Home / The teaching fleet

Five teaching boats — each, a different lesson.

A boat is a curriculum. We chose each of the five for a specific course on the ladder, and we keep them in genuine Bristol order — every winter the lot comes out, gets surveyed, and goes back in with new running rigging if it needs it.

5
Active boats
22'–40'
LOA range
100%
USCG inspected
Every winter
Hauled, surveyed
Bramble J22
Basic Keelboat
1989Est. with school
No. 1

"Bramble."

J/22 · 22 ft · Two-up day-sailer

The school's original boat. A simple, fast J/22 sloop, a fractional rig, and a boat that responds the way you ask it to — which is the entire point of a basic-keelboat trainer. Bramble has taught 1,400 students to tack since 1989.

LOA
22 ft 6 in
Beam
8 ft
Displacement
1,790 lb
Sail area
213 sq ft
Engine
3.5 hp outboard
Crew
3 on board
"Bramble has had three suits of sails, a full deck refinish in '08, and a single transom repair in '14. Otherwise — same boat, same lines, same lessons since the school began."
Souwester J24
Basic+ & Race
1992Joined fleet '95
No. 2

"Sou'wester."

J/24 · 24 ft · Two-up day-sailer with race spars

A J/24, two feet longer than Bramble, with a stiffer hull and a true racing rig. Sou'wester is the boat second-time students ask for — the boat that turns "I can sail" into "I can race." Used for advanced Basic Keelboat and the school's Wednesday-evening racing series.

LOA
24 ft 0 in
Beam
8 ft 11 in
Displacement
3,100 lb
Sail area
261 sq ft
Engine
5 hp outboard
Crew
4 on board
"Sou'wester is a faster boat than Bramble, but the lessons are the same — they just come at you sooner."
Halyard Catalina 30
Coastal Cruising
1988Refit 2018
No. 3

"Halyard."

Catalina 30 · 30 ft · Cruising auxiliary

A Catalina 30, the boat the Coastal Cruising course was designed around. Two cabins, a working galley, a real V-berth, a real holding tank, and the noises a real cruiser makes at three a.m. on the hook. Refit hull-up in 2018: new standing rigging, new bottom paint, new electronics, same boat.

LOA
30 ft 0 in
Beam
10 ft 9 in
Displacement
10,200 lb
Sail area
442 sq ft
Engine
22 hp Universal diesel
Sleeps
5 on board
"Halyard is the boat that taught me to anchor at night. Three a.m., the wind shifted, and the boat handled it — I just had to listen."
Cape Lookout Pacific Seacraft
Coastal+ & Charter Prep
2002Joined fleet '15
No. 4

"Cape Lookout."

Pacific Seacraft 34 · 34 ft · Bluewater cruiser

A Pacific Seacraft 34, the smallest true bluewater hull in the fleet. Heavily built for offshore work — a full keel with cutaway forefoot, a heavy displacement, and the slow, steady motion you want when the wind builds past 25 knots. The boat we use for offshore-prep weekends.

LOA
34 ft 1 in
Beam
10 ft 0 in
Displacement
13,500 lb
Sail area
555 sq ft
Engine
28 hp Yanmar diesel
Sleeps
6 on board
"Cape Lookout is heavy in light air and serene in heavy. She is a different animal from the rest of the fleet — and the boat I'd take across an ocean."
Trade Wind Beneteau 40
Bareboat Charter
1996Refit 2021
No. 5

"Trade Wind."

Beneteau 40 · 40 ft · Bareboat trainer

The boat the Bareboat Charter course was built around. A Beneteau 40, two private cabins, a real galley with two-burner gimballed stove, the same systems that any major bareboat fleet boat would have. Trade Wind is the closest training proxy in the U.S. for a charter check-out anywhere in the world.

LOA
40 ft 6 in
Beam
12 ft 9 in
Displacement
17,200 lb
Sail area
765 sq ft
Engine
40 hp Yanmar diesel
Sleeps
6 in 2 cabins
"Trade Wind is the boat where I learned to walk the deck before sunrise with a clipboard. It's also the boat where students realize a charter isn't about sailing — it's about systems."
All five run twelve months

Pick a boat — and a course.

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