ROSIE G: A Scow-Bow Junk Named After a Dead Dog

This is the most interesting new cruising sailboat design I’ve seen in a long time. Currently in build at Berkeley Marine Center, as conceived by a notable client, Barry Spanier, and drawn by a notable designer, Jim Antrim. It is significant, I think, that Spanier, a lifelong sailmaker who in his heyday designed and built some record-shattering windsurfer sails, has turned in his dotage to the junk rig. I’ve always been fascinated by the concept (you can see here some prior pondering on the subject) and find it inherently attractive. I say this, of course, having never sailed one.

As for the scow bow, this is something I’ve wondered about ever since David Raison transformed Mini 6.50 design when he crushed the Mini Transat fleet in 2011 aboard his scow-bowed TeamWork Evolution. Why haven’t cruising boat designers and builders jumped all over this bandwagon??? If a fat bow means better performance AND more space inside the boat, why wouldn’t you want your cruising boat to look like this? Aside from the entirely obscure Revolution 29, on which I bloviated a few years ago, I know of no other cruising designs taking advantage of this.

I wish I could find out more about Rosie G. Checking Spanier’s webpage on the boat, there’s as much information about the beloved dog she is named after, a red cloud kelpie who passed in May, as there is about the boat. GMT Composites, which is building the carbon-fiber rig, and Latitude 38 have also mentioned the boat, but there are few hard facts on offer.

The dream team: Barry Spanier, Cree Partridge of Berkeley Marine Center, and designer Jim Antrim pose in front of the fetal Rosie G back in March (Photo by Samantha Spanier, by way of Latitude 38)

The beamy bow in build (Photo by Barry, by way of Latitude 38)

Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Meanwhile here’s Barry’s basic brief for the design:

 

Monohull

Outside ballast, preferably cast lead for grounding

Modern junk rig with 200 lb carbon mast and engineered sail structure

Cockpit to galley/nav/dining same level feel. No ladders.

Forward flush deck

Scow bow 8’0” wide 2’0” back

Electric power

Large deck hatches

LOA 42’0”

Beam 14’0”

LWL 41’0”

Draft 4’0” (7’6” board down)

Displacement  20,000 lb

Ballast (cast lead) 7,500 lb

Sail Area 842 Sq Ft