More pottering around - testing the Potter 15

Caroline Strainig pays a flying visit to the Gold Coast to check out the US-built Potter 15.

Last time I called in at the Gold Coast I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon on the Potter 19, a traditional-style small, hard-chine sailboat build in the US. This time, it was its smaller sibling, the Potter 15. I admit we generally feature larger cruising boats in the new boats column in CH, but I am a great believer in size not being everything. As I have said many times, you can have just as much fun in a trailer-sailer and the view is almost the same whatever sort of boat you sail.

The original Potter designs were developed in the late 1940s in the UK’s Isle of Wight. Production moved to the US in the 1970s, since when International Marine has produced more than 4000. Both models have changed slightly, and now have fibreglass instead of plywood hulls, anodised aluminium masts instead of timber and Bermuda sloop rigs instead of Gunters. The 15 was also originally a 14 and has grown a foot.

There have been minor modifications to the deck and cabin configuration of the 15, the most noticeable being a change in the height of the cockpit coaming in the early 1970s. The 15’s sail area has also been increased, with more roach added to the main and a full batten near the top to give it a “gaff-type” look.

However, overall both Potter designs remain faithful to their forebearers and are instantly recognisable as “classics”. Personally, I think that’s one of the attractions in today’s plastic high-speed age — a return to a simpler, less complicated time. The very word “potter” makes you think of someone leisurely pottering around.

First impressions

My first thought on catching sight of the 15 parked near a boat ramp at Labrador on the Gold Coast was “How cute is that?”

Like the 19, the 15 has cuteness to burn. Without the mast raised it looked reminiscent of a traditional European canal putt-putt boat, and I’m surprised International Marine doesn’t make a non-sailing version.

Second was that, okay, while this is a trailer-sailer, it is still a fairly small one, with 4.5m being at the smaller end of the scale. While “Potter Yachters” — as US owners tag themselves — have made some momentous voyages since these mini-cruisers were first conceived, most of us who value our skins would probably opt for bay sailing or the very odd quick little coastal hop in fine conditions. The 15 is really the equivalent of an oversized dinghy: it weighs only 215kg and 373kg on trailer. That’s small and light. In fact, so small you can tow it with a compact car, which is one of its big drawcards.

Features

Okay, we’ve already said it has a bit of a classic look, with a curved hard-chine hull and slightly “gaffy” main. Looking at it in more detail the hull itself has a slight sheer, with a raised cabin top and a single porthole each side.

The 3/4 sloop rig has a single spreader with side stays and a forestay, rope boomvang and a single reefing point for jiffy reefing. The standard headsail is a 110-percent lapper (an oversized jib) but as an option you can get a roller furler 140-percent genoa. All sails are Dacron and by US manufacturer North Sails.

The cockpit is a reasonable size with a small lazarette, timber tiller and a short rope set-up aft with a jammer that acts as a mini-traveller. Sheets also come back to a pair of jammers in the cockpit. Stainless-steel grabrails both sides add to cockpit security. There are no sidedecks, but it is easy to climb up over the cabin top and head for’ard to rig or reef the headsail, with sturdy timber grabrails on the cabin top to help you on your way and a stainless-steel pulpit on the foredeck for added safety when you reach the bow. The anchor is owner’s choice and you can either stow this in the cockpit lazarette or on an optional hanger on the bow rail. A ventilator allowing the rode to drop into the chain locker, similar to the Potter 19, is standard.

The cabin washboard folds out to double as a small cockpit table and a fold-up bimini is included in the sailaway price.

Below are twin quarter berths with stowage under, which are 1.98m long and pretty well take up the whole cabin, but there is a dedicated space in one corner to squeeze in a portable toilet for those who don’t want to bucket-and-chuck-it. There is no galley and it’s a case of don’t forget to pack the Esky, butane portable stove and water container. The cabin sole to deckhead height at the entry end of the cabin is less than 1.2m and there is sitting headroom over the bunks.

The sailaway price includes a galvanised registered trailer, 2.5hp four-stroke Suzuki outboard and outboard bracket, transom boarding ladder, screened opening ports, mast topping lift, bow and stern running lights, cabin dome light, masthead combo anchor and steaming light, battery meter and 35AH sealed lead-acid battery.

