Restless - Sea Pearl 21

Restless, a stock Sea Pearl 21 manufactured by Marine Concepts (Florida), was conceived as modification of Herreshoff's Carpenter dinghy - somewhat of a mongrel cross between a whaleboat, a dory and a sharpie. She's 21' LOA, 5'6" beam and draws next to nothing. The dry hull weight is specified as 600 lbs, though with her usual onboard gear and water ballast she probably tops 1100 lbs. Despite this, she rows reasonably well in a slick calm using a pair of 9' oars (which I keep lashed under the side decks).

The little Honda 2 HP, which hangs on a clever rudder-mounted bracket, is mainly for show, though in a pinch will readily push her at hull speed in just about any condition.

Perhaps the best and most versatile camp-cruiser ever manufactured, she is a cat ketch with infinitelty variable roller reefing and a pair of leeboards to bite into the water. With excellent shallow water capability, she features water ballast tanks to give her extra punch when the wind gets up. These boats have been sailed on adventurous expeditions in regions varying from from Cape Horn to Alaska.

She provides very comfortable sleep-aboard capability for one (a bit tight for two!) under a retractable canopy. She'll self-steer on any point with the wind on the beam and for'rd, and while she'll ghost nicely in a light breeze, she sails like stink on a broad reach in 15 knots and above, putting even the big keel boats to shame.

In terms of her functionality and overall seakeeping capabilities she is my absolute favourite camp-cruiser.