Cape Henry 21 Professional Build in Ireland

Tiernan Roe is a professional boatbuilder in County Cork, Ireland. His company, Roeboats, specialises in building quality wooden boats. Mostly of classic styling, they build for sail, power or rowing. Roeboats recently launched a Cape Henry 21 that they built for a customer from France.Tiernan sent me these photos, which show some interesting details brought into one of our most popular small cruisers.

Cape Henry 21 ready to get wet.

Launched in a pretty setting.

First sail of the new boat.

The mainsail has still to be fully set up in these photos.

Compact sink & cooker unit, neatly executed.

Other side of the galley. Nice detailing.

Looking aft from the double forward berth.

You can follow the construction of this boat on the Roeboats news blog, from start through to launch.

After launch, Tiernan Roe sent me these comments. "She sails very nicely and I found her easy to single hand from the get go. The interior is pretty snazzy with frame and panel oak fronted drawers and a gas stove with tank fed sink.  Also the centreboard was a lot easier to operate than I thought. Its an awkward shape out of the boat to try and move alone."

To see our full range of designs, please visit http://dixdesign.com/

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Dave Immelman Professional Sailor looking for a Boat

Those who followed our abortive Cape to Rio Race on the Didi 38 "Black Cat" and my recent blog posts about it will know that we went through situations that were demanding of quality seamanship, a cool head and total commitment to the well-being of boat and the other crew members. Those qualities come from thousands of miles sailed in all conditions, good and bad, sometimes under much pressure.

Our navigator on "Black Cat" was professional sailor David "Wavy" Immelman and he proved to have all of those qualities and more to spare. At any time that there was tough work to be done on the boat, Dave was there to do it or to assist. We had never sailed together before but Dave proved to be very capable and a sailor with whom I will be very happy to sail in the future.

Dave had prepared the boat for the race and onward voyaging. He was to take over as skipper after my departure in Rio and was to take her to the Caribbean for cruising and racing. He had committed to the owner of "Black Cat" for long term voyaging and racing. Unfortunately those long-term plans disappeared into the blue with our rudder, so Dave is looking for another boat.

Dave Immelman is RYA Ocean certified, with experience that includes Volvo Ocean Race, Americas Cup and Solent Racing. He is also tough, having rowed single-handed across the North Atlantic.

If you know of a racing, cruising or charter boat that may have a suitable opening, please message me so that I can put you in contact with Dave to supply his CV.

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