YORK 18
DIMENSIONS
LOA : 18’ 1”
LWL: 14’ 10”
BEAM: 6′ 3”
DRAFT: 2’ 10”
DISPLACEMENT: 1653 lb
BALLAST (LEAD): 695 lb
SAIL AREA: 155 sq ft
D/L RATIO: 233
The YORK 18 design was inspired by the popularity of the smaller and highly regarded PAINE 14 and LEVANT 15. The first boat has been launched and tested, and the second is under construction.
Michael York of York Custom Yachts in Rockland, Maine is building these supremely high quality 18-foot Herreshoff-inspired sailing yachts in fiberglass with your choice of extensive varnished mahogany or teak trim. These high performance keelboats are classy, valuable, fast, unsinkable, trailerable and owner-launchable, and just the right size to take home and store for the winter, avoiding the bother and expense of a boatyard. The draft is only 2′ – 10″ so you can launch and retrieve her yourself, if you wish, and stow her in your garage or on a boat-lift if you live on a lake or a canal in Florida.
York Marine of Rockland, Maine, is convinced of traditional, Herreshoff 12 1/2 styled topsides combined with a fully modern moderate displacement fin and spade underbody. This line of daysailors is heavily lead-ballasted to be very stable without the need for athletics, and provides a low, secure cockpit with comfortable seatbacks (coamings) so they can be sailed for hour after hour in real comfort.
Mike York wanted the YORK 18 to be unsinkable, and to reduce the impact of an inadvertent swamping. So he developed a very elaborate internal fiberglass unit. It encompasses the forward bulkhead with a stowage nook, the subsole with bosses to receive the real hardwood sole slats, the aft bulkhead, and the afterdeck. If you think about it you can picture this as a very expensive bathtub. There is absolutely no way that sea water can get out of this bathtub and into the hull proper. Even the decision to locate the aft hatch for gear stowage on the afterdeck rather than the more conventional location on the face of the aft bulkhead was made to insure that no water could ever find its way out of the “tub.” It is beautifully tooled and fits precisely into the hull, contributing to the structural stiffness of the hull itself.
The rare yachtsman who desires a daysailer of investment quality is blessed with a number of clear choices, all with splendid fit and finish (and commensurate pricetags). The available fleet until the introduction of the York 18 consisted of the Paine 14, Levant 15, Herreshoff and Doughdish 12 1/2, and Pisces 21. The York 18 fills the obvious gap between the 15′-10″ H12/Doughdish and the 21′ Pisces . Given her modern underbody, although she falls halfway between the 12 1/2 and Pisces 21 in size, she is the equal and more of the larger Pisces in performance.
THE YORK 18
The York 18 sailplan is supported on a light and strong carbon fiber mast which is tapered for aesthetics and to lower its vcg, and requires no stays. This makes rigging and unrigging the yacht a relatively simple and speedy process, and lowers wind resistance to windward. The mainsail is attached using simple velcro straps, making it quick and easy to get going— one reason why the vessel can be easily trailed to differing sailing venues or easily stowed aboard your motoryacht or boatlift. The boom and jibboom are of beautifully varnished spruce, and the latter makes the yacht entirely self-tending. You can short-tack the York 18 upwind in a narrow channel without ever touching the sheets. The roller-furler makes the jib easy to deploy and stow, and the full height jib bqattens prevent the jib from losing its effectiveness off the wind.
Mike York wanted to address the man-overboard eventuality. On the outside of the transom there’s a little leather strap sticking out, and if you pull it a hinged door opens and out slides a shiny stainless steel, articulating boarding ladder that flops down into the water. When you’re finished using it you just slide it back into its watertight scabbard and close the door.
The yacht will be supplied standard with a varnished tropical hardwood transom, sculpted varnished sheer strakes, cockpit coamings, seats and trim to mimic her understandably revered predecessor, the Herreshoff 12 1/2. Please inquire directly to Mike York regarding price and delivery schedules.
Owner Barbara and builder Mike take the maiden sail on the York 18 August 1st, 2020.
York Custom Yachts
11 Gordon Drive
Rockland, Maine 04841
For more information click here: