Knutson 35 Yawl

Description

The Knutson 35 Yawl is a wooden auxiliary yawl-rigged cruiser based on Sparkman & Stephens Design No. 1727 (the Knutson 35 series), built by Thomas Knutson Shipbuilding Corp. in Huntington, New York, USA, starting in 1955. While the standard Knutson 35 was a fractional sloop (with some early wooden hulls built as sloops), a small number of hulls were rigged as yawls for enhanced heavy-weather sail-handling versatility and balance under reduced canvas—ideal for serious cruising (coastal or occasional offshore). The yawl variant adds a small mizzen mast aft (often stepped on the counter or deck), allowing combinations like main + mizzen, staysail + mizzen, or mizzen alone for storm tactics. Construction is high-quality wood (mahogany planking over oak frames), with a fin keel and skeg-mounted rudder for balanced performance and protection. It's praised for reassuring stability, comfortable motion, and excellent light-air performance from the generous sail plan, though yawl rigs add complexity and slightly reduce upwind efficiency compared to the sloop. Production was limited (dozens of Knutson 35s total, with yawls even rarer—likely single-digit or low double-digit hulls), making surviving yawl examples very scarce and cherished wooden classics today (often restored, with some refitted for modern use).