downwind there is little tendency to broach.

The cruiser is stable when stepping on to the side decks or foredeck. The hull form confers much of the stiffness, as the ballast ratio is only 25. In gusty weather she can become too lively if sail area is not reduced, so most boats are equipped with jib roller reefing and main slab reefing. As she sails quite well on main alone, the jib can be completely furled if the wind speed gets up unexpectedly, taming the boat right down. However, in the extreme, she will bounce back upright virtually dry even when pulled over on to her beam-ends.

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Length : 17ft Beam : 7ft Weight : 1000lb Portsmouth Yardstick : 1100

I ran the leisure boat division at Andersons in Whitstable. We made the 12s, 17s, 21s and the 28s for Richmond Marine. At one stage the freeboard of the 17 was extended by heightening the deck by about 5 inches. Thereafter the boats were marketed by a motor dealership in Cheshire. It would be nice to know what has happend to the moulds for the 17 and the others in the range.. who know some manufacture could be re-started if the market looks reasonable. JOHN COPSEY, MJPC ltd, Canterbury Morton Boats of Eagle nr Lincoln were making the Eagle 525 up to the late 1990s to all intents this is the same boat as the Skipper 17. I bought a second hand 525 about 3 years ago from them and when chatting to them they still had the workshop and I believe they still had the moulds.

The Skipper 17 Website was launched to provide an information base for this popular trailer-sailer, also produced as the Mariner 17, the Skipper Mate and the Eagle 525.

Dayboat, Cuddy and Cabin versions are all included in the descriptions.

Visit the Skipper 17 Forum at the Yahoo Skipper17 help group

PEEWIT Single-plate Skipper 17 In action

VERA CAUSA Double-plate Skipper 17 On a balmy day

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Favorite Skipper 17 Version

Review of Skipper 17 (Mariner)

Basic specs..

The boat is equipped with 4 berths, a galley and toilet facility.

An outboard motor is often used on this boat. In that case the boat will typically require a power of 1 - 2 hp, alternatively 18 - 21 lbs thrust if you prefer an electrical motor. Electric outboards are becoming popular for sailboat owners who want clean instant power with less noise and no exhaust fumes.

Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Skipper 17 (Mariner) is 2.92, indicating that this boat would not be accepted to participate in ocean races.

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Skipper 17 (Mariner) is about 74 kg/cm, alternatively 417 lbs/inch. Meaning: if you load 74 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 417 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio) Indicates how fast the boat is in light wind: - Cruising Boats have ratios 10-15 - Cruiser-Racers have ratios 16-20 - Racers have ratios above 20 - High-Performance Racers have ratios above 24 Sail-area/displacement ratio (SA/D ratio): 22.11

Maintenance

If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Skipper 17 (Mariner) it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us . Criticism helps us to improve.

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Late 1970's Skipper 17' Dayboat

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Hey Folks! I just sold our 27' Albin Vega and are considering moving down to a daysailer. I found one of these (early model 17' skipper dayboat...looks like 1960's not 70's) near my home and was wondering if anyone out there has had any experiences with this boat or be able to share some information on the sailing characteristics, craftsmanship, and quirks of this boat. Looks like a nice big cockpit (close to 7' long) and small cuddy cabin for storing jackets, stove, ice cooler, etc... I have two small children that will require a decent amount of space above deck and I can't have a heavy boat as I am now towing with a Honda Civic (900lbs) Max! I was also wondering how long it takes to drop it in the water, raise the mast, rig it and go? History Any information on this little boat is greatly appreciated! Fair Winds Chris  

There is a skipper group among the Yahoo groups. skipper20 : Skipper 20 Online Yacht Club This site: Skipper Sailboat Years has some more incidental info. If memory serves, I was looking at one before, they use cement in the shoal keel.  

Thanks Mike! I will try them and see. Regards Chris  

Glad to help. I am afraid it's too heavy for you to tow with that Honda.  

I think you're right!  

I think you've all got it wrong. The Skipper 17 dayboat only weighs 780 lbs. There is a dedicated UK website. Some nice pictures there, too. As this is my first post on this forum the webmaster won't allow me to quote the actual web link.  

This is my second post. I'll try to put the link in the next one.  

This is my third post, so perhaps I will be allowed to put the link in now. It is The Skipper 17 Trailer-Sailer Website .  

Thanks gweller! The boat is about 780 give or take and the trailer is close to 200lbs as well...so the total weight of the boat and trailer will be too heavy for my little put put civic! thanks so much for the link. The boat we were considering is on that second page. I think we are going to go with an AMF Sunbird (1978). they are 200 lbs lighter, smaller trailer, easier to set up and take down which is really what we are looking for. thanks again! Fair Winds Chris  

Since I have never rigged or sailed on a Skipper 17' I was holding my tongue. It looks like an interesting boat with a good fan base in England where some folks spend the night on them. Older boats may have slightly heavier spars (mast & boom) then some newer boats so I am not sure if it is easy to rig single handed. Since you are considering a lighter boat I would check out the O'Day Day Sailors (17') if sleeping on the boat is not a priority for you. The AMF Sunbird appears to have a small cabin like the Skipper 17.  

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• Sailboat Guide

Skippers Mate 17

Skippers Mate 17 is a 17 ′ 1 ″ / 5.2 m monohull sailboat designed by Charles Ludwig and built by Southern Sails Inc. (USA) between 1982 and 1984.

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

Same hull as the later COMMODORE 17, built by Commodore Yachts Inc. around 1984. Later became the SANIBEL 17, built by Capitiva Yachts from 1985-88.

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Skippers mate 17

The skippers mate 17 is a 17.17ft fractional sloop designed by charles ludwig and built in fiberglass between 1982 and 1984..

The Skippers mate 17 is a light sailboat which is a high performer. It is very stable / stiff and has a low righting capability if capsized. It is best suited as a day-boat.

Skippers mate 17 for sale elsewhere on the web:

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SKIPPERS MATE 17

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