Watkins 17


The Watkins 17, also referred to as the W17, is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by the Watkins brothers and first built in 1975.

Production

The design was built by Watkins Yachts in Clearwater, Florida, United States from 1975 to 1981, with over 100 examples completed. Production was curtailed in 1979, when the company was sold, with few boats built in 1979-1981. The design's moulds were eventually abandoned behind the old plant building when the company was wound up in 1989. The building was sold to an electrical contractor and the moulds are presumed to have been destroyed.

Design

The Watkins 17 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of hand-laid 24 oz rove fiberglass, with wood trim. The deck is a single piece of moulded fibreglass and the cockpit is self-bailing. It has a fractional sloop rig with aluminum spars made by Kenyan, a small, storage cuddy cabin, a spooned plumb stem, a vertical transom, a transom-hung rudder made from Philippine mahogany controlled by tiller and a centerboard keel. It displaces and carries of encapsulated lead ballast in fibreglass, with of sail area.
The boat has a draft of with the centreboard extended and with it retracted, allowing beaching or ground transportation on a trailer. A hot-dipped galvanized trailer was included with the boat.

Operational history

Most of the Watkins 17s built were sold to a local Florida sailing club for use as one design racers.