Flow 19 - Pocket Sport Cruiser from Atelier Interface

Titi

Titi

New member
35
8
Washington, DC
I am in the market for a trailerable, lightweight and fast sport cruiser and stumbled on the Flow 19 from Atelier Interface. Really cool pocket sport cruiser under 20' designed and manufactured by a non nonsense young architect, Antoine Mainfray. The boat only weights 1144 lbs and has a very cleaver fully retractable swing keel and water ballasts. Flow 19 and trailer package come under 1,700lbs which makes it towable by mid-size car. Sadly, I live in the US and the boat is manufactured in France... Here are various links related to the Flow 19, sorry most of them in french but you'll get the idea.

Atelier Interface - Flow 19 Sailboat (specs and photos)
https://archinavale.carbonmade.com/projects/6600079

Atelier Interface - Facebook Page (lots of photos of Flow 19 being built and under sails)
https://www.facebook.com/AtelierInterface/

Antoine Mainfray's Resumé (quite impressive...)
https://archinavale.carbonmade.com/about

Flow19 Look 1 (cropped).jpg

 
SemiSalt

SemiSalt

Super Anarchist
7,712
252
WLIS
I had a 19 ft Mariner, a 1962 design. It amazing to see how design has progressed. The Flow 19 must be twice as fast, and it looks like it has more interior volume. One thing to check: the interior of the Mariner was ruined by squeezing in 4 berths, none of which  were actually adequate for an adult male. Unless you have a lot of experience working with plans, you don't know how a space feels without experiencing it.

 
J

Jud - s/v Sputnik

Super Anarchist
5,685
1,407
Canada
Love it.  Exactly what I have in mind eventually.  
 

I first came across an Elan 210 a few years back and that got me salivating for something small and fast 
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/elan-210



Which then led me to scouring the web, where I found an affordable and professionally built Dudley Dix Mini for sale in Perth, Australia (!) - with retractable keel, on a trailer, with lots of new gear...which led me to hatching a plan to fly there and trailer it across Australia to a friend’s in Sidney and then container ship it back to North America (approx. $2K)...it would be a quite affordable way to get a small performance boat...then I came to my senses and realized I don’t need another boat  —I do, however, need another adventure —but the small rocket ship boat adventure will have to wait a few years!  It’s cool to know that other designers have stepped into the field —like Mainfray’s Flow 19.  Very cool!

810A6BB5-0BED-41C6-BCD7-0E5F0A2E8BB9.jpeg

 
Last edited by a moderator:
J

Jud - s/v Sputnik

Super Anarchist
5,685
1,407
Canada
Another idea for you - poke around the Mini sites on the web, find a Mini for sale in Europe, buy it, take a year off work and go rent an apt and live in Les Sables d’Olonne (or wherever the epicentre of French Muni racing is, I think there?), train/race the hell out of it (the Mini community is apparently quite tight knit and helpful/supportive there), and do the MiniTransat Race the following year —that way, you’ll have gotten the cool, fast, small sport boat to the other side of the Pond, where you live.  And having crossed the Atlantic, the boat will be tricked out and proven to do Bermuda 1-2, etc. etc. Easy plan :) :)

That’s one of my dream plans...

 
Steam Flyer

Steam Flyer

Super Anarchist
40,087
7,612
Eastern NC
The Flow 19 looks like quite a cool little boat.

Interesting comparison to the Elan 210, which I had the chance to check out a few years ago... it's a LOT of boat wrapped into a small package.

FB- Doug

 
Titi

Titi

New member
35
8
Washington, DC
The Elan 210 is no longer made but it was a good looking pocket cruiser.  That said, I am not sure they ever come with a swing keel version.  It's roomier but also quite heavier than the Flow 19, 2,425 lbs vs 1,180 lbs. (with its 264 lbs water ballasts emptied). 

 
Last edited by a moderator:
J

Jud - s/v Sputnik

Super Anarchist
5,685
1,407
Canada
Titi said:
The Elan 210 is no longer made but it was a good looking pocket cruiser.  That said, I am not sure they ever come with a swing keel version.  It's roomier but also quite heavier than the Flow 19, 2,425 lbs vs 1,180 lbs. (with its 264 lbs water ballasts emptied). 
Click to expand...
You could probably get this Dix Mini for cheap cheap and you’d have *basically* the same thing as the Flow 19.  Asking AUS$19K (US $12.6k).  Just have to get it back from Western Australia...show up there with $8K cash.  Bet he’d take it.  (I corresponded with Dudley Dix and the seller about it several months ago when I was curious about the boat —didn’t correspond about the price, just about the lifting keel engineering, etc.)

I can’t see getting a fully set up small port boat for that cheap.

https://www.boatsonline.com.au/boats-for-sale/used/sailing-boats/dudley-dix-mini-transat-mini-650/201638

(BTW, here’s a guy local to me (Vancouver, BC area) who built a Dix Mini - I’m planning to check it out one of these weekends - looks like he did incredible work building it: https://dudleydix.blogspot.com/2016/08/another-didi-mini-mk3-launch.html?m=1 )

Just some alternative ideas for you.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Titi

Titi

New member
35
8
Washington, DC
Good idea but I am no racer, just looking for a compact sport boat for cruising.  One important feature the boat needs to have is a fully retractable keel so, you can beach it anywhere.

 
J

Jud - s/v Sputnik

Super Anarchist
5,685
1,407
Canada
The Dix Mini in Australia has a fully retractable keel —but I doubt any such boat would have a retractable keel that is “beachable” - I suspect the retractable keel is just for trailering.  The Australian one sits very low on a small trailer, which made me realize it would be pretty easy, when I was mulling it over —just a 4-5 day drive— to get it from Perth to Sydney.  
 

I’m actually quite curious now - is there such thing as a retractable keel that is beachable?  (Especially on a small sport boat.)  Sounds too good to be true.  Any NA’s/yacht designers know?

D4099DCF-92E6-415F-86E1-08F3281235E0.jpeg

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Titi

Titi

New member
35
8
Washington, DC
I am not sure what the system is but the Dix Mini keel seems to go up inside the hull for transportation.  I assume those boat draw a good 6' when sailing.  From the photo, the keel still sticks out a good 50cm and it has a bulb which is no good for beaching...  The Flow is fully beachable and sits flat.  This one is on the hard every day at low tide.  I was explained by the architect that they designed the keel well with space around the keel so even if sands or mud gets in, it self cleans once the boat is underway.

Flow 19 - 45.jpg

Flow 19 - 47.jpg

 
Last edited by a moderator:
J

Jud - s/v Sputnik

Super Anarchist
5,685
1,407
Canada
Titi said:
I am not sure what the system is but the Dix Mini keel seems to go up inside the hull for transportation.  I assume those boat draw a good 6' when sailing.  From the photo, the keel still sticks out a good 50cm and it has a bulb which is no good for beaching...  The Flow is fully beachable and sits flat.  This one is on the hard every day at low tide.  I was explained by the architect that they designed the keel well with space around the keel so even if sands or mud gets in, it self cleans once the boat is underway.

View attachment 350430

View attachment 350431
Click to expand...
Wow, that’s really is fantastic!  Or, more correctly, “fantastique”!

Looks like a brilliant design.  I want one now :)

 
Titi

Titi

New member
35
8
Washington, DC
Cute!  But still a bulb keel with a 2ft min draft, not that great to beach the boat.... And 855 kgs vs. 470kgs for the Flow 19 for roughly the same dimensions.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
chester

chester

Super Anarchist
5,998
1,206
Let's got er done! :)

I've been dreaming of a big modern dingy for a while now...I just about passed out when I followed the link to the aloes.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top