New Design & Consulting
Tad Roberts Yacht Design

Extended Comments

From “Sailing Cruiser Design Part 2” published in Wooden Boat #176:

Wizard is large enough for three or four people to live aboard for long periods, she has the hull volume to carry the stores necessary for a long voyage. Her weight will increase substantially at the start of such a voyage. Each person aboard means another 1,000 pounds minimum. With three people aboard and prepared to set off on a long cruise at a weight of 21,500 pounds, the longer waterline will give her a D/L of 304. Certainly we need a pretty good idea of the load condition before making assumptions about a vessel from her D/L ratio. The extra 3,000 lbs will put her down 2.3 inches, a small amount in the overall scheme of things; she could handle twice that.

In hull form Wizard is what I call a modern classic. Her overhangs are not as long as boats featured 40 years ago but they are still long enough to draw out the lines gracefully. Her sections are well rounded in the topsides and become veed in her bottom. As a modern design, her freeboard is much higher than older designs, so the rounded sections are important amidships, where straighter sections make hulls look slab-sided. This roundness is also important aft; again, this is a modern design so her quarters are fuller (beamier) than earlier designs.

The deckhouse is inspired by a couple of pictures of John Alden's Challenger design, from Arthur Beiser's book The Proper Yacht [Macmillan, 1966 ]. Big, fixed windows can transform the main cabin of a sailing yacht into an airy, light-filled space. (For structural integrity, this glass area is divided into three smaller sections.) Part of my definition of modern classic is doing away with dark, cramped accommodations.