With the 8 foot pram winding down, it was time to start thinking about our next project.

Now, one thing that always seems to be missing in the sailing world (To me at least) is an entry level, small family sailboat that is actually fun to sail.

What would the perfect small family sailboat be?

1. About 25 feet overall.
   

2. Sleeps four. Mom, dad & some kiddies.
   

3. Ice chest, sleeping bags, camp stove. No pretend mini yacht interior.
   

4. Trailerable using a medium sized car.
   

5. Easy to setup from trailer, easy to break down onto trailer.
   

6. Easy to single hand. One parent always ends up watching kiddies.
   

7. Easy to single hand #2. Sometimes its nice to just jump on the boat and go.
   

8. Liftable “fixed” keel for trailering and beaches.
   

9. Smallest lightest (Least expensive) auxiliary outboard engine. Its a sailboat!
   

10. Quality built. Its gonna’ cost, so it better be quality!
    

11. Fun to sail! Or why bother?
    

12. 
    

The closest fit I could see to this would be Leif Beiley’s B25. Maybe we could buy the rights and tooling for the B25, rework it a little to create our perfect day sailer? This had been a dream of mine for a long time. But, I’d no idea where Leif had ended up, no idea what ever happened to the B25 tooling, or even who owned the rights to it. This was a back burner dream I’d never really believed I’d accomplish in “real life”.

So, Its sunday night, were all driving home from where ever in the car. I’m grousing about not having something to work on. Julie looks over.

“Why don’t you tool up that trailerable sailboat you been wanting to do for so long?”

I hem and haw for a bit, we argue back and forth, then.. “Ok, you know what? I’ll do it!” The decision had finally been made. “I’ll have to figure out where Leif Beiley is. I think he lives in So-Cal.” I’m thinking “This is going to be tough! I’ve never met this guy, I’ve no idea how to locate him. Can I buy the rights for the B25? Why hasn’t someone else put them back into production?”

Anyway, come monday I’d start the process. ( Right after boat school )

The next morning, in boat school, I hear Boat Teacher Mike behind me talking to someone. “Oh you have to meet Jim here, he’s sailed a J/35 to the South Pacific..” I turn around and shake hands with our Composite One rep. We were doing a class sponsored by Composites One and there were a bunch of their people milling about. We start talking boats and sailing, he’d entered his boat “Ono” in the Pacific cup..

“Ono? That sounds really familiar..”

“It was my B25”

“Wait, you mean you’re..”

“Yeah, I’m Leif Beiley.”

I nearly passed out!

Of course the entire idea about revamping the B25 as a weekend camper/day sailer came out. No, the B25 is no longer available but.. Something like it could be designed. There’s been nearly 20 years of composite and boat design advancement. A new version could be created using the new technology...

Then Boat Teacher Mike chimes in. “Let me be in charge of tooling development, I’m in too!”

Suddenly, within 12 hours of making the decision, all the impossible to find parts of the puzzle dropped into my lap.

So I guess we’re going to develop a really neat entry level, small family sailboat. And it should be a real kick to sail!

Too cool!