As standard the hull and sails are white but for $1100 extra you can opt for any of 32 hull colours and eight sail colours. Suter had opted for a black hull and cream sails, which accentuated the classic look. The main comes with a bolt rope as standard but the coloured mainsails come with slugs. “Slugs allow the luff to remain in the mast track making raising and lowering the mainsail neat and easy,” Suter said.

Workmanship and quality looked good, although I did notice some crazing in the gelcoat around the mast on the cabin top. Suter said he was investigating this, but it had had only occurred on the demo boat, which he had sailed repeatedly in stronger conditions than you would sail most trailer-sailers.

Rigging and launching

Rigging and launching were extremely easy. International Marine advertises half an hour and it took Suter about this even though he was chatting.

The mast weighs only five kilograms so even the most elderly will not find it a backbreaking task.

Likewise, launching the high trailer guards either side made it easy to see the trailer position from your car’s side mirror. The boat was so light that there was no danger of going water-skiing off after it on the bow rope when it slid into the water and parted company with the trailer.

On the water

Despite claims by some that the 15 can accommodate up to four adults, we found even on the sheltered flat waters of the Gold Coast three full-sized adults too much for the cockpit and had to banish one to the foredeck because the boat was sailing stern down. Once the heaviest crew member moved for’ard the boat was much happier. I’d say two adults with a child would be a reasonable compliment. Some gear stored forward would also assist.

Winds were very light, but we had a pleasant time beamreaching across the channel, with the odd stint on the wind and tacking and gybing for variety.

There was no log and with tide and without a GPS it was hard to accurately estimate boat speed, but I’d say we hit around three knots or so.  Potter owners say when the conditions are right, the boat will sail along quite comfortably at 4.5 to 5 knots and claim it is hard to find a drier ride on any boat this size.

The drop keel was easily raised or lowered via a rope pulley that came back to just inside the companionway within reach of the cockpit. Running aground on a sandbank was not an issue — we just raised the keel slightly and sailed off. The 2.5hp Suzuki had us chugging along at a fair rate without excessive noise.

Everywhere we went the Potter attracted curious and admiring glances, and the crew of an anchored catamaran we used as a turning mark even called out, admiring her and asking what she was.

Summary

Okay, the sailaway price of $23,900 might seem at first glance a lot, but it costs a lot to build even a small boat, let alone transport it from the US on a container ship and equip it with a fairly complete inventory. For entry-level cruisers or those looking to downsize and enjoy the benefits of trailer-sailing in their twilight years, the Potter 15 has a lot to offer. The fact that they are keenly sought after second-hand in the US and usually sell by word of mouth before they can be advertised is testimony in itself.

One of its major pluses as far as I am concerned is that this is really a boat you and your partner would not have to think twice about taking for a sail because of the work involved rigging it, which should translate into more use and more fun. There’s nothing worse than having to spend as long rigging and derigging as actually sailing to turn you off the thought of going for a quick outing.

Twelve Potter 19s have already sold and this is the fourth Potter 15 to be imported, so obviously “Potter Yachters” are a growing part of the Australian cruising fraternity and here to stay.

SPECIFICATIONS
LOA 4.5m
LWL 3.65m
Width 1.68
Draught Keel up 18cm
Keel down 0.91m
Mainsail 6.7sqm
Genoa 4sqm
Distributor: Cameron Suter, bluereefyachts@bigpond.com, www.bluereefyachts.com.au, ph 0416 288 414.
For more background info on the Potters visit www.wwpotter.com

Gunter Rig Explained
In sailing, a gunter is used for two main configurations of rig:
1. The gunter is defined as a wire that leads from one point near the end of a gaff to a point near the other end. A block travels along this wire, and a halyard is attached to this block. This allows the gaff to be raised to the vertical by a single halyard, though another halyard is required at the gaff jaws to control height.
2. The gunter is created by hoops or parrel beads which secure the gaff loosely to the mast in a vertical position. A halyard is bent to the gaff jaws to control height. A sail raised by either of these means is called a gunter-rigged sail. A vessel with a
gunter-rigged mainsail is called a gunter rig. Gunter rig is normally used on small gaff-rigged sailing vessels, such as sailing canoes and dinghies where the gaff is carried very nearly vertical, forming an extension to the mast so that the sail is triangular and mimics a Bermuda rig. The effect is to have a topmast (the gaff) which is a pseudotelescopic extension of the shorter mast.
* Explanation courtesy Wikipedia.