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• Sailboat Reviews

Brewer 12.8/44

The venerable whitby 42 has evolved into these two blue-water cruisers, both good, solid values..

The Brewer 12.8 and the Brewer 44 are developments of the Whitby 42, a cruising boat from the board of Ted Brewer. Brewer is one of the great modern cruising boat designers. His boats are well-mannered, attractive and practical.

According to the designer, the Brewer 12.8 and Brewer 44 use the same basic hull and deck as the Whitby 42, a boat that was designed in 1971. Hull changes to the Whitby 42 were made by cutting out the long keel and attached rudder, replacing them with a more modern short keel and skeg-mounted rudder. This eliminated a lot of wetted surface, improving the light-air performance.

To improve windward performance, a high aspect ratio centerboard extends through the bottom of the 12.8s shallow keel. Since the board is not ballasted, it does not affect stability, but can be used when reaching to shift the center of lateral resistance.

The Brewer 44 is the same boat as the 12.8, with the stern extended slightly, increasing the size of the aft stateroom. This has the fortunate side effect of making the boat slightly narrower aft and reducing the size of the transom.

Both the Brewer 12.8 and the Brewer 44 are semi custom boats: you don’t go down and buy one from a dealer, you have one built. Eliminating a dealer network does away with commissions of approximately 20%-a significant saving to the customer on a boat this size.

Since the Brewer 44 is slightly larger-more boat for the buck-has a better aft cabin, and doesn’t cost a lot more to build, it has replaced the Brewer 12.8 as the standard model. You can still get a 12.8 on special order if you want a 42′ boat. Wed opt for the bigger boat because its better looking and has a much better aft cabin. Otherwise, the boats are virtually identical.

Absolutely the only advantage the 12.8 has over the 44 is that it is easier to lower a dinghy stowed in davits down the vertical transom of the 12.8. On the reverse transom of the 44, the dinghy tends to hang up as you drop it.

Its easy to get a little confused reading the specifications for the three boats. The beam of the 12.8 and the 44 is listed as 13′ 6″, while the Whitby 42 is 13′ wide. According to the designer, the difference probably comes from including the molded-in guardrails of the Brewer 12.8 and Brewer 44, since no change was made to the hull width.

Both the 12.8 and the 44 have 4′ 6″ standard draft, yet the 44 has from 2,000 to 3,000 pounds more ballast, from 2,650 to 3,650 pounds more displacement (depending on which ad you read), and a waterline from 1′ 3″ to 1′ 9″ longer. According to the builder, the 44 started out with 11,000 pounds of ballast, but that has gradually increased to almost 12,000 pounds.

Since there is no actual change in the keel depth or position in the two boats, it is reasonable to assume that the increasingly heavier 44 actually draws more than the advertised 4′ 6″. The extra displacement of the 44 probably translates into a base draft of about 4′ 9″. In practice, both the 12.8 and the 44 will draw even more in cruising trim, since owners of these boats frequently load them up with heavy items such as generators and bigger-than standard batteries.

The 12.8 and the Brewer 44 are built by Fort Myers Yacht and Shipbuilding. The yard has built 40 12.8s, and 24 of the 44′ version have been sold. The yard also built 33 Whitby 42s under license from the Canadian builder.

The 12.8 and the 44 were conceived as good performing, long distance livaboard cruisers. The members of the original syndicate which commissioned the Brewer 12.8 were experienced racing and cruising yachtsmen who wanted the livability and layout of the Whitby 42, coupled with a higher performance hull and rig configuration.

Hull And Deck There is nothing fancy about the construction of the Brewer 12.8. The hull is a conventional layup of mat and roving, with balsa core from just below the waterline up to just below the sheer.

The hull-to-deck joint is formed by a glass hull bulwark with an inward-turning flange. The outward-turning bulwark flange of the deck molding overlaps this, and the hull and deck are bolted and bedded together. This is a good, solid joint. It is capped with teak.

A fiberglass rubbing strake is molded into the hull just below the sheer. Its a toss-up between a molded fiberglass rubbing strake and a bolted-on wooden one. Certainly maintenance will be easier with the fiberglass strake, but a wooden strake might absorb a little more impact without damage to the hull, and would probably be easier to repair or replace. In any case, a rubbing strake is a good idea on a boat that may well be laid alongside primitive docks in far-off places to load fuel or water.

Some of the construction details strike us as a little light for a serious cruising boat of this displacement. The shroud chainplates, for example, are 1/4″ stainless steel. If this were our own boat, and we were planning serious offshore cruising, wed want those chain plates to be 3/8″ material.

Likewise, rig specifications call for 9/32″ wire for shrouds and backstay, plus a 5/16″ headstay. Wed rather see at least 5/16″ shrouds, plus a 3/8″ headstay. The specified wire sizes are adequate, but we prefer a little more margin in an offshore cruiser. The lighter wire saves some weight and windage aloft, and a little money.

Some of the construction details are very good. Lifeline stanchions are 29″ tall, spaced closely together, and properly backed with aluminum plates. Some finishing details on the early 12.8 we sailed, on the other hand, were less satisfactory. For example, rather than using solid teak molding in the door frames, the Brewer 12.8 had glued-on veneer edging. Likewise, aft of the settee backs there are access hatches to storage areas. These access hatches are merely cutouts in the plywood, and the edges were not even sanded smooth before painting.

The Brewer 44 we looked at was a totally different animal in finish detail. Doorways have solid teak edge moldings; detailing is much better throughout. Where the early 12.8 rates only average production boat in the detailing category, the 44 detailing is very good production boat in quality. When we looked at the 12.8, we figured it needed another 200 hours of detailing to match its potential. The 44 is just about there.

Rig The standard rig of both the 12.8 and the 44 is a well proportioned, modern, high aspect ratio cutter. The mainsail area of 368 square feet is about the maximum size conventional mainsail that a retired couple would want to handle. If the boat is going to be a longterm retirement home, wed consider going to a roller-reefing mainsail such as the Hood Stoway or Metalmast Reefaway. This type of decision should be made when the boat is built, since a retrofit is an expensive proposition involving replacement of the spar.

