Seafarer Kestrel 23
Description
The Seafarer 23 Kestrel (also simply called the Kestrel 23 or earlier marketed as the Kestrel 22), a Dutch/American trailerable fiberglass sailboat designed by Sparkman & Stephens (design #1631) and first built in 1963 by G. de Vries Lentsch Jr. (Netherlands) for Seafarer Yachts (US importer/distributor). It was produced in two main versions: a daysailer (open cockpit, minimal cabin) and a cruiser (larger coachroof, shorter cockpit, more interior volume with berths and basic accommodations for weekend use). The design emphasizes a compact, seaworthy pocket cruiser with a keel/centerboard (keel/CB) hull for shallow draft versatility, masthead sloop rig for balanced performance, and heavy displacement relative to its size for stability and a comfortable motion in choppy conditions. It's praised as a solid, forgiving classic suitable for coastal daysailing, club racing, or light cruising, though production was limited (dozens to low hundreds built across variants in the 1960s–1970s).
Construction Details
| Designer | Sparkman and Stephens |
|---|---|
| Builder | G. de Vries Lentsch Jr. (Netherlands) |
| Length | 23.080 ft |
| LOA | 23.080 ft |
| LWL | 16.500 ft |
| Beam | 7.000 ft |
| Displacement | 3700 lb |
| Ballast | 1400 lb |
| Max Draft | 4.080 ft |
| Min Draft | 2.330 ft |
| Year Built | 1963 |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | 26.83 ft |
|---|---|
| j | 7.75 ft |
| p | 23.08 ft |
| e | 11.33 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26.83 ft | 7.75 ft | 23.08 ft | 11.33 ft | - | - | - | - |
Sails
Seafarer Kestrel 23 - MAINSAIL
| Luff | * 23.08 ft - (7035 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 11.33 ft - (3453 mm) |
| Leech | * 25.16 ft - (7669 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 87.98 ° |
| Diagonal | * 25.35 ft - (7727 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 5.25 in - (133 mm) |
| Area | 130.56 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator |
Seafarer Kestrel 23 - JIBSAIL
| Luff | * 22.34 ft - (6809 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 10.1 ft - (3078 mm) |
| Leech | * 19.71 ft - (6008 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 115 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 8.91 ft - (2716 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 12 ° |
| Area | 99.51 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator |
Seafarer Kestrel 23 - GENOA
| Luff | * 26.53 ft - (8086 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 12.38 ft - (3773 mm) |
| Leech | * 25.12 ft - (7657 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 150 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 11.63 ft - (3545 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 4 ° |
| Area | 154.19 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator |
Seafarer Kestrel 23 - SPINNAKER
| Stays | * 26.53 ft - (8086 mm) |
|---|---|
| MidGirth | * 13.95 ft - (4252 mm) |
| Foot | * 13.95 ft - (4252 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 180 % |
| Area | 314.58 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.
Comments
