EXPANNIE 36

An AI generated rendering of the EXPANNIE 36. There are a few mistakes – the tiller is not shown emerging from the rudderhead and the stern metalwork/davits are not shown- but it gives a good indication of how the yacht will look.  Credit: Steve Avery

DIMENSIONS

LOA: 36′ 3″

LWL: 30′ 0″

BEAM (excluding guards): 11′ 8″

DRAFT, on DWL: 5′ 2″

DISP, 1/2 load: 18,125 lbs

BALLAST: 7,000 lbs

SAIL AREA (100% fore triangle): 645 sq ft

SAIL AREA (IMS): 715 sq ft

SA/DISP: 16.86

SA/DISP (IMS): 18.70

DISP/L RATIO 250

EXPANNIE has everything- she is beautiful to look at, has a wonderfully easy motion at sea owing to her heavy displacement, is easily steered by her windvane self steerer thanks to her moderately long keel, and is fast in all but the lightest of airs. I know that heavy boats need not necessarily be slow— it is the ratio between propulsive force (sail area) and resistance (displacement and wetted surface) that counts. So a heavy boat can be plenty fast, if the sailplan is large enough.

And EXPANNIE is also extremely stable. Everyone knows that small boats whose decks stay reasonably level underfoot are far more pleasant to spend time aboard than ones that sail on their ear.  A yacht that is intended for ocean voyaging should be at least 10 to 20% more stable than any yacht designed for inshore cruising or racing.

This is my “end of the world” design… the sanctuary you will bolt to if your nearby city has been vaporized by a nuclear warhead or simply if the kids are grown up, you’ve come into a pile of money, and you want to see the watery part of the world. It will be fun to sail, beautiful, and capable of safely sailing to the tropical paradise of your choice. If fitted with new sails, with a recently cleaned bottom, it will even sail well enough to win races in the increasingly popular Classic Yacht classes. It will be built in WEST System cold molded construction, epoxy glassed over for durability.

THE PROGENITOR—MY LITTLE “ANNIE” – ONE OF THE FASTEST AND MAYBE THE MOST STABLE 29 1/2 FOOTER EVER. SHE WAS BEAUTIFUL, CLOSE WINDED, AND COMFORTABLE.

It is an expansion of my 30’ ANNIE design, which I naturally named “EXPANNIE“.  I was ready for a larger boat than 30 feet and so the question then became, by how much to scale her up and what, if anything, to change. Everything is manually operated- the steering, hoisting and trimming of sails, anchor handling, docking, etc. The motor is used only for propulsion. Any convenience gadgets are small and easily replaceable.

The eventual choice of a little over 36 feet in length was arrived upon because no matter how many friends you have, there are times in long voyages and circumnavigations that the owner must move the yacht from one harbor to another singlehanded, and anything above this size can be downright dangerous to attempt to handle without a second pair of hands.  These frightening occurrences usually happen when seeking to anchor in avoidance of impending weather, or when forced to depart an anchorage—invariably in the dark of night—when a change of wind puts one dangerously close to a lee shore.  A yacht of EXPANNIE’s size is on the edge of being manageable by a single, strong, person in these circumstances, while anything larger is not.

In EXPANNIE I attempted to preserve all of the wonderful characteristics of the smsller progenitor, and to solve the problems that ANNIE has suffered; too little headroom for tall people, and the difficulty of getting aboard her if I wanted to go swimming or fell overboard. The headroom was easy—just scale her up to 36 feet or so and the problem solved itself. Reboarding from a man-overboard scenario or swimming required some original thinking, which is what a designer loves to do.

EXPANNIE’s keel is severely cut away forward, and additionally shortened by creating the huge aperture aft. Shortening the keel in this way increases its aspect ratio for better windward performance, significantly reduces the amount of wetted surface, and enables a partially balanced, almost spade-like rudder to be fitted.

The aperture enables a portion of the rudder to be forward of its pivot axis, making it for all intents and purposes a spade rudder with an additional support at its lower end. Because the center of pressure of the rudder is slightly aft of the pivot axis, very small helm forces are required no matter how much force the rudder is exerting.

EXPANNIE’s sailplan is tall and powerful, using a double spreader rig to bring the side shrouds inboard for a tight sheeting angle. Her mast is raked only slightly and she sports the same custom philosophy stemhead weldment that proved beneficial on her little sister. With a clean bottom and a bit of breeze that would reward her exceptional stability this heavy yacht could win races.

Here is her latest accommodations plan. The starboard quarter area is a walk-in closet with huge amounts of storage space accessible from inside the boat—no deep sail locker on that side. At its front is a chart table where you sit on the new invention that no yachts should be without… a YETI or West System 12-volt freezer box. It is removable so you can take it home to pack it with frozen food before each voyage or via jitney to the store on remote islands.

