SEA HAWK
Channel Cutter 22 (25 feet LOA)
Custom Design & Build by Charles J. Obst Sr., Warwick, RI, 1989
Heritage: Similar Lyle C. Hess Designs
Hull Construction: Belfast, Maine, USA. Fiberglass Hull #6, 1984
Specifications
LOA: 25' - 4"
LOD: 22"- 4"
LWL: 19' - 9"
Beam: 7' - 11"
Draft: 2' - 10"
Displacement:
Ballast: 1,200 lbs Lead
Sail Area: 262 sq. ft.
Headroom: 4' - 8"
Bridge Clearance: 32' - 6" approx.
Fuel: 10 US gal.
Designer / Builder: Charles J. Obst Sr.
SEA HAWK is a timeless beauty based on the design of the renowned Lyle C. Hess Falmouth Cutter design. The boat’s original work-boat/pilot-boat heritage is clear to see in her strong, sheer, bluff-bow and relatively low freeboard, long ago required for hauling nets. Sea Hawk, the modern channel cutter design, completed by Charles J. Obst Sr. of Rhode Island, was designed and built to his exacting standards with every aspect of her construction completed with the utmost attention to quality.
Her full but shallow keel draws a mere 2 feet 10 inches of draft. Lateral stability is enhanced by an easy to operated centerboard accessed in her cockpit. This keel/centerboard feature, an innovation by the designer, allows access to shallow bays and harbors with her centerboard up in addition to deep water cruising with her centerboard down. It is worth mentioning that with this shallow draft, Sea Hawk exudes confidence when exploring coastlines, shallow bays and inlets.
In order to create ample crew working space on a boat with 19 feet - 9 inches at the water line, Sea Hawk maintains a traditional and relatively wide 7 ft. – 11 inch beam and a coach roofed house. As a classic design, this channel cutter has undeniable charm, which attracts attention wherever she sails.
Sea Hawk uses a full cutter standing rig that is set between twin head-stays at the modest but wide working bowsprit along with twin fixed backstays. The sail plan consists of a 116 square foot mainsail with two rows of reefing points and a working jib of 146 square feet.
Topside you’ll find ample side decks and generous access to the mast and foredeck. There is even space to stow Sea Hawk’s small custom pram allowing for shore access from mooring or anchored locations. Her self-draining cockpit design is modest and protected, especially true with a custom built dodger installed.
Her beamy hull allows for a spacious interior with 4 feet - 8 inches of headroom and births for
four. The interior has one bulkhead separating the forepeak from the main cabin. Provisions for the fuel tank is located under the aft deck. When not under sail, the boat moves easily under
engine power due to its built-in and reliable four-stroke, extended shaft, 9.9 HP Yamaha outboard engine. The engine is mounted in a engine-well just forward of the rudder. This engine-well design
allows for easy removal of the engine for maintenance and storage purposes through a hatch in the aft deck. The Yamaha is equipped with its own alternator for charging up to
two auxiliary batteries. The batteries allow for extended electrical power while at anchor.
Under Sail
It’s said the best way to describe the performance of this compact cutter is to be pleasantly surprised by this cutter’s speed.
True to her design, her seaworthiness in heavy weather is remarkable and like most heavy displacement boats, she retains comfortable motion in trade-wind type sailing. She will also track well down the face of large swells. In lighter conditions, she is a surprisingly quick performer.
Sea Hawk is recognized for keeping the crew safe when the wind is up and a lot of fun to sail. Given her modest waterline length, heavy displacement and modest rig, she sails exceptionally well in all weather conditions. Though most cutter owners would agree that boat speed is not their number one priority, Sea Hawk is no slow boat by any means. She can easily sail 4 to 5 knots in average conditions and can exceed 6 knots on a reach when the wind is up.
Configuration and Layout
In addition to this traditional cutter’s numerous inherited features, the designer added many significant improvements of his own. Notably, he substituted a shallower, full-length keel with a swept back design that reduced wetted surfaces. He also introduced a forward dagger-board to improve the boat’s windward ability and tracking speed to weather.
