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UK sailing yacht brokerage and boat sales
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The following information and photographs are
displayed as a service to anyone researching yacht types. HOWEVER THE PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT ARE COVERED BY COPYRIGHT, AND MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF YACHTSNET LTD. Details and photographs
are normally based on one specific yacht, but could be a compilation.
No reliance should be placed on other yachts of the same class being
identical. Where common variations exist, we have endeavoured
to indicate this in these archive details. |
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Colvic Watson 23.5 |
Brief details |
Builder |
Hull and deck by Colvic Craft, fitout various |
The Colvic Watson 23.5 is a small motor sailer on the general hull lines of a North Sea fishing boat. The example illustrated is fitted out as a yacht with the optional wheelhouse and deck moulding from Colvic, but many were also fitted out as open or semi-enclosed fishing boats without a rig. |
LOA |
23' 6" |
Sail area |
332 sq ft |
LWL |
21' 0" |
Rig |
Sloop |
Beam |
8' 9" |
Cabins |
Forecabin and saloon |
Draught |
3' 6" |
Berths |
4 |
Displacement |
7,600 lbs |
Engine |
Various |
Ballast |
3,000 lbs |
BHP |
typically 20 - 40 |
Keel type |
Long keel |
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Colvic Craft (Ardleigh Laminated Plastics) was in the 1970s and 1980s a major force in UK yacht construction. They moulded hulls and decks and sold them on in varying stages of strctural completion both to amateur home builders and to other yacht builders. Buyers could specify anything from a bare hull only, to a hull, deck main bulkheads, engine and ballast.
In 1974 Colvic introduced the Colvic Watson 34.5, clearly intended to be an alternative to the Northshore Fisher 34: both were styled along the lines of North Sea fishing boats.
Two years later Colvic introduced three smaller versions, the 31.5, 28.5 and 23.5, this yacht being a 23.5 - ie 23' 6" LOA. Whilst some CW 23.5s were fitted out as small commercial fishing boats, the example here was built as a small motor-sailer yacht, with semi-enclosed wheelhouse and a cabin with 2+2 berths. All these Colvic Watsons were designed by GL Watson & Co., who were for many years designers of RNLI lifeboats, so the designs have a definite seagoing pedigree.
The CW23.5 has a surprising tall rig for a small motor-sailer, in this case with the mast mounted in a tabernacle for ease of lowering. With a displacement of
7,600 lbs she is a heavy boat for a 23-foot sailing yacht, but has a reasonably generous rig to give decent performance under sail, though windward performance with a long keel and high topsides and wheelhouse is always going to be modest.
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