The mast is by Isomat, with Lewmar halyard winches mounted on the spar. The rig is stepped through to the keel.

Engine And Mechanical Systems Standard engine for the Brewer 44 is a 62 hp Perkins 4-154. A larger 85 hp Perkins is optional. Either engine is more than adequate power for the boat. We prefer the smaller engine for its better fuel economy, but if you want a real motorsailer, the bigger engine is a reasonable choice. The Brewer 12.8 used the 62 hp Lehman Ford engine.

With the standard 135 gallons of fuel and the smaller engine, range under power is about 700 miles. This is just about what youd want in a big cruising boat that sails well.

Plumbing and wiring systems are good, but the standard batteries are too small for the boat. Although the standard equipment list is reasonably thorough, a lot of equipment you’d want for serious cruising is optional. The basics such as hot and cold pressure water, propane for cooking, fuel tank selection system and fuel filters are standard, and well executed.

Handling Under Power The Brewer 12.8 with the Lehman diesel motors comfortably at 6 knots at about 1700 rpm. This is a very economical cruising speed. Both of the Perkins engines are capable of pushing the boat faster, but when you’re cruising, fuel economy is more important than how quickly you get there. The boats have a lot of windage. A major criticism of the Whitby 42 was that it was difficult to handle at low speeds when docking, particularly in a crosswind. Both the 12.8 and the 44, with their more cutaway underbodies, maneuver substantially better. This is still a big boat, and it will not spin on a dime like a smaller boat.

One change that would dramatically improve both speed under sail and handling under power would be to install a feathering prop such as the Maxprop instead of the standard solid prop. The 44 we looked at had a three-bladed Maxprop, and the owner wouldn’t have it any other way. A feathering prop gives full thrust in reverse-unlike either fixed or folding props-yet offers little more resistance under sail than a folding prop.

Midships cockpits with engine rooms below can be noisier both on decks and belowdecks. These boats have fairly good sound insulation in the engine room; you know the engine is running, but it’s not obtrusive.

Handling Under Sail The Brewer 12.8 sails as well as you’d want for a cruising boat. The boat is extremely well balanced. In about 12 knots of true wind-16 knots or so over the deck-we could trim the sails for upwind sailing, then walk away from the helm without even setting the wheel brake. In smooth water, the boat tracks and holds course well.

In puffier conditions, the boat tends to round up sharply when close reaching with the board fully extended. This is not much of a surprise, since most beamy boats do this.

With a large-diameter steering wheel and mechanical pull-pull steering, response and feel are excellent.

The boom on the 12.8 we sailed was very high off the deck. We ended up climbing onto one of the halyard winches to hook up the main halyard. This is a disadvantage, particularly if the crew is older and less agile.

Furling the main is also complicated by the high boom. You can reach the boom for furling at the mast and atop the aft cabin, but its difficult to do it over the center cockpit. Likewise, with the big dodger up, you can’t get to the boom over the main companionway. The boom is probably placed this high to clear a Bimini top, but it sure makes it a chore to set and furl the mainsail.

In contrast, the boom of the new 44 we examined was just enough lower to make hooking up the halyard and furling the mainsail a straightforward proposition.

Most of the standard winches for the boat are marginal in size, particularly if the boat is to be used for retirement sailing. Standard genoa sheet winches, for example, are Lewmar 52 self-tailers. These are approximately equivalent to the Barient self-tailing electric 28s that were on our test boat. Larger Lewmar primaries are optional, and should be chosen. Wed pass up the optional electric primaries at over $6,000, unless its the only way you can trim the sails.

The main halyard on the boat we sailed-one of the original eight Brewer 12.8s-had a poor lead: from a block at the base of the mast, through a deck mounted cheek block, through the dodger coaming, to a stopper and winch atop the cabin just forward of the cockpit. The turning block at the base of the mast was too high, allowing the halyard to chafe at several points, particularly on the cheek block. In fact, we could barely crank up the main using the Lewmar 30 halyard winch. This is easily corrected, but it was annoying to see the same poor lead on the brand new 44 we examined. In fact, the owner of the 44 had ordered a larger than standard main halyard winch to overcome the friction in the system.

Our test boat was rigged as a cutter. Staysail sheet winches are self-tailing Lewmar 30s mounted on the forward end of molded winch islands just outboard of the cockpit coamings. With a large cockpit dodger in place, it is difficult to impossible to use these winches: they’re actually hidden outside the dodger, and the dodger side curtains have to be unclipped to trim the staysail.

The primary headsail sheet winches are also awkward to use. The winch handle swings through the lifelines. This is a function of the wide, midships cockpit; sail handling has been compromised to create cockpit room.

There are properly through-bolted aluminum genoa tracks mounted atop the bulwarks. On our test 12.8, there was also a shorter inboard genoa track, which could be used to advantage going to windward, since the main shroud chainplates are set inboard of the rail. In practice, few of these boats will be equipped with a deck-sweeping genoa, so the inboard track is probably superfluous.

The 12.8 we sailed had large Schaefer turning blocks aft for improving genoa sheet leads to winches. However, these blocks were mounted almost flat on their welded winch islands. Since the winch is higher than the turning block, the lead from the block to the winch is not fair, which can cause chafe on the sheet and increased friction in the system. The blocks should be angled upward slightly to correct this, which could be done with shims or with a slight redesign of the mounting weldments.

On the Brewer 44, aft turning blocks are not standard. With a very high-cut genoa whose lead was very far aft, you could end up with an awkward sheet angle at the winch unless turning blocks are installed. This is a disadvantage of sail handling from a cockpit in the middle of the boat.

