Boat Tour: A Cruising Specification West Wight Potter 19

UPDATE: In the light of accumulated experience, I'd like to clarify something. Namely, that the inner sail track I added to the cabin top is only useful when going to weather in a blow. That is to say, close hauled (and maybe a close reach) with the 90% jib. For the time and expense involved, it would be worthwhile to consider how often one anticipates sailing in that configuration. I have tested the combo of double-reefed main and 90% jib to windward and found that I can make way upwind, even in 25 kts of headwind. Personally, I feel it is good knowing that I could do that if I ever found myself on a lee shore and needing to claw off. But such antics are wet, tiring and not particularly fun. Consequently, I rarely *choose* to do that.

Jonah is a 1986 West Wight Potter 19, built by International Marine in Inglewood, California. She is a capable coastal cruiser that can be rigged and launched from a boat ramp in less than one hour.

We start at the bow of the boat where an 8 lb Danforth anchor is mounted on the pulpit using a piece of PVC pipe attached with two large hose clamps. When stowing, the anchor is dropped into the pipe, shank first. The obligatory tennis ball is covering a part of the anchor to prevent any possible snag from a flailing head sail.

Moving to the side of the vessel, we see the mast is stowed resting on the pulpit, along with the tiedown strap holding the bow down onto the trailer. A block-and-tackle is used to raise the mast and is kept in position; attached to the forestay at the quick-release lever.

Amidships we see Jonah's deadlights and reflectix window coverings, along with the inner and outer jib sheet tracks. The inner track is mounted on the cabintop and is used for the small jib, allowing it to be sheeted in at an optimal angle. Here we see a close up shot showing the swivel cleat that is used to control the jib sheet.

Moving to the stern of the boat, we have the dockline cleat, a fishing pole holder and a rope clutch. The rope clutch is used to control the code-zero sheets. The transom carries a swim ladder, the bluewater kick-up rudder and a 6 HP long-shaft outboard motor.

Here we get a sense of the "bluewater" nature of this rudder. It is thicker than the standard rudder, being 1 1/4" thick with a heavier stainless steel rudder post and cheeks. The 1 1/4" rudders from Ruddercraft are not prone to warping and reputedly have never failed on a West Wight Potter.

In between the motor and the rudder is mounted the AIS antenna. This antenna is mounted here so as to avoid the complication of having the plug/unplug the cable when raising / lowering the mast. My basic objective with a trailerable boat is to make setup and teardown as quick as possible, and so I've chosen to sacrifice some AIS range here.

Here we have a side view of the rudder in it's kicked up position, as well as the adjustable backstay block-and-tackle. The backstay block-and-tackle is attached to a chainplate bolted to the transom.

Moving into the cockpit, we're looking at the starboard dockline cleat which also has attached a turning block for the code-zero sheet. Here's the view looking from the below decks starboard seating whenever the boat is derigged, the mainsail and boom are kept on the port side foc'sl sleeping berth.

The companionway steps have a useful storage area behind. It contains the trash can, spare fenders, the shore power cable and the two burner camping stove.

Here we look into the port side quarter berth used as stowage. Vecro attaches the reflectix window coverings.

Looking down the starboard quarter berth we see the coolbox, which slides out to enable access Inside the cabinets are a number of crates containing food and equipment.

The quote-unquote "enclosed head" is on the starboard side, along with the 7 gallon water storage container. I'm not one of those bucket and chuck it aficionados. My preference is more for the "pack it in pack it out" approach, similar to what wilderness hikers do. As such I've found a combination of bin liner, kitty litter and ziplocks to be highly effective. And what's more, there's no holding tank or chemicals involved, and thus zero odor!

The electrical panel and handheld vhf. When the sails are not up, things are quite crowded in the foc'sl. Here we see two sails and the inflatable kayak.

The keel winch system uses dyneema and a quick attachment using a single bolt, allowing for its removal when the boat is in use. Dry-Dek keeps the skippers feet dry and the cabin sole looking tidy

More storage further forward. Here we see the battery charger mounted to a custom forward flotation plywood bulkhead. If you look carefully, you can just about see the 75 Ah Gel battery stored amidships aft of the compression post.

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