LOA Beam
26’ 8.5’
Displacement 2,200 lbs. Draft
Auxiliary 2 HP outboard Sail area
6’ (Keel down) 338 sqft
The Dart is not a yacht. Think of it like a tent trailer. A tent trailer that can plane across the water.
there was still room for more. The 2 HP outboard quickly put
us into Guemes Channnel where we were greeted by sporadic, light winds. When we did get some puffs, and some steadier wind later in the day, the boat “darted” forward nicely. The cockpit was very comfortable. The helmsman has a foot rest for when the boat is heeled. One can also be added forward but not really needed because, as Jim says, “The crew is facing the other way when racing.” In keeping with the “kid friendly”
philosophy, there is no spinnaker pole, simply an asymmetrical chute flow from a pennant on the bow. Even in the light winds it worked effectively as the boat easily quickly accelerated, bringing the apparent wind forward. All of the winches are “oversized” for lighter working loads. To keep costs down, Jim chose an
Necessity being the mother of
invention, Jim Lee had a need which resulted in his building a new boat, the Dart. He wanted to share his love of boating with his young kids; from the tent camping experiences he’d enjoyed on kayaks to the exhilaration of sailing his J/35. But, he didn’t want to put them in kayaks yet, and he was worried about the loads on a J/35 being too much for them to handle. His
solution, get the best of both worlds by building a small boat that the kids could enjoy sailing and exploring. We joined Jim and Geoff Thilo in
Anacortes, where the boat is built, for a test sail. On first glance the narrow entry of the Dart leads one to believe that this is a very small boat. However, when you step on the boat, you find that the cockpit is huge, truly huge. We had four big guys sailing the boat and
aluminum mast over carbon. However, still wanting to save as much weight as possible, he chose PBO, unidirectional carbon fiber rigging. The only stainless steel wire is on the forestay. Lifelines are Spectra, with woven straps in the cockpit. The open transom also saved a lot of weight, with the boat weighing in at 2,200 pounds. There is a large boom tent which
covers the cockpit when you’re island hopping. Quarterberths are nine-feet, long for sleeping amenities, along with V-berth, and Igloo provides the ice box. Again, the kid influence is felt in the optional wood cabinet speakers for playing their iPod. Jim has done a nice job of building
his “performance camper.” The Dart is a simple, easily handled, performance boat which will be lots of fun, whether on the course, day sailing, or scooting between islands.
Towing weight is 2,900 lbs. (2,200 lbs. boat, 700 lbs. trailer).
48° NORTH, DECEMBER 2010 PAGE 32
For more info visit:
http://leftcoast.biz and click on The Dart
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