A full-width mainsheet traveler is mounted atop the aft cabin. Our 12.8 used a Schaefer traveler, while the 44 has a Lewmar unit. Controls for the Lewmar traveler cars are at the back end of the aft cabin. You have to climb out of the cockpit to adjust them. The original Schaefer traveler has car adjusters just aft of the helmsman, with stoppers and a Lewmar 30 winch. We’re at a loss to explain why a good setup was traded for a bad one.

The mainsail is trimmed by a Lewmar 30 self- tailer mounted atop the aft cabin, reasonably accessible to either helmsman or crew. This winch is powerful enough for a mainsail this size.

A double-headsail ketch rig with bowsprit is an option that will set you back about $7,000 by the time you buy the mast, sail and fancy bowsprit. Frankly, if you want a ketch rig because its easier to handle on a boat this size, you’d be better off spending that seven grand on a Stoway cutter rig, huge self-tailing sheet winches all around, and roller furling on both the genoa and staysail. It would probably be easier to handle than the ketch, and you’d keep the better performance of the single-masted rig.

Despite relatively shoal draft, the Brewer 12.8 is reasonably stiff. With full main and 150% genoa, the boat heels about 20 with 18 knots of breeze over the deck. With the optional deeper keel she would be a little stiffer, but the keel/centerboard combination is probably slightly faster on most points of sail, if a little tippier in heavy air.

We think the extra ballast in the Brewer 44 will make her an even better performer than the Brewer 12.8 in winds of over about 15 knots. Although the extra displacement and wetted surface will slow the boat slightly in very light winds, the standard rig is big enough to keep the boat moving in winds as light as most people care to sail in. When it’s too light, you can always turn on the engine. Most cruisers simply aren’t interested in squeezing out every ounce of performance in light air.

There are actually three different underwater configurations for the Brewer 44: a shoal fin keel; the same shoal keel with a high aspect ratio centerboard; and a slightly deeper-but still relatively shallow- fin keel.

The centerboard has become optional-it was originally standard on the 12.8-because a lot of people simply never bothered to use it. The boat sails fine without it; it just goes sideways a little more.

On Deck Sail handling limitations aside, the cockpit is just about ideal for a cruising sailboat. You can comfortably seat eight in the cockpit for idle hours at anchor.

An Edson wheel steerer dominates the cockpit. It has custom boxes with electrical switches for anchor windlass, autopilot-you can practically run the boat from here. We’re a little concerned about the proximity of all this wiring to the steering compass, however. When having the compass swung, be sure to operate every piece of electrical equipment on the steering console to make sure that nothing affects the compass.

A high molded-in breakwater makes installing a full-width dodger fairly easy. A good cockpit dodger is essential on a center cockpit boat. Without a dodger, a center cockpit is a wet place to live sailing or motoring to windward in a blow. Both of the dodgers we looked at, however, blocked access to the staysail sheet winches.

Side decks are very narrow due to the wide cabin trunk. This is a definite compromise. The shroud chainplates come down right in the middle of the side decks, yet there isn’t room to walk outboard of the shrouds. Instead, you must step up and over the cabin.

Although its a $1,500 option, most owners will choose the stainless steel stub bowsprit with twin anchor rollers. The 12.8 we sailed had a CQR plow in the starboard roller, and a Danforth stowed sideways in the port roller. It was not the best arrangement. The 44 we examined had plows in both rollers, and they fit, although it is a tight squeeze.

A lot of these boats are equipped with custom davits for carrying a dinghy off the stern. They’re a good idea, since theres little deck space for stowing a dinghy aboard.

At the same time, carrying a dinghy in davits offshore can be a risky proposition, particularly in a following sea. The skipper of one 12.8 had the dinghy fill with water during a rough passage- someone forgot to take the plug out-and was afraid the entire arrangement of davits and dinghy was going to be lost. For passage making, wed probably bring the inflatable aboard and break it down for stowage, as awkward as that may seem.

Fuel fills are located in the waterways at just about the low point in the sheer. Water fills are in the waterways forward. As we found, you have to be careful if you’re taking on fuel and water at the same time. We overfilled the water tank, sending water straight toward the open fuel fill. Quick hands-not ours-got the cap back on the fuel fill before water could pour into the tank. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to raise the fuel fill about an inch off the deck on a pad to reduce the chances of this happening.

Belowdecks Some of the compromises in sail handling and deck layout have been made for the sake of the interior. The wide deckhouse that makes for narrow side decks creates a huge interior volume, and the space is used very well.

Because the forward cabin is pushed well into the eyes of the boat, the forepeak anchor locker is small. You can lead the anchor chain aft to the locker under the berths in the forward cabin, which has the advantage of moving a lot of weight further back in the boat, where it has less effect on pitching moment.

The forward cabin has V-berths, with an insert to form a double. The berths are quite narrow at the foot, and are only comfortably long for someone under 6′ tall. Outboard of the berths there are storage lockers, and there are drawers below.

Ventilation in the forward cabin at anchor is provided by a large Lewmar hatch and Beckson opening ports. Offshore ventilation consists of a cowl vent in a Dorade box.

You can enter the forward head from either the main cabin or the forward cabin, since there are two doors. Unfortunately, the door to the forward cabin wipes out the space that would otherwise be used as the head dresser. Instead, you get a little sink with not much space for laying out the essentials of your toilette.

The forward door also means that the head sink is pushed fairly far outboard. With the boat heeled over on starboard tack, seawater backs up through it. One boat we looked at had a big wooden plug to stick in the drain, while the other owner had added a shutoff valve to the drain line just below the sink.

Ironically, the small head dresser is quite low, and could easily have been raised up another 4″ or so. This wouldn’t eliminate the problem, but the boat could heel over a little more before you’d have to do something about it.

Both the forward and aft heads use inexpensive, bottom-of-the-line water closets. Our experience is that cheap heads work fine for daysailing and coastal cruising, but are a curse for the serious livaboard cruiser. Wed rather see a Wilcox-Crittenden Imperial or Skipper on a serious cruising boat.

