The Slipper 17 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Nick Hake as a pocket cruiser and first built in 1981. The Slipper 17 design was developed into the

Seaward Fox The Seaward Fox is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Nick Hake as a pocket cruiser and first built in 1993.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 56. International Marine/ McGraw-Hill, 201 ...

in 1993.

Production

The design was built by the

Starboard Yacht Company Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which a ...

in the United States from 1981 until 1991, but it is now out of production. The company and production was later taken over by

Hake Yachts Hake Yachts, also called Seaward Yachts, was an American boat builder based in Carmel, Indiana. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. The company was founded in 1973 by boat designer Nick Hake, a gr ...

.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 59. International Marine/ McGraw-Hill, 2010.

Design

The Slipper 17 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fiberglass, with wood trim. It has a fractional

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

rig or optional catboat rig, a nearly plumb stem, a slightly angled

transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...

, a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed shoal draft fin keel or keel and

centerboard A centreboard or centerboard (US) is a retractable hull appendage which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat, known as a ''centreboard trunk'' (UK) or ''centerboard case'' (US). The retractability allows the centreboard to be raised t ...

. It displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard fixed keel, while the centerboard-equipped version has a draft of with the centerboard extended and with it retracted, allowing operation in shallow water, or ground transportation on a trailer. The boat is normally fitted with a small outboard motor for docking and maneuvering. The design has sleeping accommodation for four people, with a double

"V"-berth A berth is a bed or sleeping accommodation on vehicles. Space accommodations have contributed to certain common design elements of berths. Beds in boats or ships While beds on large ships are little different from those on shore, the lack ...

in the bow cabin and two straight settee berths in the main cabin. The

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

is located on both sides just aft of the bow cabin. The galley is equipped with a sink to port. The

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

is located in the bow cabin, centered aft, under the "V"-berth. Cabin headroom is . The design has a hull speed of .

Operational history

In a 2010 review Steve Henkel wrote, "Nick Hake started Starboard Yacht Company in 1979 with the cute little Slipper 17. Over the years the dimensions varied a bit, and so did the rig (cat or sloop), the deck configuration (deckhouse or flush deck) and the name of the builder (Starboard, Seaward, Hake Yachts) but with Nick Hake always in control ... Best features: Relatively wide beam gives her more space inside compared to her comp

titor John Titor and (TimeTravel_0) are pseudonyms used on the Time Travel Institute and Art Bell's Post-to-Post forums during 2000 and 2001 by a poster claiming to be an American military time traveler from 2036. Titor made numerous vague and specif ...

. She was available over the years in several different layouts, including two-berth, three-berth, and ... four-berth model ... (Two berths is probably the maximum most sailors would want to try, except for those with very small children.) Worst features: The early models had a rudder with too little area for quick manueverability ... Shallow draft, whether in the plain keel model (1' 7" draft, shown here) or the centerboarder, is insufficient for good upwind performance. Sail area is on the low side ..."

References

{{Trailer sailers and Trailer yachts worldwide Keelboats 1980s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Trailer sailers Sailboat type designs by Nick Hake Sailboat types built by Hake Yachts

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References