To reduce hobby-horsing in wave heavy conditions, the keel incorporates lead ballast concentrated at the center of the keel rather than distributed along its length. With abundant sail area and enhanced lateral resistance Sea Hawk displays exceptional boat speed.
This boat incorporates a through-deck rudderpost that allows for a more forward tiller position and more centralized “crew weight placement”. The foil shaped rudder is amply sized for good maneuverability and is enhanced with a trim tab for fine tuning and balancing under sail. The forward dagger board is another modern feature added for balancing and trimming. Twin head stays are incorporated into the standing rigging at the bow to allow for efficient jib changes and dual jib wing-and-wing sailing. Twin backstays provide robust support for the Marconi rig with a backstay located at each stern quarter allowing for an open stern, free of clutter. The open stern also allows room for mounting a wind steering vane, solar panel, or other required equipment. The hull was manufactured in Belfast, Maine and is the sixth hull from the mold. The hull was constructed to the designer's strict specifications of thick fiberglass construction for safe offshore cruising. All the fittings and standing rigging are made of high quality stainless steel.
Going below, the most notable feature of this cutter is the extensive use of wood. No plastic hull liners or molded furniture in this traditional boat. The designer considered many options from the boat’s inception to the completion of this hand built craft. The intention of the designer was to accommodate two adults and two children. The 4 foot - 8 inches of headroom under the forward hatch extends into the main cabin area. The forward cabin contains a head, ample storage compartments, and a V-berth. In the main cabin there is a drop-leaf galley / chart table along with a pull-out shelf to accommodate a galley stove.
Construction
Sea Hawk is a one of a kind custom boat, built to uncompromising standards. Traditionally hulls like this were originally constructed entirely of wood. In contrast, Sea Hawk’s hull is a robust, fiberglass construction. Her deck is fiberglass with a solid wooden core. Her deck hardware is augmented with stainless steel and her interior is built of select hardwood, bonded to her hull and trimmed in beautifully finished teak and mahogany.
The mast is deck-stepped in a tabernacle to allow easy removal for trailering, as well as quick raising and lowering. Quality fittings are used throughout. Outboard chain-plates are through-hull bolted with sealed internal stainless steel backing plates.
Sea Hawk's trailer is a hot dipped, galvanized frame, tandem axle design with Hydraulic Surge brakes.
History
The Channel Cutter design follows a lineage that goes back to the 19th century workboats of Falmouth, England. Pilot boats of this type would carry harbor pilots out to ships entering port and carry heavy loads in all types of wind and sea conditions with consistent safety and good speed. These traits are still required for today’s safe, long distance voyaging. Sea Hawk’s designer had a long-time affinity with classic vintage boats and for years visited bookstores and libraries to gain as much knowledge as possible about this cutter design. He was not only impressed by the practicalities of this design, but also its remarkable charm and robustness in an old-world kind of way.
The designer’s first awareness of this pilot boat happened in the fall of 1983 while sailing the Chesapeake Bay where he discovered a 28 foot Bristol Channel Cutter. That boat immediately captured the designer’s interest and soon he began his own plans of his own 22 foot version, resulting in Sea Hawk’s construction and launch six years later.
From Sea Hawk’s inception, the designer wanted a boat that could be trailered anywhere in the continental US for the added dimension of cruising new areas.
Buyer’s Notes
Sea Hawk is a completely custom-designed and built product of Charles J. Obst Sr., Rhode Island resident and long-time Narragansett Bay sailor who years ago recognized the exceptional qualities of classic, sea worthy, working sailboats. The designer made use of the very best features of these working boats: load carrying ability, speed and seaworthiness, famous of Hess designs, while applying his own modern improvements to add to this already renowned cutter.
At a modest 25 ft. (LOA) this cutter stands alongside a select few “production pocket cruisers” capable of safe, fast, offshore cruising.
Sailboat writer John Vigor sums it up by describing the well-known channel cutter design as
“a very modern, old fashioned boat”.
If you’re in the market for an exceptional channel cutter, take a closer look at this fine example.
For further information, interested buyers should contact us via email at: sailne@comcast.net
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