Our featured boat for September is not even 20 years old, ‘Minnie’ is one of the sizeable OGA fleet of ‘new’ gaffer designs. With obvious influence from the Cornish Shrimper, Dudley Dix drew the Cape Cutter in the late 1990s for Cape Yachts in South Africa. The design is for both plywood and GRP build. Cape Yachts built 55 in GRP, many of which were exported to the UK. Production then transferred to Honnor Marine in the UK and they have so far built a further 80. As well as the GRP production boats there have been a number of DIY plywood builds.
‘Minnie’, sail number 85, was built in 2006. Her early history is unknown but is thought to have been based in Norfolk. In 2013 she was bought by Ian McIver who immediately embarked on an anticlockwise circumnavigation of the UK, completed in 2017. He made use of the easy trailabilty to carry out the circumnavigation in a series of stages, using the trailer to return home between legs, recorded on the Cape Cutter 19 Association website. Ian’s efforts are just one testament to the seaworthiness of the design; there have been and continue to be other circumnavigations and many adventurous passages.
In 2019 ‘Minnie’ moved to Chichester Harbour and was renamed ‘Thistle’. The new owner was a very experienced yachtsman down-sizing from a much larger cruising boat. He put her up for sale in 2021. Down-sizing from an Atalanta 26 I was seeking simplicity, a gaff rig, increase in the proportion of sailing to maintenance time alongside an attractive boat with good performance and capable of drying out broadly level. Whilst evaluating my short-list of designs I was surprised to find I’d bought ‘Minnie’, on a bit of a whim, returning her to the East Coast and original name.
For a variety of reasons, ‘Minnie’ spent just a few days under sail in the first two years of my ownership. During these fallow years, I replaced all of the rigging. Against the Cape Cutter 19 trend, replacements were monochromatic: I can’t shake off strong leanings towards traditional aesthetics. A large number of black nylon cleats were also replaced with more pleasing wooden versions. I also struggled with the ‘functional’ style of the interior – vast areas of rippled magnolia flow-coat, stainless nuts and backing plates. With care to keep additional weight to a minimum I ‘warmified’ the space with bulkhead and ‘inwhale’ (if only she had one) trims.
2024 has been a much better year, with much more sailing! ‘Minnie’ took part in her first East Coast OGA Summer Cruise last month. The Cape Cutter’s sailing ability is well documented, albeit in the hands of others. The big rig gives drive in light airs and suitably reefed is capable in much stronger winds. But, is she really a cutter? This appearance was part of the attraction. However, the designer makes clear that he intended the foresails as ‘either/or’: the large genoa would be flown from the bowsprit end in lighter winds and replaced by the staysail as winds increase. However, many owners sail with both set and have re-cut the genoa to a yankee to help them work together. ‘Minnie’ has this modification. In my limited experience so far I am tending towards the designer’s view of setting only one at a time.
I am still coming to terms with my downsize. Stowage is at a premium and I probably don’t need to carry quite so many tools and spares. My interior modifications have helped but lounging whilst moored is still not quite what I would like. How I miss the twin-lifting keels of the Atalanta which put keel boxes into the bunk structure and leave the centreline clear for feet! Maybe I should have had the Winkle Brig on my short-list. [Eastcoaster Editor note: Winkle Brigs are our Featured Boats in December, 2024].
The Cape Cutter 19 is known for her performance and seaworthiness. The designer says “I designed the CC19 to handle the boisterous seas and winds found around the Cape of Good Hope, so it has proven quite at home in the sometimes rough conditions around the Solent”. The boats have proven to be very capable cruisers, evidenced by the many blogs and accounts on the Owners Association website. They have a surprising turn of speed and have won the modern gaffer division of the Round the Island Race (around the Isle of Wight) a number of times.
Words and photos: Nick Phillips
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