The Cape Cod 767 is a French-designed and built fun daysailer that\u2019s jam packed with new ideas and features. Toby Hodges tests this new daysailerGranted, it\u2019s a novel-looking shape, but why all the fuss I wondered as a crowd formed around the transom of the Cape Cod 767 in La Rochelle? And then as I took in the numerous clever features being demonstrated on deck I began to understand the interest. The 767 packs plenty of new ideas into a 25ft daysailer and is certainly worth a closer look \u2013 or a sail if you can.
\nUnearthing a genuinely different design is a highlight of being longterm members of the European Yacht of the Year scheme. A fellow jury member nominates a design we\u2019ve never heard of (typically French) and we get to sail a yacht we might never otherwise stumble across.
\nGiven its particularly modern and quirky design, including the pronounced reverse sheer and chines, you may also find it surprising to learn that the Cape Cod 767 hails from a yard more used to building classical-style boats.
\nHerv\u00e9 Nollet is the Rosewest yard\u2019s founder and designer. Following design school in Paris and 25 years running an industrial design agency, Nollet drew a neo-classic daysailer for himself 20 years ago. Demand from friends grew this into a small series production, the Cape Cod 896, of which 30 have now launched. One glance at this daysailer, with its gorgeous traditional sheer, elegant counter and large oval cockpit, helps explain where the brand name comes from \u2013 it befits that New England sailing lifestyle.
\nThe link with that yacht and the starkly different, contemporary Cape Cod 767 is that they\u2019re both shoal draught daysailers that are easy to manage, with large cockpits, modern appendages and rigs. The Cape Cod 767 ramps up the ease factor: it\u2019s easier to sail fast, with an integral centreboard that makes it easy to beach or trail, and you can rig it single-handedly.
\nThe novel 767 trailable daysailer, with its large cockpit and surprising space under the foredeck, is easy and reactive to sail, particularly with the furling gennaker. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud\/imacis.fr\/EYOTY
\nAn ideas boat
\nThe concept is a sporty daysailer, yet a fun, spacious boat that can be trailed (it weighs just over a tonne).
\nIt\u2019s clearly a design that suits fair-weather sailing and has a cockpit to entertain plenty for its size, while its raft of clever features has inspired many positive comments on Yachting World\u2019s YouTube channel.
\nFor starters, there is the ease with which it can take to the shallows. The kick-up rudder pivots on a single point on its casing head. At first glance I thought this was some sort of wind vane, until I got closer and saw it was the blade in its fully vertical \u2018docked\u2019 position.
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The 350kg swing keel uses hydraulic power to raise it from 1.8m to just 22cm at the push of a button by the throttle control. It takes 20 seconds to lift, and it has an inbuilt fuse so will automatically raise if you hit the beach too quickly.
\nWhen you are beaching, you want to be able to both lift the outboard and use maximum cockpit space. The retractable outboard \u2013 an electric Torqeedo or 5hp petrol \u2013 is offset to one side to avoid the rudder and mounted on a hingeing bracket. This lifts and rotates inboard directly into a cockpit locker. A box then seals the transom slot for when sailing.
\nHulls and decks are infused polyester, with composites all designed and built in-house. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud\/imacis.fr\/EYOTY
\nTelescopic swim steps also retract neatly into the transom, while another large cockpit locker in the sole swallows fenders and gear.
\nHow to include a table large enough for the numerous guests the cockpit can host? The solution on the Cape Cod 767 is recessed into the cockpit sole and raises up on X-legs (like an ironing board). Similarly, cockpit cushions with folding backrests are built into the benches, so you can choose to have these raised for support or flush to the side decks.
\nThe swing keel weighs 350kg and raises hydraulically at the push of button. It will also lift automatically if beached. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud\/imacis.fr\/EYOTY
\nWhen I arrived for a sail on the Cape Cod 767, the rep was having a siesta on the foredeck sunpad, the hatch raised to act as a reclining position. But the real surprise lies beneath here in a forepeak area that is spacious enough to accommodate two single berths and a chemical heads. Admittedly there\u2019s no natural light and it\u2019s more a space meant for stowage (Nollet says his clients are as likely to sleep on their boat as in their car), but it shows how the full bow has been put to good use.
\nNeat features abound, including the Seasmart recessed fittings on deck for attaching blocks easily or clipping on fenders one-handed and the cup holders in the tiller.
\nThe Cape Cod 767 can be launched and rigged without needing a crane and comes with an aluminium mast with an option for carbon. A single Torqeedo battery provides two hours motoring at max speed (9.7km\/h) and powers the keel. It can be recharged from the dock or taken home.
\nThe large table is recessed into \u2013 and forms part of \u2013 the cockpit sole. It raises up on X-legs. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud\/imacis.fr\/EYOTY
\nReactive sailing
\nThe Cape Cod is not just an ideas platform, it offers easy, fun sailing too. It\u2019s designed to be narrow and flat enough to trailer, yet Rosewest has kept the composite build light and slippery. The single rudder proved nice and responsive, allowing you to feel each small increase in wind strength (we clocked 5-5.5 knots upwind and 7+ knots offwind).
\nThe jib is on a curved track and can be sheeted inboard using the windward block, which is useful considering the full-bodied shape of her forward ends. The purchased mainsheet is controlled using a central ratchet block. You can also attach a block and tackle to this to aid fine trim and sheeting to windward.
\nThe forepeak area below contains two berths, a large amount of stowage and a chemical heads. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud\/imacis.fr\/EYOTY
\nUnfurling the gennaker is fuss-free with the furler line led underdeck and controlled from the pit. This reaching sail helped the Cape Cod 767 come alive and prove reactive to sail. You can cross sheet easily to trim all sails from the windward side. I\u2019d look at fitting a simple tiller clamp so you could leave it locked off centrally while sailing solo and attending to the sails.
\nThe helmsman has sturdy foot chocks and the natural place to sit at heel is up on the windward deck. But in heavier seas or winds you\u2019d want more security in higher backrests. As it is there are no rails, an open transom, and little to keep you in the cockpit (or on the foredeck). And it could get a little wet in a seaway, which is why I consider it a design for calm weather (it\u2019s RCD Cat C\/four people).
\nBut for a fun sail across to a beach or island to anchor up with friends for lunch and a swim, the Cape Cod offers a relishing prospect. Extraordinary? Perhaps not, but it\u2019s certainly different and full of original features, which certainly got our attention!
\nCape Cod 767 specifications
\nLOA: 7.67m \/ 25ft 2in
\nBeam: 2.54m \/ 8ft 4in
\nDraught: 0.22-1.8m \/ 0ft 9in-5ft 11in
\nLight displacement: 1,100kg \/ 2,425lb<\/p>\n
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The post Extraordinary boats: Cape Cod 767 is 25ft of fresh thinking appeared first on Yachting World.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Cape Cod 767 is a French-designed and built fun daysailer that\u2019s jam packed with new ideas and features. Toby Hodges tests this new daysailerGranted, it\u2019s a novel-looking shape, but why all the fuss I wondered as a crowd formed … <\/p>\n