In this case, Pilgrim is about double the internal volume of Roamer, and I’ve been able to build the bouyancy into the design in such a way as to be much less conspicuous, she has a lot of floatation very high up on her centerline under the foredeck and afterdeck, more in the cockpit coamings, and a huge amount under seats and the sleeping flats. The fixed ballast is enough to roll the boat from inverted once tipped about 20 deg, and the skippers weight on the rail will do that, and once upright the boat will float stable and high enough to enable the crew to board, and bail her out.
I have worked out the water level inside when swamped, and will have to raise the centerboard pennant opening another 100 mm to avoid water ingress when bailing from fully swamped but this does not impact the accommodations at all so is not an issue.

Note that the boat s rig has a cutter option. The staysail ( inner jib) is set flying on a roller furler, and can be set at sea when required. The idea being that with two reefs in the main the jib ( outer one ) can be rolled up and the staysail set to balance the boat, then if the elements become even less clement the main can be dropped entirely and the staysail, of heavier material, is enough to provide some control and direction.

I’ve done a lot of open boat cruising over the years, and Pilgrim as pretty much all of my wish list incorporated in her.

JohnW

I must admit that I hadn’t spotted the beach-boat connection before but you are right – much more beamy and it could almost pass for a Brighton Hog Boat!

Looking at this design and other modern ‘Raid’ inspired boats with fixed or water ballast makes me think that the DCA Roamer was way ahead of its time. In fact, I think that the Roamer would pretty much fit this design brief – with the possible exception of aesthetic appeal!

I started a thread on the ‘openboat’ yahoo to discuss this design but have had zero response, which is something of a surprise to me, I though it would be right up the DCA street!

Chris