Scruffie Stornaway 18 Weekender

Considering that 99.9% of our sailboat tests involve mass-produced fibreglass craft, this was always going to be a boat review with a difference.

The Stornaway 18 Weekender is one of a range of small wooden craft designed and produced in kit form through to fully-built and ready-to-sail by Queensland-based family company Scruffie Marine, founded by Derek Ellard.

All of the Scruffie craft (in five sizes from 12-24ft for sail or power) look traditional and are designed for amateur (indeed, novice) home construction. They are intended for easy, economical and safe boating.

Originally from the north of England, Ellard's early boating experiences were in tough conditions which encouraged his interest in hardy, seaworthy, knockabout boats.

In designing the Stornaway Weekender, Ellard says he was aiming for "the perfect small cruising yacht". To achieve this lofty goal he established a comprehensive set of criteria for the boat, including, according to Scruffie, the following:

Scruffie Marine certainly seems to have struck a chord with a niche market, with around 60 of the Stornaways built to date. The company's 'slot-system' kits do not require lofting. The kits comprise precision-cut BS1088 marine ply, local hardwoods, stainless steel fittings, epoxy resin and comprehensive instructions.

According to the company, "the Scruffie concept starts with a good strong keel, ballasted with built-in lead ingots. The marine ply frames, bulkheads and seats quickly lock together using a system of precisely located slots and tabs to form the 'chassis' of the boat."

The company has established a network of regional reps who are building or have completed their own boats and can share their experience and advice.

For buyers who do not have the time, space or patience to build their own boat, there is also the option of buying a completed craft. The boat provided for this test was in fact built by Ellard's 23-year-old son, Chris, who has relocated from Queensland to Sydney and has a number of custom-built Scruffie projects on the go, including one of the most recent designs, the Secret 20.

The testboat was built in marine ply, with Western red cedar trim on the exterior and silky oak on the interior. Strips of fibreglass are used to strengthen the keel, as well as the hard single chines on either side of the hull.

While a variety of rig options are available, the testboat was set up with a 'loose-footed lugger' rig, the spars of solid oregon with a roller reefing genoa.

The main mast has a tabernacle base to allow it to be lowered and raised easily, and there is a fair bit of 'give' in the rig with lace-up shrouds and forestay.

The simple interior featured a couple of full-length berths of 100mm foam and simple galley facilities, with a sink to starboard and gas bottle camping cooker to port. Without a centreboard case, the cabin area is open and surprisingly roomy, and the soft-top hatch/dodger is a simple and effective option. (The Stornaway 18 is also available in an open cockpit version, called the Camper.)

SAILING PERFORMANCE
We sailed the Scruffie Stornaway 18 in a blustery Sydney southerly gusting from 5-30kt, on the flat water of Upper Middle Harbour.

There were six adults aboard and adequate space for all, with three or four of us in the cockpit and two or three in the cabin.

This was a very different sailing experience from the modern racing keelboats I'm more accustomed to. Still, the boat proved very stable and forgiving, taking awhile to react to the gusts as the loose rig absorbed some of the impact, then accelerating forward as well as sliding to leeward.

Getting used to the lack of a centreboard was in fact the biggest initial challenge, leading us to fend off a number of moored yachts before I got the hang of the boat's side-slip. Sailing angles to windward are consequently quite wide, but the boat is not difficult to tack.

Power was provided by a 2hp Honda four-stroke outboard, which could be raised and lowered in a transom well. This had ample power to propel the Stornaway, but I did find it difficult initially to use. I also found it awkward to operate in reverse.

I was also initially annoyed by the basic set-up for sail controls, which were mostly quite inefficient due to the lack of top quality fittings, absence of cleats and the amount of friction in the systems. Personally I would opt for a boom, too, rather than the loose-footed mainsail, for the sake of a more efficient sailshape, but this is certainly one way to avoid clobbering guests on the head during an inadvertent gybe.

That said, once I got used to the different style of sailing involved, it was easy to settle in for a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon's boating.

There was no spray over the decks and very little effort involved in achieving comfortable speeds of perhaps 4-6kt. And don't even think about swinging your legs over the side - this is not a boat that relies on human ballast.

HIGHS

LOWS