A solar-powered vent overhead provides exhaust ventilation, but we think in addition that every head should have an opening overhead hatch. A cowl vent in a Dorade box would also be a good idea. It’s impossible to have too much ventilation in a head.

The main cabin has a straight settee to starboard, an L-shaped settee to port. You can also have a pair of armchairs on the starboard side instead of the settee, but we see no advantage to this. The L-shaped settee has a drop-in section to convert it to a double, so that you can have three double berths on the boat, if you’re masochistic enough to want to cruise with three couples. The good thing is that the boat does contain three separate living spaces, with direct access from each of the spaces both to the deck and to a head compartment. Thats a tricky thing to do, and Ted Brewer has pulled it off as well as you can.

Aluminum water tanks holding 200 gallons are located in the bilge under the main cabin.

There is good locker space outboard of the settees in place of the more commonly-seen pilot berths that usually become useless catch-alls. One locker is designed as a large booze locker. When you think about the imbibing habits of a lot of sailors, this makes a lot more sense than stuffing one bottle here, another over there.

Ventilation in the main cabin is good for in port, less good for offshore. There are four opening ports in the main cabin. The standard ports are plastic, which we think is not an acceptable material for an offshore cruiser of this type. Stainless steel opening ports are an option costing $1,890. This buys you very good cast-frame opening ports, which we think should really be standard on a boat of this caliber.

There are also two aluminum-framed hatches over the main cabin. The hatches currently used are single-opening Lewmar hatches with extruded frames. The older 12.8 we sailed had double-opening Atkins & Hoyle cast hatches. A double-opening hatch allows you to open the hatch forward in port for maximum air flow, aft when sailing to keep water from getting below. We wish they had stuck with the more expensive cast hatches.

Two cowl vents in Dorade boxes are provided for sailing ventilation. Like the cowl vents on a lot of boats, the down take pipes into the cabin of the Brewer boats are improperly proportioned: they should never be smaller than the nominal pipe diameter of the vent itself.

The galley has undergone a lot of minor changes since the first boats in the Brewer 12.8 series were built. The early boat we examined had sinks that were too small, water fixtures that were too low relative to the sinks, drawers that were difficult to operate, and fiddles without corner clean outs. The 44 we examined had changed all of these things.

One thing has not changed. Between the sinks and the stove, there is a large dry well for storage. This is about the size and shape of a large grocery shopping cart. You wouldn’t want to have to dig to the bottom of a grocery cart for the cereal and crackers every time you wanted to use them, but thats pretty much what you have to do with this well. It should at least be divided with sliding shelves to make it easier to use.

At the aft end of the galley, there is a large refrigerator and freezer mounted athwartships. It is well insulated, and has a well-gasketed top.

Theres another big opening hatch over the galley, and it is properly placed behind the dodger breakwater, where it can serve as an exhaust vent in any conditions-as long as the dodger is up.

Standard stove is a three-burner propane stove with oven-just what youd want.

A big chart table is opposite the galley. While it has good storage for navigation books, there is no coherent arrangement for the mounting of the array of electronics that you find on the typical modern cruising boat. Since these boats are built on a semicustom basis, you could probably have the nav station modified to suit your particular electronics. These boats were designed before the contemporary electronics explosion, and some details have not been upgraded to reflect the state of the art.

Aft of the nav station, there is a passageway with stooping headroom to the aft cabin. On the starboard side of the passage, there is a huge workbench with chart storage and tool storage below. This is a great way to use this space, rather than trying to throw in another berth.

On the older boat we looked at, this same space was filled with a huge freezer and battery storage- an advantage of semi-custom flexibility. The big electrical panel is located over the workbench: out of the way, yet reasonably accessible. Opposite the work area, under the cockpit, is a real engine room. Theres room for the main engine, an optional generator, fuel filtration system, hot water storage tank, and batteries. Although you have to climb over the engine to check the batteries, everything is reasonably accessible. A real engine room is a rarity in a boat this size, and is only practical with the center cockpit configuration.

The aft cabin of the 12.8 has two quarterberths which can be joined by a drop-in section to create a large thwartships double. The extra 2′ in the stern of the 44 makes it possible to have a big permanent fore and aft double berth. If you want, you can still get the two berth configuration.

A separate companionway at the forward end of the aft cabin gives access to the cockpit without going through the passageway. This companionway has a slatted drop board, and since it faces forward, it is vulnerable to spray. For offshore sailing, it should be secured with a tight-fitting canvas cover. In port, it will provide good ventilation at the expense of some privacy. There is also another aluminum-framed hatch over this cabin. It suffers from the same limitations as the hatches over the main cabin.

You can get a sit-down shower stall in the aft head, or have a more conventional arrangement using the entire head as the shower compartment. A sit-down shower may be easier to clean, but you give up a lot of head dresser space to get it.

There is excellent locker space throughout the boat, including three hanging lockers and a foul weather gear locker. Instead of packing in extra berths, the designer and builder have chosen to limit the number of berths and maximize storage. It was a wise choice.

With the exception of the under-cockpit passage, headroom is well over 6′ throughout.

Conclusions Since the Brewer 44 is a lineal descendant of the Whitby 42 and Brewer 12.8, a lot of the shortcomings of those boats have been ironed out over the years. Finishing details have gradually improved, and have generally kept pace with the boatbuilding industry trend toward better detailing.

At first glance, the sail away price of just under $160,000 seems like a misprint. That price includes main and genoa, Hood roller furling on the headsail, propane, refrigeration, basic electronics and pumps. Theres also a long options list. The kicker is that a lot of the things on the options list should be standard on a high-quality cruising boat. For example, the bigger primary sheet winches that we think are required cost an extra $1,800. A teak and holly cabin sole is another thousand; two tone decks (rather than plain white) add $670. Lightning grounding costs $720, an anchor platform $1,500.

Although the boat was designed as a cutter, staysail rigging, winches, and the sail itself add $2,600.

Standard batteries total only 225 amp hours capacity. For batteries the right size, add $400. For metal ports rather than plastic, shell out almost $1,900. Even the centerboard in a boat that was designed as a keel/center boarder adds $2,600 to the sail away price.

