Cascade - a Mottle 33

Practical: My Boat

John Needs and his family find plenty to like about their ever-green Mottle 33, Cascade.

First let me set the scene with some background.

The Mottle 33 was born in 1975 when George Mottle, a successful Sydney yacht broker, and designer Joe Adams were having a drink in a pub in western Sydney. George lent his name to the boat and built and marketed it up to 1978. He sold the boat mainly as a low-cost sailaway package without an interior, which was then finished in various ways by owners.

In 1978 a company called Naut Yachts took over the boat and decided to sell it as a production yacht with options, rather than as George Mottle had done. The boat was also renamed “Naut 33,” but this never really caught on and even today Mottles such as Cascade are referred to as Mottle 33s built by Naut Yachts.

Naut Yachts made another few important changes including bow anchor hatch, three Houdini hatches for ventilation and light and new interior moulds and joinery which allowed the yacht to be put together faster. This formula was popular and by the end of 1979 they had sold 36 boats.

By 1980 a completed boat from Naut was $45,880 and you could now have as an option a “raised deck,” which gave 6’3” headroom for an extra $4,400 and even a ketch rig option for $3,322. This raised-deck option led to what is now often called the “high-sided” model. Personal preference really dictates whether a high-sided model is desirable or not, as even the high-sided Mottle doesn’t have standing headroom in the aft cabin. The raised-deck option version sold alongside the original design rather than it being a mark 2 version as such.

Naut Yachts Mottle 33s came standard with two water tanks totalling around 400L, a 113L stainless-steel diesel tank, a 13hp Volvo sail-drive and wheel steering.

Our Mottle 33, Cascade, is a 1984 Naut model, which we are led to believe was the 115th Naut Mottle 33 to leave the factory. She is a factory-finished boat and not a high-sided model. We bought Cascade in 2004 after having raced Hartley trailer-sailers for about 10 years in the 90s and then having a Top Hat 25 for a couple of years as our first proper yacht. The Top Hat was fantastic and taught us enough to know that my wife and two children liked the boating lifestyle, but we wanted some more space for a few nights aboard and more entertaining area for friends to come along for a day-sail and swim.

The search

The search began for a Mottle 33 and after the normal experience any boater can relate to of looking at many boats with issues too problematic for me to take on, we finally came upon Cascade. The survey result was anxiously awaited and when the surveyor told me face to face that overall it was one of the best Mottle 33s he’d ever gone over, the deal was cemented.

Since then we’ve made some upgrades to enhance Cascade for our use. The 13hp Volvo that was now 20 years old stayed for only about a year because when there was a little growth on the bottom and a nor’easter blowing with a smallish swell I was not convinced I could get where I needed to. This was replaced with a new Yanmar 29hp 3YGM and new sail-drive with Gori folding propeller. For a while it felt like we could pull a skier behind Cascade. We have also relined the interior because the Naut Yachts blue astro-turf lining was showing its age and flaking off, and we have also had new cushions fitted throughout. A new 1½ furling headsail was also needed after a total blowout of the old one beating into a lovely 18-knot breeze on a Monday-night twilight race. This new tri-radial headsail puts a smile on my face every time we use it and Cascade instantly picked up 1½ knots upwind.

We call Cascade our “floating tent” because we still love to go away for a few days on her, and we have sailed her to Port Stephens a couple of times and spent the best part of two weeks aboard. She also does Monday-night twilight duties on Pittwater and although she struggles to keep up with the newer Jeanneaus, Bavarias, and Beneteaus of similar length in the light stuff, given 20 knots she gets on a roll and surprises a few of the newer plastic fantastics.

Below deck

Below deck she is really comfortable for a family. Forward provides a sizable V-berth, while in the midship section is a spacious twin settee with centre-folding table capable of seating four to six people. There is a large ice-box with chart table above, opposite the galley, and the head and shower are located at the bottom of the stairs with vanity basin and storage for all the bathroom bits. The stoopway to the aft cabin has an abundance of storage for cruising with an optional ¼ berth here too. The large owners aft cabin can have two single V-berths or a huge queen-size berth that is actually larger than the queen-size fitted sheets we have from home. There is also hanging space in the aft cabin.

It’s fair to say that given an unlimited budget a shiny new Buizen or Swan might be very nice but for the meantime our Mottle 33 lets us safely and comfortably enjoy the east coast.

SPECIFICATIONS

LOA 10m

LWL 9.19m

Beam 3.37m

Draught 1.58m

Displacement 4,173kg

Ballast 2,273kg

Working sail area 40.9sqm

Designer Joe Adams