About the Boat |

Arcturus is an Allied Seabreeze Yawl. Built in 1966, she had the good fortune to have at least two knowledgable and loving owners before myself. Thanks to you both. You know who you are.

That’s the short answer. For a more in-depth look at the boat, read on:

(Thanks to Andy Schell for the following details:)

magic hour

ABOUT THE ALLIED SEABREEZE

Arcturus is a 1966 Allied Seabreeze yawl. She can be rigged as a sloop if desired, as the sail area from the main and genoa are exactly as they were with the sloop – the mizzen is extra. Her only design difference is the split backstay chainplates to accommodate the mizzen mast. If rigged as a sloop for ocean sailing, I’d suggest rigging two independent backstays, one to each chainplate, for redundancy. She currently has the split backstay rig with the mizzen.

Allieds were built in the 1960s and 1970s in Albany, New York, and had a phenomenal reputation as a builder. In fact they’re widely credited as building the first production yacht of fiberglass to circumnavigate (that being the 30-foot Allied Seawind ketch). Arcturus is a smaller sistership to the famed Finesterre yawl, by S&S, which won the Bermuda Race three times in a row, in the 50s and 60s. MacClear & Harris, the Seabreeze designers, had in fact worked for S&S before forming their own company and drawing the Seabreeze. They’d go on to draw and develop multihulls in the early days of those designs.

Allied built 135 Seabreeze’s into the early 1970s. The earlier boats were the ‘bronze’ boats – the centerboard and all port lights and fittings (stemhead, etc) were of bronze, as opposed to aluminum in the later ‘Citation’ models. These boat’s are generally more desirable, and Arcturus, built in 1966, is indeed one of them.

SPECS:

Builder: Allied Boat Company, Albany NY, USA
Model: Seabreeze Sloop/Yawl
Type: Keel / Centerboard Cruiser-Racer
Year Built: 1966
Designer: MacClear & Harris
Length Overall: 34′ 11″
Waterline Length: 24′
Sail Area: 575 sq. feet
Displacement: 13,400 lbs. / 6.7 tons
Ballast: 4,000 lbs. / 2 tons
Draft: 3′ 10″ / 7′ 0″
Beam: 10′ 3″
Hull Speed: 6.56 knots
Displacement-to-Waterline: 439
SA/Displacement: 16.1

HULL & DECK

Solid fiberglass hull with balsa cored deck, much of which had been replaced by the previous owner. She shows no signs of water intrusion in either hull or deck.
‘Oyster White’ topsides & side deck nonskid, with light blue on the cabin top & in the cockpit. Dark red cove & boot stripes on hull, with matching dark red ‘Arcturus‘ and ‘ANNAPOLIS, MD’ decals on the stern.
Custom aluminum toerail replaced by previous owner circa mid-2000s. Vastly improved over the old teak toerail – no maintenance, and no leaks!
Hull to deck joint was also re-done when the toerail was replaced, and subsequently reinforced. This was done under the supervision of the legendary Hal Roth, who’d done a similar repair on his 35′ Spencer called Whisper. Ben Weems was tennis buddies with Hal, and got to know him well. Read about it in Hal’s book After 50,000 Miles.
High-gloss varnish (Epifanes) on handrails, hatch boards and cockpit coamings. Scraped to bare wood in 2009 and 14 initial coats applied, then 2 coats annually thereafter. Thanks to Mia for that!
Tiller steering in the cockpit (converted from wheel-steering in 2010 for simplicity and ease of use with the wind vane). Converted 2011.
Cape Horn wind vane self-steering (new 2011).
Bow & stern pulpits with Colligo Dux synthetic lifelines (5mm). New 2010. (Note that these are ‘missing’ in some of the newer photos – we took them down for ease of boarding in the archipelago in Sweden. They are easily re-installed).

RIG

Original mast section with new double-spreader arrangement and inner forestay.
Colligo Dux synthetic shrouds, 9mm on mainmast, 7mm on mizzen (new 2010). 5x stronger than the wire it replaced! (Note: Andy is an expert at this stuff – if you’re hesitant, please contact him first).
Wire headstay and inner forestay with hank-on genoa’s and staysail.
Hayn bronze open-body turnbuckles (new 2013).
Colligo titanium chainplates (overbuilt and bolted to the hull) & Colligo titanium mast tangs (new 2010/11).
Slightly heavier section mizzen mast (taken from a Com Pac 25), made one-foot taller to accommodate the wind vane. Boom raised by a foot to keep the same sail area. Mizzen mast step new 2011.
Masthead tricolor/anchor light combo, LED bulb, new 2011.
Full-length, fixed aluminum spinnaker pole, stowed on deck with mast fittings and track for attachment.
Aluminum reaching strut with mast fittings, also stowed on deck adjacent spin pole.

