I am often asked, why choose Clipper Marine?
This question was even asked by my California certified marine surveyor when he gave my sailboat 2 thumbs up. He said, "with all the sailboats to choose from in the largest buyers market to ever hit the boating industry, why Clipper Marine?"
Why indeed!
I was looking for several things in a sailboat. First of all I like big stuff. I am 6'7" tall and big just fits who I am. At my marina, 32 foot was the max size they wanted me showing up with ( now the dock has a Hunter 33 - lol )
I also like to travel, owning a toter home Kenworth T-2000 ten wheel semi. I wanted something as long as I could find, that would go down the road without permits. That limits the beam to 8'6" on the Interstate and a flat 8' on some roads around the country. Looks are important in a highway rig, so the boat needed to be proportionate in size to the toter home. My Clipper Marine 32 looks perfect behind my big rig going down the highway. Head turner to be sure. Everybody takes note of sixteen wheels and an ocean sized yacht going past. Rig & boat / trailer are under 12'6" so they go anywhere. Licensed as a motor-home, pulling a private boat, the DOT boys can only watch as I roll by every weigh station without stopping. Friend just purchased a Hunter 33 with a 11' beam. Hours on the phone, run-a-rounds, calling back and getting different answers to the same questions from different people, and every state he hauled through collected fees. Moving a boat like that is like contacting a a parole board! ( no personal experience involved in the making of that snide remark - lol )
I also am getting up in years (55) so I needed something two people can step the mast, launch and recover easily, without feeling like it is a life and death struggle. Have you seen the masts on most 30' foot & up sailboats? Not something to step by hand with two senior citizens. Lol
Price played a factor as well. Checked the average asking price of a 32" sailboat in the States lately? $75,000.00 without a trailer! If I told you what I have in my 32' center cockpit sailboat with six wheel trailer and a lifetime supply of sails in infinite sizes, you would doubt my honesty. Let's say I purchased a trailer at a good price and found a sailboat on top of it.
Quality is something you need in a sailboat, and good sound marine engineering. William Crealock built the Clipper Marine Center Cockpit Ketch I purchased, and his designs are good enough to get him recognized as a world class blue water sailing yacht designer. His hull and deck design has a minimum of a half inch of glass over marine grade woods to ensure his boat design is all but bullet proof. I am well over 400 pounds, and I can walk anywhere on this boat, and nothing gives a 1/32nd of an inch. Rock solid everywhere.
I wanted a quality inboard engine, that could be used as a long distance motor sailor without the need for sails, should the need arise. My Clipper Marine 32 Aft Cabin has a universally recognized best engine in the world, for a marine application of this kind, a Yanmar diesel. With a large fuel tank on board, I can cruse on rivers, lakes, oceans, and not look back.
I needed privacy. The only real way to achieve privacy on a smaller sailboat (say less than 80 feet) is a true Aft Cabin sailboat. In my Center Cockpit, I have a pair or entrances leading below, one to the bow, and one to the stern, behind the Edson helm. In the Aft Cabin, there are four open-able windows above two 7' berths (measured diagonally, hey I am tall, used to sleeping a little sideways ). There is also room for a self contained head, sink, microwave, storage, and ample headroom to sit straight up on the bunks without feeling like a sardine in a can. If you want complete privacy on a 32' sailboat, this Aft Cabin Clipper Marine is perfect. A person could spend days inside and never have need of anything. At 6'7"' no head on any 50' or smaller sailboat would even let me shut the door, let alone allow me to use the facilities. Having a second private head in the Aft Cabin is like walking into the family restroom at Walmart. I have all the room I need. Better analogy, every $3,000 a night hotel suite has a fainting couch in the restroom, so my Clipper Marine is exactly like a five star hotel, only my view outside my suite is better!
Helm Wheel Steering vs Tiller. I tend to dislike a tiller. Just me, but working my way across a lake with a broom handle jabbing me in the back about once every fifteen minutes is not my idea of a good time. Mind you, that is my personal opinion, and I know there are good reasons to accept a tiller as a great means of steering a small boat. It is just not what I like. So in my looking for a sailboat, a wheel helm was a paramount key feature that could not be bargained away at any price. No wheel, no deal. My CM32 has Edson pedestal steering and everything checks out as a new boat, completely passed the survey. I really like the brake feature, sure beats tiller tenders I used in the past.
On a small lake, every boat tends to get noticed, much the same way every person is noticed in a small town. I wanted a sailboat outside the typical cookie cutter mold. Every Catalina 30, pretty much follows the patterns of every other Catalina 30, and so on for every other sailboat made. I wanted a sailboat no one else had. Hey, I love Catalina's, and a Hunter 33 Sugar Scoop just landed at our marina, very nice! But out on the lake, and on the docks, which boat will tend to set itself apart from the other boats? The only Center Cockpit, Aft Cabin, double masted Ketch sailboat on the lake will not be confused with any other sailboat. Traveling across the USA, landing at any marina, this will be a one of a kind almost anywhere.
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So why did a choose Clipper Marine? For heavens sake, what else could I have chosen? Not a damn thing.
Clipper Marine is a perfect choice for me, the only voice for me.
William (Bill) Crealock, I want to thank you for so vastly enriching my life here on this blue planet. Our planet is mostly water, and your sailboat makes my time on it, mostly enjoyable. If I could meet you face to face, I would give you the same bear hug that fathers share with sons, pastors share with parishioners and bark shares with trees. Life sometimes finds that perfect pair of shoes, that fits like a glove, and never hurts your feet, my Clipper Marine 32 Center Cockpit is such a perfect fit. No $200,000 sailboat would be one cent nicer.
Why Did You Choose Clipper Marine?