With the options that we think are really essentials, the sail away price jumps by about $15,000.

What do you get for $175,000? You get a well designed, good-sailing, well-built ocean cruising home, a retirement cottage for every romantic port in the world. The boats are not as well detailed or equipped as higher-priced boats such as Aldens, Hinckleys, and Little Harbors. But they’re good, solid values, and they’ll take you to the same places as more expensive boats. In this day and age, thats not a bad recommendation.

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Ted Brewer: A Stand-Up Draftsman

Posted by Fiona McGlynn | BWI Award-Winning Articles , Sailor Profile

Yacht designer Ted Brewer gazes back over a storied career.

T ed and Betty Brewer’s living room is warm and inviting. Two harpoons hang on teak-colored walls, and a model boxcar sits on the shelf alongside other artifacts marking a life well-lived. A picture window overlooks a baseball diamond across a quiet street in Agassiz, British Columbia. With its neat buildings and carefully trimmed yards, the town feels bricked with charm and mortared with apple pie. But just outside the window, above the baseball diamond, the craggy, glaciated peak of Mount Cheam towers, a reminder of the wild Coast Mountains and North Cascades ranges that embrace the community.

“I’ve never been a sit-down draftsman. I’ve always been standing up at the drafting board,” says Edward “Ted” Brewer, the world-renown yacht designer who worked on two America’s Cup contenders and designed 260 boats including yachts built by Aloha, Morgan, Nimble, Union, and Whitby.

“For many years it was standing up at the drafting board with a cigarette,” says Betty.

“Yeah, too many years with a cigarette,” Ted agrees, leaning back in a sage-green armchair with extra foam padding. “No more cigarettes.”

At 87, Ted no longer designs or smokes, but he tells stories with his whole being, arms thrown up in amazement, voice soaring high with incredulity, mouth crinkling with infectious laughter. A mischievous twinkle in his eyes reveals a certain boyish quality that belies his grey hair. On his left forearm, a weathered tattoo takes him back to his youth, roaming the Navy docks in Hamilton, Ontario, learning to sail from his father’s veteran friends.

“By the time I was 15, I was proficient at rigging, rowing, and sailing, and I was allowed free run of the Navy’s 14-foot dinghies and 26-foot whaleboats. I could go down to the Navy base in Hamilton and sign out a 27-foot sailboat on my own account. My girlfriend, her girlfriends, and my buddies would all be there. We’d get the boat rigged and ready and out we would go.”

When he was about 15, Ted and a friend bought their first boat.

“We coughed up 55 dollars for Quest , a 16-foot ship’s gig that someone had put a long wood fin on and an overly heavy, gaffy rig.” A year of scraping, painting, and replacing rotted planks, and Quest was ready for her maiden voyage. After ballasting her with 400 pounds of sandbags, they cast off into afternoon squalls. They were soon knocked down, and panic rose as water came over the lee hull. The two boys managed to fling the sandbags over the side and eventually right her. Upon being towed in, a photographer appeared on the scene, and much to Ted’s chagrin a photo of their woeful yacht made the paper the next day.

It wasn’t long after that he got the tattoo: an anchor with Quest stenciled beneath it.

Downstairs in Ted’s studio, half- models and photos of some of his hundreds of designs cover the wood-panelled walls. Two drafting boards hold metal weights or “whales” (aka ducks), a handful of pens and pencils, articulating table lamps, cardboard blueprint tubes. These are the tools of a traditionalist; Ted has always preferred drawing by hand to using CAD software.

Even as a child, he liked to draw. He would doodle Navy boats in the margins of his school papers where, despite being the youngest in his class, he earned top grades, at least until high school, when boredom set in.

“I really goofed off…I quit school to get a job as a Class 4 electrician at the steel company in Hamilton.”

During one night shift, Ted read a military recruiting advertisement in Liberty magazine. The next morning, he went to the armory and signed up.

“I didn’t get home until almost 10 a.m. When mum met me at the door she asked if I had to work overtime again. I said, ‘No, I just joined the Army,’ and I caught her before she hit the floor!”

Ted survived the grueling Army boot camps, and by 1957 he’d made lieutenant. But he remained restless, and one day, his company commander finally suggested that he pursue his passion for boating. “He knew I loved boats. I resigned my commission and got a job in Toronto as a yacht broker with George Cuthbertson.”

Cuthbertson, who would go on to become the first “C” in C&C Yachts, at the time was building Inishfree , a 54-foot wooden ocean racing yawl. Not long after joining the firm, Ted asked if he could accompany Dick Telford, the yacht brokerage firm’s boatbuilder, to see Inishfree under construction. When he saw the yard and spoke with the builders, Ted was struck with yearning.

“I thought, ‘Oh god, this is what I want. I want to design boats and build boats.’ ’’ Encouraged by Telford, Ted enrolled in a yacht design course at Westlawn Institute of Marine Technology. He’d almost completed it when he heard that Alfred Edward “Bill” Luders Jr. in Stamford, Connecticut, was looking for a design assistant.

“With Dick’s blessing, I applied for the job.”

“He doesn’t stand for very long,” Betty says, gently ushering Ted over to an office chair. Seated, Ted reaches for the computer mouse, one of few visible concessions to modern technology. Above the desk is a black-and-white photo of Bill Luders’ 40-foot Storm flying a spinnaker. Tucked into a corner of the frame is a photo of Luders himself, in a pullover and collared shirt.

In 1960, at the age of 27, Ted started working as Luders’ assistant, basically a second-in-command in the shipyard. He’d visit each department daily to see what was happening, problem-solve, and then head for the drafting room, where Luders would give him sketches to turn into a working drawing. At the end of the workday, Luders and Ted would sit in the office, smoking, and mull over designs and construction work. Often Ted would ask for Luders’ advice on his own designs. “He didn’t look at me as competition,” Ted says.

