Great new web site for Columbia 50s

Columbia 50

Kevin Reilly, owner of the  Columbia 50 Skylark, built a wonderful new web site about that beautiful Tripp design. I heard about it through the Columbia Sailing Yachts discussion group, of which we are both members. (Also a great resource for Columbia Yacht owners.)

Of all the Columbia sailboats I think the Columbia 50 is the most similar to the Columbia 43. They both have the same designer, the dimensions are suspiciously similar (the beam is the same on both, the waterline length is only one foot shorter on the 43 than the 50, the draft is nearly the same and the standard interior layout is nearly the same).

The boats were so similar, in fact, that Columbia Yachts could use the entire deck, including the house and the cockpit, from a C-50 on the C-43 hull number one . They just had to trim around the edges.

Columbia 50

Columbia 43

Here's wishing Kevin well on his new endeavor. Be sure and check it out.

Hull number one: Part two, the inside story

David and Betsy aboard Alcyone, which they have owned for 12 years.

David and Betsy invited me aboard Alcyone for a look at her inside. What a beauty!

The boat has the standard layout, but the joinery is a cut above what you would expect in a production boat. Most of the fiberglass pan is clad in teak veneer and there are many extra cabinets and other special features.

The story goes that the first hull was sold to the commodore of the Marina del Rey Yacht Club. He was friends with the Columbia Yachts president so when he said he wanted the new 43 hull with a Columbia 50 deck, that's what he got.

It is a wonderful and unique boat with many custom features beautifully executed. David and Betsy have owned her for 12 years. Alcyone couldn't have better stewards.

Another look at the outside.

Alcyone -- Hull number one

Alcyone under sail. (From the Columbia Yachts Owner's web site.)

I needed a break from not working on my boat yesterday so I ambled to the little marina store for a Pepsi. I did a double take when I looked at G Dock and saw another Columbia. No, not just a Columbia, a Columbia 43 (building excitement)! No, not just any Columbia 43... Alcyone -- the first Columbia 43! And it's in a permanent slip too, not a transient one.

Alycone in her new berth in Newport, Oregon. 

Check out that deck house! The hull-to-deck joint is different as is the toe rail and other features of the boat. 

Alcyone is distinctive because she was built with a cut down Columbia 50 deck on her. She really looks different, in a custom, cool way. It looks like she has a few inches less freeboard as well. Putting a Columbia 50 deck on the Columbia 43 isn't as weird as it sounds. Both boats have the same maximum beam (12 feet 3 inches) and the 50's waterline is only a foot more than the 43. Of course both boats were designed by Bill Tripp. I wonder how he felt about hull number one?

In Greek myth, Alcyone was the daughter of Aeolus, the Greek god of the wind. A very cool name for a sailboat.

The cockpit is different from other Columbia 43s with all-wood combings and a separate well for the helmsman.

I can hardly wait to talk to Dave and Betsy, the owners. I'm hoping for a tour down below and some good stories. I've never seen another Columbia 43 and I didn't see mine before she was modified so extensively. It's interesting that there are two Columbia 43s in the same marina and both are unusual.