Sailing
12 16 Topic : Yacht Reviews
Dibley 21
This slick sportboat offers speed and handling with Kiwi flair
Sometimes I whine about the absence of design documents in the review packages I get these days. I want to see what the designer drew. Leave it to my buddy Kevin Dibley in New Zealand to knock me out by sending me an almost complete set of plans for his exquisite new 21-foot trailerable sportboat.
Let’s start with the hull form. I have a full set of lines that are artfully drawn. In sailing trim with crew of four, the D/L of the 21 is 102.6. L/B is 2.75 and max beam is right at the transom. There is a chine that starts at station 4.5. The sections are quite rounded with a narrow BWL and are at the stern to keep the chine beam aft broad. It’s a very slippery looking shape that will need to be sailed on its feet. There are no hollows in the forward waterlines. Forward sections show a slight amount of deadrise. The keel is a lifting T-type with a 220-pound lead bulb. Draft with the keel down is 4 feet 7 inches and keel up it draws just under a foot. The single, high-aspect-ratio rudder is a cassette type.
The deck plan is laid out for crew efficiency and comfort. There is a large radius roll to the cockpit edge that will make hiking quite comfortable, if hiking is ever comfortable. The cockpit extends to about 16 inches aft of the mast. There is a slot in the deck so that lowering the cockpit sole-stepped mast will be relatively easy. ere is no mainsheet traveler. The mainsheet is a bridle type led to two padeyes on the cockpit sole. The boom is high enough to allow for a very effective vang. There are fore and aft foot bensons (my term for a foothold) to keep the crew in place when the boat heels. There is one foredeck hatch. That’s the only hatch on the boat. Primary winches are owner’s option to add. There is one stanchion per side forward just aft of the chainplates and transom corner stanchions aft. Single lifelines will have foam sausages on them for crew comfort when hiking.
The rig features a square-top main so there is no backstay. Single spreaders are swept 23 degrees. There are cap shrouds and intermediate uppers to the hounds. e SA/D is 29.51 in sailing trim. That’s plenty of horsepower for some sparkling light-air performance. The sprit is retractable.
Construction of the Dibley 21 is in China. This boat is small enough to make rigging and de-rigging it very easy. You can trailer this boat to wherever you want to race. I can’t see anything not to like about this design.