While at Luders, Ted worked on two America’s Cup boats. Weatherly , a Phil Rhodes design, which they modified, went on to win the 1962 regatta, and Luders earned the commission to design, and build a 1964 contender, American Eagle . Though American Eagle was initially the “bird to beat,” winning 20 out of 21 races in the June and July trials, by the end of summer Constellation , designed by Olin Stephens, had pulled ahead and won the right to defend the 19th America’s Cup.

By 1968, the shipyard business was foundering, and Luders closed Luders Marine Construction Co., 60 years after his father had founded it. Ted and Luders remained close until Luders’ death in 1999.

“Bill Luders was my boss, my teacher, and my great friend,” Ted says. “He was like a second father to me. I truly loved the man.”

After Luders closed the yard in 1968, Ted moved to Brooklin, Maine, to hang out his shingle. He bought an old hotel from the 1870s, “a weird place. It had eight or nine bedrooms, and only one bathroom. My first office was in the hotel dining room.”

There, he developed a design for a client who sailed on Lake Champlain and wanted a boat that would go well to weather. The boat was eventually named Black Velvet , and at the boat show in Annapolis, Kurt Hansen of Whitby Boat Works saw a photo of it and said, “I want a boat just like that.”

But as Ted began working with Whitby Boat Works, he discovered Hansen had some ideas of his own. Though Black Velvet was a fin keel, Hansen insisted on a full keel . “I wanted to at least cut it away and make the rudder separate. But no, it had to be full keel.”

At a time when full keels were the gold standard for cruisers, Ted often found himself attempting to sway owners to incorporate a fin keel’s windward sailing advantages.

“I felt the ideal was a fin keel with a skeg hung rudder behind it…If a client w anted a full keel boat, I’d cut away as much of the keel as I could…When he complained, I’d have to add a bit back.” This “Brewer Bite” would become one of Ted’s signature design features.

The Whitby 42 became an enormously popular design, selling over 230 hulls, and according to Ted, “was what established me as a production boat builder, designer.”

In 1976, Morgan Yachts approached Ted to work with Jack Corey, head of Morgan’s design staff, on a 36- to 38-foot fast cruiser. Ted recalls taking the Morgan 382 on its first sea trial. What started as a great day for a sail quickly descended into inky black skies and a lightning storm, with strikes as close as 50 yards from the boat. Though frightful, the boat emerged unscathed, perhaps the beginning of a lucky streak that would see 400 Morgan 382s built between 1977 and 1981.

Ted rests a forearm on the desk and gazes up. Centered above the desk is a large-format color photograph of a ketch flying two rainbow spinnakers over turquoise water. This was Mystic , which he designed for Marvyn Carton, who became a lifelong best friend. Built of aluminum, Mystic was launched and sailed through the Great Lakes to Europe. Ted sailed the boat with Carton in a Transpac that started slow and became a wild ride.

“We’d be going down waves doing 17 knots. Almost everybody on board was seasick. We roared through for about six or seven days of this storm. All the time Marv’s listening to the radio, and we’re hearing about crews that are out with sickness, broken this and broken that, and boats turning back. But we were on a big custom cruiser.” Not only did they finish second in class, Carton celebrated by serving the crew a 55-gallon-drum of Mai Tais and flying all their wives and sweethearts to Hawaii to join the party.

One day in 1988, Ted, living in Anacortes at the time, was driving home when he spotted a man on a BMW motorcycle.

“I owned a BMW, brand new, and so I followed him home, my big black dog on the seat beside me, and pulled into his driveway. He came out very suspicious.” Once Ted had introduced himself, the two men bonded over motorcycles, and pretty soon, the fellow introduced Ted to his daughter, Betty.

“She had just had a divorce, and I was winding up a rather disastrous marriage, so I asked her for a date to go sailing. I had rather a fancy little yawl, one that I’d designed, a Nimble 30,” Ted says. Betty, who at that point had sworn off men, was taken with Ted.

“I was definitely swept off my feet,” she says. After marrying in 1988, Ted and Betty eventually moved to Gabriola Island in 1999, where Ted designed custom yachts, sold plans, and wrote for magazines, including Good Old Boat . From 1998 to 2003, Ted was a contributing editor at Good Old Boat . He wrote humorous stories in “Fireside chats with Ted Brewer,” divulged lessons on cruising etiquette, and shared his love and knowledge of boat design.

Though he often wrote highly technical articles, Ted liked to have fun with his topics. In the July/August 1999 issue, in an article called “Brewer by the Numbers,” Ted discussed different ratios and terms used by yacht designers. Amid LODs, LOAs, LWLs, CBs, and CEs, Ted introduced a new ratio, the Comfort Ratio (CR), a formula that indicates the speed of the upward/downward motion of a boat in waves and swell. The lower the ratio, the more uncomfortable the ride.

“People were coming up with all of these sail area displacement ratios and this and that ratio. I thought, well there’s one ratio that nobody’s ever thought of, a comfort ratio. I’ll work one out,” he says. “So, I diddled around and came up with this crazy comfort ratio, and it was a joke and I published it, and it took off like a rocket. It does have a basis in fact, but I thought it was a joke.” The CR ratio remains in use to this day.

In addition to writing articles, Ted also authored three books, Understanding Boat Design , Cruising Yacht Design , and Ted Brewer Explains Sailboat Design .

These days, Ted no longer draws, but he still sells boat design plans to boatbuilders around the world at TedBrewer.com.

“His babies are everywhere,” says Betty. “When we were sailing, he would pick up the binoculars and he would look and look and say, ‘That’s one of my babies!’ ”

Some of Ted’s boats have also retired. No longer racing, Weatherly and American Eagle are in the America’s Cup Charters fleet in Newport, Rhode Island, where sailors can experience the golden age of America’s Cup racing. Other boats have had less dignified endings. Ted points to a model boat in a glass case and says, “I’ll tell you where that is right now. That’s 200 feet underwater off the coast of Machias, Maine, with a cargo of marijuana.”

