Menu Will Appear Here, Or Reload

Montgomery Sailboats Owners Group

The Making of
The New Montgomery 23 Offshore Cutter

The following images and text are graciously provided by Bob Eeg of Montgomery Boats. In return, I think it will become clear that, not only is Montgomery Boats extremely proud of this offshore cutter, but they would like to persuade you to buy one, too.

But the adventure doesn't stop here. The new owner of hull #1 has graciously consented to keep us informed of the delivery, christening, sea trials, first sail, and anything else we can talk him into. The hope is to follow Montgomery 23 Hull #1 through its life for as long as we can. Additional information will be added as it becomes available.

Part One - The Plug

12/21/2000:

So far we have these things in mind for the new 23 (nothing is locked in cement): The boat will be a cutter rig as designed by Lyle C. Hess. It will have a short bowsprit and a boomkin. We hope to retain a 'salty' look. It will have opening Bronze ports (oval.) The cockpit is the first thing we are doing and it is looking GREAT!

The cockpit will have watertight lockers for storage of things we all need while cruising. In particular we are concentrating on a special locker just for storage of a roll-up inflatable. It's such a hassle to tow a dinghy while cruising, so we decided to invest time and engineering in a special purpose locker just for dinghy storage.

An inboard diesel will be available. We have measured the area many times and feel that a 10 HP diesel will fit nicely. The beauty of the diesel is that it only weighs 187 pounds. It's in the fat part of the boat and down low so it will contribute to stability. We plan on an (expensive) folding prop to keep the boat speed fast. An outboard motor powered version will also be available for those who don't want the inboard diesel. One thing that is great about an inboard diesel is that it only burns .29 gallons per hour at 2800 rpm. So you could run the engine at a good speed for 3 hours on one gallon!

1/8/2001:

We are planning to sheet off the end of the boom. (Like the Nor'Sea 27), I want the cockpit to be clear and open. There will still be room for a vang and preventer (to the Genny track when boomed out for downwind tradewind conditions) and another advantage is nothing interferes with the dodger and/or bimini top. You should be able to sail with the bimini up. On a hot day shade is really nice. Offshore, protection from spray, sun and wind really adds to the enjoyment of a cruise (a well rested crew is also safer.)

1/20/2001:

The Montgomery 23 Shop

These are "under construction" photos of the deck plug Jerry and I are building on top of the 23 mold. The hull mold has a completed and finished hull inside. The reason we build on the actual hull (inside the mold so the hull won't move) is to insure a perfect fit between the hull and deck.

These photos are the deck "in the rough" and are a patch work of fiberglass, plywood and bondo (taken 2 weeks ago.) Later the entire deck will be sprayed with several coats of sanding primer and finishing primer (with weeks of sanding and fairing in between) in preparation for spraying and laying up (with tooling gelcoat and fiberglass) a female mold on top of the deck "plug".


Deck Plug

After several layers and then building a steel frame work with casters (wheels) the entire new "mold" is then lifted off with our shop hoist. Turned over (upright) and more work polishing the new mold.

After spending all those hours building the wood, fiberglass and bondo plug, it is finally unfastened from the hull mold, sawed in pieces and tossed in the dumpster.

These photos are hard to envision, but try to imagine a cutter rig, bowsprit (the sprit in the photo above is an old 27 sprit we just set up in place to have a look), bronze opening ports, boom gallows, teak handrails, teak caprail, teak trim, painted tabernacled mast, double lifelines and stern pulpit.


Companionway Cutout

1/21/2001:

Some fiberglass (like a Dana 24 has) but mostly you will see a lot of wood. Interior will have teak trim, teak for the hanging locker, the overhead will have teak trim, the ceiling (side of the hull area) will be all wood stripping. Some teak partial bulkheads, teak louvered doors, etc. Teak drop boards (hatch boards will be 13/16 solid teak.) The wood bulkheads will be built up and laminated to the hull. A nice wood table.

