48 Clipper Gaff Schooner 2002

FOUR YEARS is a unique, custom-built clipper gaff-rigged schooner, designed and constructed by her owner, David Judd, over four years and launched in December 2002. This vessel is a scaled-up version of Howard Chapelle’s Tancook Whaler, featuring advanced cold-moulded techniques by Ruel Parker. Her robust construction includes a laminated hardwood epoxy hull, layered for strength, with a Dynel-epoxy exterior and glass-epoxy interior. The New Zealand kauri strip decks and spars are finished with two-pack polyurethane, and two watertight bulkheads provide added structural integrity. With serious passagemaking dimensions—approximately 48 feet at the deck and 56 feet overall including the bowsprit and rudder—this boat boasts a beam of nearly 3.6 meters, a keel depth of about five feet plus a centerboard, a draft of nearly eight feet when the board is down, internal lead ballast, and a total displacement around 12,000 kilograms. The sail area is impressive, with about 1,200 square feet in the lowers, complemented by a 360-square-foot fisherman staysail. The new Contender cream gaff main, gaff foresail, and jib, along with a well-maintained tanbark fisherman and a little-used squaresail, ensure excellent sailing performance. Steering is managed by a tiller connected to a wind-vane for self-steering, supported by eleven winches, most of which are self-tailing. The vessel is powered by a Beta Marine 35-horsepower diesel engine, installed in 2016, which has about 1,836 hours of use, with a ZF V-drive and a 2017 Variprop three-blade feathering propeller. Equipped for long ocean voyages, FOUR YEARS offers approximately 350 liters of diesel across two tanks and around 800 liters of water in four tanks. The interior features two double berths, with headroom of six feet fore and aft and about five feet nine inches amidships, a Lavac head, a hot shower via engine calorifier, a gimbaled kerosene stove, a eutectic fridge/freezer, a diesel cabin heater, and Caframo fans for comfort. The electrical system is 12-volt, including a 400 Ah LiFePO4 battery, 500 watts of solar power, a 70-amp alternator, and a 1,200-watt inverter. Navigation equipment includes a Garmin world-chart plotter, Class B AIS, VHF with AIS, a Mer Veille radar detector, compass, and speed log. Ground tackle consists of a Lofrans Tigre electric windlass with about 90 meters of chain and rope, a 17-kilogram Rocna-type anchor, and a 30-kilogram spade-type anchor. This vessel comes with an impressive logbook, showcasing over 40,000 nautical miles traveled through regions such as Australia, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, the South China Sea, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, Madagascar, multiple Indian Ocean crossings, and two passages around the Cape of Good Hope. Currently located near Tanga, Tanzania, FOUR YEARS is an ocean-tested, owner-built gaff schooner, ideal for a sailor seeking the charm of a traditional rig paired with the durability of cold-moulded construction—without the need for a shipyard restoration. The cold-moulded build of this vessel is designed for long-term ocean use, requiring only proper maintenance to endure for decades. Prospective buyers are encouraged to review the owner's detailed inventory and the Australian registration, verify the Beta Marine engine hours, and inspect the recently completed exterior paint and sails. Requested photo documentation includes images of the boat under sail, on the beach displaying the deck and paint, and in a travel-lift with the centerboard down, providing the necessary insight for both surveyors and experienced schooner sailors. For the right caretaker, FOUR YEARS represents not just a project, but a continuation of an established voyaging legacy.

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