Some people find time heavy on their hands when they retire, but Ted has always pursued interests including folk music, American Civil War books, and model trains. Nor are these always half-measure hobbies; at one point he had a couple hundred feet of railroad in the backyard, and to this day he sells plans for model railroad buildings and bridges online at BrewerPlans.com.

Recently, he has become an avid stock investor. He wakes up at 5 a.m, and with a coffee in hand, he checks the stock markets before going downstairs to his computer to “make any buys, sells, and trims” and answer email inquiries about his boat designs.

Retiring is in some ways like crossing a finish line, a time to reflect on achievements and legacies. Ted’s career has been extraordinary, and it’s clear that he relished every tack, jibe, and sail change. But most important to him, it seems, are the people who mentored and influenced him: George Cuthbertson, Bill Luders, Marvyn Carton, and Dick Telford among others. You need only look around his studio, where seemingly every square inch of wall space is dedicated to a boat or a photo of a loved one.

As Ted works at his computer, cane propped against one knee, Storm and Bill Luders watch down from their frame.

“The last race we ever sailed together was in 1967,” Ted says. “Bill had been at the helm two hours and said, ‘Boys I need a rest, I’m just getting weary here, somebody take over.’ Everybody volunteered and he said, ‘No, we need the best at the helm, come on, Ted.’ I drove her to within a half mile of the finish line and I said, ‘Here, Bill, take over now.’ He took her across the finish line. We won. We were not only first in our class, we were first overall. The boat was that good.”

About The Author

Fiona McGlynn

Fiona McGlynn, a Good Old Boat contributing editor, has sailed from Canada to Australia.

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• Brewer 44 Sailboat

The Brewer 44 Sailboat Specs & Key Performance Indicators

The Brewer 44 is a heavy-displacement sailboat designed by Canadian naval architect Ted Brewer. It was constructed by Fort Myers Yacht & Shipbuilding, a boatbuilding company based in Fort Myers, Florida.

It has a reputation as being a robust and seaworthy vessel, reflecting Brewer's expertise in designing high-performance cruising yachts and the builder's reputation for quality craftsmanship.

Published Specification for the Brewer 44 Sailboat

Keel & Rudder Configuration: Fin keel with a skeg-hung rudder Hull Material: Fiberglass Length Overall: 13.41m (44' 0") Waterline Length: 10.18m (33' 5") Beam: 4.06m (13' 4") Draft: 1.83m (6' 0") Rig Type: Cutter rig Displacement: 12,927kg (28,500lb) Ballast: 5,443kg (12,000lb) Designer: Ted Brewer Builder: Fort Myers Yacht & Shipbuilding Year First Built: 1983 Year Last Built: 1989 Number Built: Approximately 60

Ted Brewer is renowned for his well-mannered, attractive, and practical cruising sailboat designs. Besides the Brewer 44, he has designed other notable sailboats, including the Whitby 42, the Brewer 12.8, and various other models built by different manufacturers.

The Brewer 44 shares the same basic hull and deck as the Whitby 42, which was designed in 1971. However, some modifications were made to improve performance. For instance, the long keel and attached rudder were replaced with a more modern short keel and skeg-mounted rudder, reducing wetted surface and enhancing light airs performance. Additionally, a high aspect-ratio centerboard was added to improve windward performance.

During its production run, an extended Brewer 44 with a swim platform was introduced in 1987 and produced until 1990. This MkII version provided additional space and convenience for swimmers and crew, and made boarding from the dinghy easier.

Published Design Ratios for the Brewer 44 Sailboat

• The Sail Area/Displacement Ratio of 16.3 indicates that the Brewer 44 has reasonably good performance capabilities. It is situated on the lower end of the "reasonably good performance" range (16 to 20), suggesting it has enough sail power to perform well under various sailing conditions, though it was not designed as a high-performance racer.
• With a Ballast/Displacement Ratio of 41.4 , the Brewer 44 tends to be a stiffer and more powerful boat. This ratio suggests that it will handle winds well and provide a stable platform, reducing heeling and making for a more comfortable sailing experience. However, see note 1 below.
• The Displacement/Length Ratio of 302 indicates that the Brewer 44 is a heavy displacement boat. Boats in this category typically have a deeper and rounder hull form, leading to a more comfortable but slower ride compared to lighter displacement boats. This ratio suggests that the Brewer 44 is built for stability and comfort, rather than speed.
• The Comfort Ratio of 37.1 places the Brewer 44 in the range associated with moderate bluewater cruising boats (30-40). This means that its motion in waves is moderate and likely to be comfortable for most sailors, making it suitable for extended cruising and living aboard.
• A Capsize Screening Formula of 1.8 indicates that the Brewer 44 is well-suited for ocean passages and has good bluewater capability. This low value reflects a design that minimizes the risk of capsize, which is vital for safety in offshore sailing.

Notes: 1. Ballast/Displacement Ratio Limitations: While a higher ballast/displacement ratio generally indicates a stiffer boat, this ratio does not account for the ballast's positioning. A boat with a deep keel and a bulb at the bottom can be much stiffer and perform better than another with the same ballast ratio but with a shallow draft keel. Therefore, achieving optimal performance and stability involves more than just the ballast/displacement ratio; it also requires considering the design and placement of the ballast.

2.Ted Brewer's Comfort Ratio Limitations: The Comfort Ratio favours heavy, narrow-beamed vessels with long overhangs, characteristic of traditional bluewater cruisers. Modern light-displacement, beamy cruisers with plumb bows may not score well on this ratio but can still offer significant comfort and bluewater capability. The Comfort Ratio doesn't fully appreciate innovations in boat design that enhance stability and comfort without resorting to heavy displacement. Thus, it might not give a complete picture of the actual comfort level on more modern, innovative yacht designs.

In summary , while the Brewer 44's design ratios indicate it is a stable, comfortable, and capable bluewater cruiser, the theoretical nature of these ratios means they should be used in conjunction with other design details and real-world performance evaluations to get a comprehensive understanding of the vessel's overall capability.