The interior will look a lot like the inside of a Bristol Channel Cutter (not the layout but the general appearance), take a look: http://www.samlmorse.com/BCC/photographs/int3.htm. The interior will be warm and inviting without being dark with teakwood. Headroom for the people under 5' 11.5".

1/24/2001:

This is the how the Montgomery 23 will look healed 70 degrees *smile*. Actually we are painting the completed "mock up" (plug) with a gray primer in preparation for making the female mold. Three photos:

port,

starboard,

and a look at her from the front trying to tack into the building. (the mold rotates).

She sure has beautiful lines.

All the hatch mock up tooling is completed and we start on the finishing and sanding (yuk!) part now.

2/1/2001:
After a long couple of weeks things are really progressing on the new boat...

So far we have almost finished the deck mock-up. (to build the mold off of.) All that remains is the non-skid and waxing.

The hatches are all complete and the scuttle hatch has scribe lines (vertical) and really looks good (so do the house faces, front and back.)

Today Jerry finished the tooling area for the two large (1.5 inches) 'flush mounted' cockpit scuppers. The cockpit on this boat is really a dream to sit in. Very comfortable and with the bridge deck, will keep the main cabin dry in rough weather.

The cockpit can't hold enough water to hinder the boat. The large drains will ensure quick draining of any blue water that finds its way on board.

You will be able to lay a thin small plastic tarp inside the cockpit, fill with water and take a bath...then drain it when finished.

Yesterday we did the sail plan on the boat. We know the location of the 5 winches ($) we are going to install as standard equipment. There is plenty of room for a proper dodger. The staysail (inner sail) will be self-tending for singlehanding.

The mast will tabernacle aft and be above knee level when in the down position. One person will be able to pull the pin and, using the installed rollers, just roll her forward to the bow pulpit. No lifting anything.

The stern pulpit will be integrated with a boom gallows. The advantages of a boom gallows are many. In bad weather you can secure the boom in one of the detents and prevent it from banging you in the head when you're reefing the sail. Also it's a great place to secure the aft end of a bimini for shade. When at anchor or in a slip, you can drape a tarp over the entire cockpit area if desired. You can also use it to hold onto when boarding. A boom gallows is really an asset on a cruising boat.

While doing the sailplan rigging details earlier this week we figured out the bowsprit will be 3 feet long. We are going to incorporate a proper anchor roller system for permanent storage of the anchor, because your anchor should be ready at any time you need it (the best insurance is a good anchor at the ready.) The boomkin worked out to be 2 feet, so overall length will be 29 feet from stem to stern.

At the masthead I plan a tri-color with strobe light. Strobes are not required and in some localities illegal, but if you're going to get run down by a freighter in the shipping lanes at night, you really need to get the other guys attention.

The AC electrical system will have shore power connections with an AC main panel, trip-free circuit breakers, GFI 120 volt plug-ins and power a 3-stage 12-volt automatic battery charger for the 2 ship's batteries. The DC system will have 2 ship's batteries, one for engine use and emergencies and the other for house (or ship's) systems. The 3 keyed master switches will be for battery one (house battery), Battery 2 (engine start) and the third switch will parallel both batteries for emergencies only. Both batteries will be group 24, high amperage Gelcells and in proper battery boxes. The system will have a 100 amp inline fuse that loads to a 8-position DC main panel with trip-free circuit breakers. Included will be the tricolor, strobe, foredeck, steaming, Nav lites (stainless), interior halogen 2-position lights and a couple of 12-volt plug-ins for things like a search light or a cell phone or anything that runs on 12 volts. One located in the cockpit for an electric autopilot, one extra switch for an optional inverter or maybe optional refrigeration for the top loading icebox.

A telephone jack will be installed with the shore power connection. We have room for a cable-tv plug-in if someone wants it (for those rainy days and tied to the liveaboard dock :-)

All in all an exciting project...still having fun.

Continue to Part Two - The Mold

     Introduction      MSOG Home