EXPANNIE is a yacht designed according to the KISS principle, distinguishable from her contemporaries by what she does not have aboard as opposed to what she does. She is of a size to leave ashore electric winches, watermaker (she’ll have an easily valved rain catchment system), wind instruments (I was born with cheeks for this purpose), television (she’ll have books and an Ipad instead for entertainment), and anything that provides luxury at the cost of consuming electrons. She will have excellent central heating, pressurized hot and cold water for that shower I love, numerous opening ports at eye height for ventilation and viewing the surroundings, numerous Dorade ventilators, a few electric fans, very significant tankage for fuel and water, superbly cut but simple non-laminated dacron sails, simple slab reefing, a roller furling genoa, a reliable diesel engine, and a small radar for cruising in Maine and (foggy) parts east and assistance in nighttime navigation. With so few electric whizbangs to go wrong and require fixing, she’ll spend most of her time actually out sailing.

The house sides are provided with a series of opening ports for taking in the view and ventilation.  The house sides and front are almost vertical.  Not for styling reasons but because it enables opening ports to be fitted which can be left open in most weathers and not drench the interior with rainwater.  “Modern” styling looks cool, and slanted surfaces pull more easily from fiberglass molds.  But this yacht is intended for USE, not to look racy, and not for fiberglass production so “draw angles” from a mold are not an issue. So the realities of living comfortably aboard are the only driving factors.

The EXPANNIE 36 incorporates a lifetime’s ideas that will make her the perfect single person or small family cruiser:

• Hull lines of moderately heavy displacement with a relatively short full keel to reduce the wetted surface. In calling this a long keel design the distinction is that there is no discontinuity in the underwater profile… anything encountered by the hull forward will roll its way aft and be left astern, rather than snagging on the propeller or the front of the rudder.  This makes it safer to travel at night when it might be impossible to avoid kelp, fishnets, or other flotsam. This distribution of the keel profile also makes the yacht less “squirrely”, relieving the windvane self steerer of much of the work of keeping the vessel on course.
• Small enough to keep marina fees, haulout fees, customs duties, and replacement costs (sails, cordage, bottom paint, etc.) at a minimum. Also so as not to be an affront to the subsistence-economy residents of the far-flung islands you will visit. And to have modest forces on her sheets and main halyard so as to not intimidate a female shipmate, and to enable you to sail her until well into your dotage without crew. This is a yacht that a singlehander, or a strong and agile guy with a less physically gifted wife (or the other way around), can take to sea. SHE IS THE SIZE SHE IS BECAUSE ANY YACHT LARGER THAN THIS CANNOT BE SAFELY MANAGED BY A SINGLEHANDER AT SEA OR RETRIEVING THE ANCHOR. NOR A COUPLE, WHICH IN EFFECT CONSISTS OF TWO SINGLEHANDERS, ONE CONNING THE SHIP, AND ONE SLEEPING, WHILE AT SEA.
• Large enough to have a comfortable motion at sea and to sail at over 7 knots in a decent breeze, and to “feel” like a larger vessel. At its displacement it is comparable with most partially racing oriented 40 to 45 foot yachts. It will accommodate a family of two parents and two children, or four adults For ocean crossings two couples – one on watch and the other sleeping – would be ideal, while once you get to paradise one couple would find her very comfortable.
• Lots of stability owing to a deep enough keel and plenty of outside lead ballast combined with a whole lot of batteries and tankage located low in the hull. Enabling a sailplan large enough to really get this yacht going, to the extent that she could even be raced in the proper venues.
• The keel is shortened fore and aft by being well cutaway forward and having its aft end faired into a large “aperture” so that a balanced, spade-like rudder may be fitted. The shortened keel and perfected hydrofoil shape will enable her to point higher than most extant pure cruisers. The rudder is also well protected by the keel in the event of a grounding.
• A continuous underbody profile from stem to stern. Meaning no worrying about sailing at night when you cannot avoid lobsterpot lines or ropes of kelp or other flotsam… these will be conveniently shed and left astern. When racing, snagging just one such object will quickly put you at the back of the fleet. When sailing singlehanded at night, snagging something can be life-threatening. Not aboard this boat.
• An open interior, not chopped up by bulkheads, so there is excellent ventilation and lighting of the accommodation space from one end to the other and none of the claustrophobic feeling of many other yachts.
• A Dutch door into the head. The idea here is that the upper half of the door will be kept open whenever the head is not occupied. Thus you can see all the way across the boat including out the port side windows, and the ventilation from the opening port in the head will contribute to that of the whole boat.
• A rainwater collecting system. It will supply fresh water tanks usable for bathing and washing dishes. A separate potable water tank will be fitted. After enough rain has fallen to remove salt encrustation from the foredeck, Y-valves can be rotated port and starboard that divert the rain away from the scuppers and into the tanks.
• Excellent ventilation: There are a total of eleven opening portholes. Two facing forward and one facing aft in the house front and rear, and four on either side of the house. A large hatch forward of the mast and another on the forward lowered deck which can be left open even in quite heavy weather when the dinghy is stored upside down on deck so it will shed spray. And one opening hatch in the housetop which can be opened in fine weather. For ventilation when nobody is aboard there are at least one pair of Dorade vents.
• A well lit interior. There are eight house-side windows in addition to three forward or aft facing ports. Also at least two deck prisms are recommended.
• Adequate headroom in the areas where one needs to stand- the main cabin, galley and head– if you are less than 6′-3″ in height. If you are taller, contact me and I will direct you to an appropriate alternative design- whether one of my own or from one of my esteemed colleagues.
• Dinghy storage: You cannot live aboard a yacht without a really good dinghy. You cannot just sail into every port or Pacific atoll and rent one- you have to carry it with you. Davits have proven to be the best way of storing a dinghy when on long passages. The combined davits and Bimini support are of 1 ¼” stainless steel tubing, so rugged enough to support a good-sized dinghy.
• Immediate access, including visual access, to all of the items that might go wrong or get you worrying whether something might have gone wrong. Including: A glass inspection window in the cabin sole above the bilge sump, and a switchable guarded light in the bilge, so you can immediately see every time you come aboard, or at every change of watch at sea, if there is water in the bilge. A hinged access hatch through the forward bulkhead that when opened shows you if the anchor rode is snarled or not, and enables you to fix it if it is. It is hidden from view by a removable cushion.
• Two sea-chests, one inlet and one outlet, – so that all of the seacocks are clustered together in the same location– a space that I call the Medusarium. If you ever discover a frightening amount of water in the boat, they can be closed quickly and the boat pumped dry, then opened one by one until the offending member is discovered. The toilet holding tank exit throughull will be separate. The most frightening and potentially catastrophic scenario in yachting is a hose popping off a throughull and the height of water such that the source of the ingress is underwater, making it impossible to know which throughull is responsible.
• All of the toilet hoses out in the open, in the Medusarium… not pretty but if something begins to smell or leak, you can find and fix it easily.
• The simplest holding tank solution that complies with all regulations and enables any harbormaster to verify that you are a responsible steward of the environment. It can be dumped at sea by gravity- no machinery is involved- or in the usual way via a deck fitting when in harbor.
• Loose, replaceable pieces of convenience gear– not a lot built-in. Including: Entertainment system… a boom-box- easily replaced anywhere in the world when it craps out. A 12 volt WEST or YETI freezer chest in a dedicated, easily accessed space aft of the companionway ladder- no built-in refrigeration. A diesel powered electric generator that lives in the cockpit locker. If it fails, go to the local equivalent of West Marine and buy another.
• Very little, varnished irreplaceable tropical hardwood on deck. Virtually everything is (Awlgrip) painted, and thus easily maintained anywhere in the world. If the designer is skilled enough, his sensuous shaping of the vessel will not require gilding his lily with varnish. What looks like maybe varnished wood at the sheerline in the accompanying drawings is paint of a wood color. On my yacht I would use Awlgrip almost everywhere, not common enamel. The yacht has real varnished hardwood seatbacks port and starboard, hatchboards that can be easily taken ashore and varnished, and the handgrip at the aft end of the companionway hatch slider. That’s it!  If you are a varnish lover, you could fit hardwood cheek pieces to the top of the rudder if you insist. Everything else that may look like wood is wood-colored Awlgrip.
• A balanced rudder– with part of its area forward of the pivot axis– just like the racing yachts. Keeping helm forces at a minimum and enabling a self-steerer or autopilot to actually work well, even downwind.
• Room enough for an 9-10 foot dinghy to be carried on the davits.
• A big rig with plenty of sail area. The hull has a lot of stability so why not pile on the sail to make her go fast? She has an “almost masthead” rig but there is about a foot of fraction at the top of the mast so that spinnakers or light air reachers can be set without chafing on the upper swivel of the roller furler.  Almost all modern ocean-crossing sailboats now carry such large reaching sails and EXPANNIE is no exception.
• A deployable Solent Stay, enabling the Genoa to be rolled up in heavy weather and a smaller working jib or storm jib to be deployed when necessary. It would be taken back to the mast when not in use so as to permit the jib to be tacked.
• An unusual amount of usable interior space. Being a yacht of heavyish displacement, the hull has a lot more interior volume than her overall length might suggest… comparable to an over 40-foot yacht of lighter displacement.
• Mechanical propulsion of your choice.
• Access to the water will be made easier for dinghy boarding, swimming, or man-overboard rescue, by a section of the transom being hinged to flop down with a ladder on its face for re-boarding.

Luxurious…NOT. The idea is to leave your former life ashore and learn to use your God-given body to be physical and self-reliant again. The only luxuries recommended have to do with primal needs. The shower in the head to stay clean. An outdoor fresh water shower near the aft boarding access allowing a brief rinse-down after swimming that can make you feel like a new person. A heater of some sort to keep the interior temperature comfortable at three in the morning. A boom box for Mozart. All the books you never read in your life stored on a Kindle. And that’s about it for luxuries.

The drawings for EXPANNIE are about one-fourth completed. Please contact me at;   paineyot@aol.com if you would like to build this yacht… I would complete all of the remaining drawings at a very reasonable price. The yacht itself built to the highest standards will cost about US$ 1,150,000 in today’s inflationary times.

AI Generated image by Jody Culbert.

Get out your checkbook and use this beauty to SEE THE WORLD!  (AI generated image)  Credit: Steve Avery

Please feel free to contact me at paineyot@aol.com if you have any questions.

Chuck Paine