Island Princess
A 36' 7" V-Bottom Schooner
By John Atkin
A V-Bottom Auxiliary Schooner
The schooner Island Princess was conceived for comfortable cruising among the islands -- or anywhere -- and for living aboard for extended periods. She will be quite at home when the going gets rough. Her rather deep forefoot and long, straight drag will keep her on the wind in good fashion. Relatively shoal draft will permit poking into sheltered harbors and coves not accessible to her longer-legged sisters.

The sail plan and overall characteristics should please the traditionalist�and find favor among seamen. Her lines are similar to those of the 30-foot schooner Little Maid of Kent whose design appeared in Motor Boating several years ago. Like her smaller sister. Island Princess is of V-bottom form. Her principal dimensions are 36' 7" over all by 29' 0" on the waterline by 10' 6" breadth and 4' 9" draft. The freeboard is 3' 10" at the bow, 3' 3 3/4" aft and 2' 6" at station 9.

The schooner sail plan of Island Princess incorporates features of design which tend to eliminate much of the expense associated with the modern racing-cruising yacht. While her divided rig is not as efficient as those of her more "high strung" sisters, the schooner rig has been well proved over the years -- and continues, from time to time, to confound the experts and proponents of the popular jib-head rig. The late George Steers brought the schooner rig very close to perfection -- and his famed America proved her remarkable windward ability at the expense of the best of Britain's Royal Yacht Squadron.

None of the delicate tuning essential aboard competitive sailing yachts is necessary aboard Island Princess. Her standing rigging, spliced in eyes, parceled and served to prevent wear and tear, is quite acceptable. Deadeyes and lanyards are in character with her rig�all quite in keeping with the sea. There are obvious advantages in strong, simple gear, which can be repaired or replaced at sea with simple tools -- not dependent upon the shoreside machine shop. Island Princess has a total of 538 square feet of sail area divided in mainsail, foresail, staysail and jib. The area is of modest proportions to make for easier handling and yet provide good performance. Lazyjacks are rigged on main and foresail -- a most practical piece pf rigging which, unfortunately, has gone by the board in some modern racing-cruising yachts.

Island Princess is arranged for the comfort of four. Her galley is aft, with sink and ice chest to starboard -- stove and work flat opposite. Some skippers, I find, tend to take a dim view of the coal-burning stove, but it has been my experience that the warmth and comfort of a galley range -- or solid fuel-burning device of some sort -- has a great deal in its favor. Cold, damp days aboard are not uncommon. Adequate heating is often desirable. Island Princess will have an alcohol or kerosene-burning stove chocked on a suitable removable flush cover, fitted over the coal range, for regular cooking -- and a fire laid in the range when the weather turns raw will be welcome company.

A Gray Four-112, driving through a 2:1 reduction gear, will provide fine auxiliary power. This engine develops 30 hp at a comfortable 2200 rpm.

The lines of Island Princess show a clipper-bowed hull of good proportions. She is designed to carry 4750 pounds of outside lead with an additional 1200 pounds, in relatively small pigs, to be distributed inboard. Primarily in the interest of appearance, her sections, forward and aft, are molded�with flam introduced forward with an eye toward keeping her dry. In the manner of many successful old-time yachts, her rudder post is vertical -- a feature adopted in many successful yachts.
While Island Princess is a departure from the commonplace, and not developed with competitive racing in mind, her traditional features have long provided comfort, ease of handling and safety at sea. There is a great deal to be said for qualities like these -- qualities indispensable to a boat of true character.
 
PHOTOS OF ISLAND PRINCESS
Plans for Island Princess are $250
Plans to build Island Princess in steel are $350

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