What the Yachting Press had to say about the Brewer 44

Practical Sailor, in their April 2020 review, tells us...

"The Brewer 44 is the same boat as the 12.8, with the stern extended slightly, increasing the size of the aft stateroom. This has the fortunate side effect of making the boat slightly narrower aft and reducing the size of the transom.  Read more... "

The above text was drafted by sailboat-cruising.com using GPT-4 (OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation model) as a research assistant to develop source material; we believe it to be accurate to the best of our knowledge.

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The Jason 35 is a 34.5ft cutter designed by Ted Brewer and built in fiberglass since 1972.

40 units have been built..

The Jason 35 is a heavy sailboat which is slightly under powered. It is stable / stiff and has an excellent righting capability if capsized. It is best suited as a bluewater cruising boat. The fuel capacity is originally small. There is a short water supply range.

Jason 35 for sale elsewhere on the web:

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• Sailboat Guide

Whitby 42 is a 41 ′ 11 ″ / 12.8 m monohull sailboat designed by Edward S. Brewer and built by Ft. Myers Yacht & Shipbuilding and Whitby Boat Works Ltd. between 1972 and 1988.

• 10 / 23 Green Cove Springs, FL, US 1980 Whitby 42 $19,950 USD View
• 11 / 23 Ventura, CA, US 1973 Whitby 42 $49,900 USD View
• 12 / 23 Green Cove Springs, FL, US 1980 Whitby 42 $19,950 USD View
• 13 / 23 Ventura, CA, US 1973 Whitby 42 $49,900 USD View
• 14 / 23 Green Cove Springs, FL, US 1980 Whitby 42 $19,950 USD View
• 15 / 23 Ventura, CA, US 1973 Whitby 42 $49,900 USD View
• 16 / 23 Ventura, CA, US 1973 Whitby 42 $49,900 USD View
• 17 / 23 Green Cove Springs, FL, US 1980 Whitby 42 $19,950 USD View
• 18 / 23 Ventura, CA, US 1973 Whitby 42 $49,900 USD View
• 19 / 23 Ventura, CA, US 1973 Whitby 42 $49,900 USD View
• 20 / 23 Ventura, CA, US 1973 Whitby 42 $49,900 USD View
• 21 / 23 Ventura, CA, US 1973 Whitby 42 $49,900 USD View
• 22 / 23 Ventura, CA, US 1973 Whitby 42 $49,900 USD View
• 23 / 23 Ventura, CA, US 1973 Whitby 42 $49,900 USD View

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

From BlueWaterBoats.org :

The Whitby 42 is a rugged-looking, full keeled, heavy displacement cruiser designed by Ted Brewer in 1973 but lacking the “Brewer bite” that improved the performance of her sisterships, the Brewer 12.8 and Brewer 44. Although the most commercially successful of Ted Brewer’s designs, and considered a good value, liveaboard shoal water cruiser, opinion is that the Whitby 42 is not as rugged as she might suggest. Although she has completed serious offshore passages, weaknesses in her construction mean that she is not the preferred choice for serious blue water sailors. Not renowned for performance under sail, the accommodations are perhaps the real attraction of this center cockpit cruiser as well as the 5′ draft which is excellent for shoal waters.

The first Whitby 42 splashed out of the yard in Ontario, Canada in 1973. Whitby Yachts, owned by Kurt and Doris Hansen, went on to build 200 hulls from 1973 to 1983. Previous to this, Whitby Boat Works had built the Alberg 30 and Alberg 37 . With the 42′ construction quality gradually improved until 1983. Production then shifted south to Fort Myers Shipyard in Florida where another 32 of these ketches were built along with the Brewer 12.8 and Brewer 44. The Myers versions have a reputation as having the highest quality construction. The 12.8 design substituted a cutter rig instead of the Whitby’s ketch rig, added a Brewer bite to the full keel and added a centerboard. The hulls are lighter and stronger, and the weight savings are used to increase ballast and stability. The Brewer 44’s are a stretch version of the 12.8’s.

Boat Configuration

The Whitby 42 has a modern center cockpit aft stateroom with walk through arrangement. Forward is a large V-berth. There is a forward head with shared shower. In the salon, a L-shaped settee dinette arrangement is offset by two swivel chairs. The swivel chairs illustrate that the Whitby 42 was geared more as a liveaboard than a serious offshore cruiser. A U-shaped galley is aft to port. The walkway has low headroom due to the cockpit lockers. The aft cabin has a full width bunk with en-suite head.

Construction

The hull has balsa cored topsides like many Canadian manufacturers of this vintage. Below are alternating layers of mat and woven roving with polyester resin. The hull and deck is secured on most by pop rivets. Enlaid is a molded liner to stiffen the hull and provide interior structure though at the expense of hull access. She has a ketch rig. The engine was a great 67 HP Ford Lehman that provides plenty of punch.

Sailing performance, though better than a Westsail 42 , is still a bit of a weakness. Not only does she have a rather full keel with connected rudder, but her buttocks are more rounded so she is more tender than her rugged looks and heavy displacement might suggest. Without a bowsprit she has wicked weather helm. Otherwise she is a stout boat for the trades with her shoal draft of 5-feet able to access the shallowest of harbors.

Buyers Notes

Owners advise buyers to examine the water tanks which are oddly fiberglass with an aluminum top plate. Another problem is the keel fuel tank which sits down deep in the bilge. The hull to deck is often secured by stainless steel rivets although many took up the option of through bolts. The mizzen mast does not have a solid glass radii and is prone to compression. Look for 42’s with a bowsprit to reduce weather helm and increase performance.

Links, References and Further Reading

» Kretschmer, John. “Whitby 42.” Used Boat Notebook. Pages 164 – 167. » Hornor, Jack. “Whitby 42.” Boat US. » The Whitby – Brewer Sailboat Association. The Whitby Owners Forum

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