By Steve Killing

Cuthberthson is back
George Cuthebertson, a household name in the Canadian sailboat industry, is designing on his own gain. In January, 1982, he severed his last ties with C&C Yachts, the company he was so instrumental in bringing to its present status in the marketplace. Now he is using his talents, under the title of motion design, to create boats with a fresh look.
Mark Yachts is an American marketing group that admired the talents of Cuthbertson and hired him to design their new line of sailboats. The Mark 19 appeared at the Annapolis Boats Show last year, and the 25 now makes its debut.
I enjoy watch the changing styles of a designer. It has been some time since I studied one of the Cuthbertson’s designs in detail, so the changes I will be discussing span a period of more than 10 years. Still very much a trademark is the springy sheer line that nicely complements the reverse transom. A subtle change is the steeper stem angle with less curvature, purely as matter of aesthetics and balance. The keel profile has become more angular, keeping in tune with present trends. A rather pleasant design.
It is always difficult to visualize the cabin form a sailplan drawing. The highly cambered sheer does force a designer into relatively high cabin sides, but Cuthbertson has helped to reduce this consequence by putting considerable camber in the deck at the mast. We’ll have to wait to see it in the water to appraise the overall effect.
When I was presented with the drawings of the Mark 25, I only examined the profile of the hull before considering the accommodation plan. A nice little boat, I thought. Then I saw the sailplan. Wow. I could hear those aggressive types saying, “This thing is going to fly.” and the timid sailors whispering, “How can she hold up that mainsail?” Both thoughts crossed my mind.
The sailplan is a direct result of Mark Yachts’s request for a boat that performs well, but is easy to handle. The cat rig, available when using only the mainsail, has an obvous advantage: simplicity. The lone sail is ideal if it’s breezy or if you are singlehanding. When the cat rig is slow, upwind in light air or off the wind, you can add the little jib to boost performance. Putting all the area into the mainsail does raise the center of effort, however, and something else must be done to provide adequate sailing stability. “It’s just a combination of beam and lead.” Cuthbertson says. “Our ballast to displacement ratio is around 43 percent.” And he adds that early sailing trials of the boat have proved the combination to be successful.
The interior reveals another aspect of the mark Philosophy. In discussions with the designer I tried to ask discreetly whether the Mark 25 was meant to be a Roll-Royce or Volkswagen in terms of interior finish. “I know what you’re getting at,” He said “I think ‘neat but not fancy’ is the term you’re looking for.” Neat because all the basics are there; not fancy because it is not overwhelmed by finishing details. And that means the price can be kept down. Once the design was complete, construction was supervised by Cuthbertson’s associate, Henri Adriaanse, an engineer who had once worked in C&C’s design office. Cuthbertson didn’t want to get bogged down in all the nuts and bolts details and that is Adriaanse’s forte. The combination of talents worked well. The first five boats were built here in Ontario, but in early March the molds were shipped to Long Island, where the initial production run will be manufactured.
For more information, contact: Mark Yachts Canada Ltd., 108 Delater St Po Box 41, Niagara on the Lake, Ont. L0S 1J0

Originally published in Canadian Yachting’s May 1984 issue.

Specifications:
Sail
Length................24ft 7in
Beam.................9ft 3in
Draft...................4ft 3in
Weight................4,130lbs
Ballast.................1,780lbs
Sail Area..............327 ft²

Steve Killing is an impendent Yacht designer based in Midland Ontario. He was the assistant designer of designer of Canada 1, Canada’s America’s cup Challenger.