SAIL INVENTORY

Working sails (genoa, main, mizzen) new 2011, built by Chesapeake Sailmakers in Annapolis.

135% genoa, 8-ounce, triple-stitched, hank-on
90% heavy-weather jib, hank on (older, but in good shape)
Hank-on storm staysail (like-new, built circa mid-2000s by previous owner).
155% light-air drifter with dynamo luff (free-flying). Re-cut and refurbished 2011 by Chesapeake Sailmakers.
Partially battened mainsail, 8-ounce, triple stitched, stainless slides on external track. Jib-headed (i.e.: no headboard, so less wear and tear). 2 deep reef points.
Partially battened mizzen, 8-ounce, triple stitched, intended for heavy weather use. Jib-headed. 1-reef point.
Light-air symmetrical spinnaker (circa 1960s, but useable).
Light-air mizzen staysail (circa 1960s, but in great shape).

ENGINE & PROPULSION

Beta Marine 16HP diesel, two-cylinder, new 2013. ‘Kubota Blue’ custom color on custom, rebuilt engine beds of 10mm stainless steel. Only 75 hours on the engine! Full maintenance log available.
Vetus plastic fuel tank, 25-gallons, new 2013.
All new fuel lines.
Vetus water-lift muffler and exhaust, new 2013.
PSS dripless shaft seal, new 2013.
Groco intake strainer, new 2013.
Campbell ‘Sailer’ fixed 3-blade prop, new 2013 (also included is the Variprop feathering 3-blade that was with the Westerbeke – that will need re-pitching for the new engine).
Teleflex single throttle lever, new 2013.
Shift and throttle cables new 2013.

Despite what you might think, 16HP is NOT underpowered for the Seabreeze. We can easily make 6 knots in calm weather, and she’s got plenty of oomph around the docks. It’s a true ‘auxiliary sailboat’ – you won’t make 6 knots motoring into a 3-foot chop in 25 knots of wind, but then again you shouldn’t!

INTERIOR ARRANGEMENT & EQUIPMENT

Berths for four. Chain locker forward, vee-berth behind. Hanging locker to starboard, head to port, with the head sink facing aft. Main salon has custom twin settee berths (each with a lee-cloth) with bookshelves above and storage behind and beneath each side (see timeline below for details of this refit). Galley aft of the salon, with Force 10 three-burner stove/oven to port, icebox/chart table to starboard and companionway steps above the sink. Custom centerboard pipe (see timeline below for details) situated in the center of the salon, used as a mount for the centerline table (and a great handhold at sea!).

Force 10 three-burner propane stove with oven (new 2008).
European propane connections & two tanks; additional two (2) aluminum US propane tanks included in cockpit locker propane locker. Easily convertible back to US system with a simple fitting.
Fresh & salt water foot pumps (new 2011).
12V cooler-style refrigerator, 25 liters, in the locker aft of the stove. Self-contained and insulated, hard-wired to the electrical panel. New 2014.
Large icebox/dry storage locker under the chart table to starboard.
Wine locker to starboard in front of the settee.
Folding table on port side to add galley counter space.
Fully outfitted galley with dishes, pots & pans, silverware, etc.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM & ELECTRONICS

Trojan T-105 6-volt house battery bank (two batteries wired to make one 12V system, 225 amp-hours). New 2014.
Deka 12V engine start battery, new 2014.
Secondary wiring new 2011.
All lightbulbs, including interior & running lights, replaced with LED bulbs, 2011.
Primary wiring new 2014 when the batteries were replaced.
Two (2) 25-watt Solbian flexible solar panels lashed to the canvas dodger, each wired to their own MPT controller. Put out a total of 5-6 amps on sunny days. Arcturus, with her minimal energy draw, is now fully energy independent!
Two Whale electric bilge pumps, new 2014. One under engine, one in salon bilge.
Standard Horizon AIS VHF, new 2011. Receive only.
Depth & speed instruments, both working. New mid-2000s.
Bulkhead-mounted compasses in cockpit and belowdecks (starboard side, forward of settee).
ACR Personal EPIRB (PLB).

TANKAGE

25-gallon Vetus fuel-tank, new 2013.
35-gallon water tank, built-in in the keel.
30-gallon water tank under vee-berth.