cl14 sailboat review

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CL-14 looks sweet, any thoughts?

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Have caught a glimpse of what looks like my perfect sailing dinghy, the CL-14, and have found 2 for sale, though I've never heard of the CL name before. Anyone had any experience with the CL-14? Hoping it fulfills my need for a boat that's quick and fun for me to sail alone on the various protected bays of Cape Cod, yet not too tender or wet for also using as a skill/confidence builder for my wife (or too dangerous for bringing the toddler out on a gentle day); quick to rig, easy to transport/trailer, well built and simple in design...helpful responses to my previous post here 2 weeks ago convinced me that I didn't know what kind of boat I wanted at the time, and my subsequent rethinking has led me to this boat. Any specific comments on the CL-14 would be greatly appreciated.  

Not sure what a CL14 is, but if it happens to be an old C-Lark which was 14', that is a fun boat. Which acually was ment to be an International 14 in fiberglass, but was a bit heavy to compete, so "Clark" boat company, makers of San Juans turned it into a decent 1d class in the 70's. I will point out, I may be discussing/talking about the wrong boat, as I have not heard of the C-lark being called a CL14, but then again........ Marty  

Thanks, but I think it's a different boat. The CL is a Canadian company, still in production...first hit when you google "CL Sailboats"...Just gave the company a call, the guy was a real nice Canadian, which just made me want to buy their boat even more...  

From a generally speaking standpoint, the two look similar. Altho the C-Lark might have a bit more WL, and will plane with enough wind. This one may too. For a beginner, someone whom wants to have fun with family, this may very well be a great little boat. Has some dry storage area forward to pack some food or equal. Might be able to tent camp on a lake island if you want......... Other than first glance at pics, website etc. I would certainly consider it. Even new the price is reasonable for what you get. Vanguard as I recall also has a boat of this size, as does Catalina and Hunter IIRC too marty  

CL14s are common in Ontario... perhaps elsewhere too. They have been around for ever and have a great reputation as being "bulletproof" i.e. suitable for for the rigours of sailing schools, camps, resorts etc. I worked at a resort in the late 1970s and we had a CL 14. My daughter followed my footsteps many years later and taught sailing at our local sailing club on CL14s (or maybe the CL16s?). Simple design, easy to rig and great for your intended purpose IMHO. Sailboats Online  

I've owned a CL 11 and now a Cl 14 for sailing on the eastern shore of Georgian Bay. The CL 11 was a superb dinghy...great hull shape for tacking in close spaces...it has a 4 foot keelson stretching from aft the centerboard box to the transom. The little dinghy always seems to be sensitive to the helm...not overly but in light winds you feel that you still have control. Tacking is just superb even in 3-4 foot swells and you stay dry. The bailers look after any water shipped. Coming about is sure footed yet the weather helm is not so obvious that you don't have to be bringing the bow back down all the time. I imagine the 14 will be more of the same...quite forgiving of any tiller errors.Running downwind is a breeze...I tacked into a SW 15 wind for three hours and then came back with that wind in under 30 mins! The hull design is the key to it's success...if you find one grab it. There aren't many builders out there who care how a boat sails...as long as they sell it. But C&L Boatworks has a history of good design and it sure shows in the performance of their dinghies.  

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Caribe CL 14 Review

Venezuelan Beauty   

WORDS + PHOTOS: ANDREW RICHARDSON 

This South American RIB sachays through choppy water with runway style.

Until today I thought the main exports to come out of Venezuela were throngs of elegant, tanned ladies all fighting for the Miss World crown – but wait, there’s more… Caribe Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs).

These vessels may not advocate world peace, but in true Venezuelan style the lady we judged was almost perfect.

At first glance the Caribe 14ft was similar to other RIBs, but closer inspection revealed a vessel with a different approach to performance and some well-designed features that distinguished it from the norm.

The boat’s hull design is unique with an extreme wave-slicing bow section that shifts radically to a more conventional aft section. This design is new to me, so with 75 horses on the back just raring to go, I was keen to get out on the water and see what the 14-footer had to offer.

Down memory lane The first part of the voyage was a trip down memory lane, as we cruised slowly across Port Hacking’s Dolans Bay. This was the place I spent many a long hot summer’s day fishing with my mates, catching the odd bream and leather jacket from the fuel wharf and just mucking about in tin boats. The old fuel wharf and boatshed may be long gone but the memories remain.

Neil Solomon bought his boys Josh and Lochie along for the ride and they certainly enjoyed themselves, but I couldn’t help thinking that they would have liked to ditch the old blokes and get down to the serious business of boys mucking about on boats. With distant supervision of course!

Eventually we made our way to the South West Arm of the Hacking River where we finished the photos. Then it was my chance to be a boy again, at the helm of a 230kg hull with a little more power than it really needed.

Neil explained that the Evinrude ETEC 75hp was a perfect match for this vessel drawing its strength from its closely related 90hp big brother. The two-stroke ETEC engine was smoke-free and delivered extremely quiet power right across the rev range.

When I nudged the throttle the Caribe’s bow lifted confidently and in a snap the hull balanced out to a nice planing angle.

A dry ride at speed

At speed the hull responded positively to leg trim and in a headwind the extra lift added a bit of excitement to the ride.

The clever bow section softened the ride in chop at mid-range speeds, but created radical unexpected turns if the leg is trimmed in too much, which is perhaps the reason for the trim gauge.

So I kept the engine trimmed up and she delivered everything required of a RIB of this size including a dry ride. She was indeed a good performer.

With Neil at the helm and we three kids aboard, the boat clocked a top speed of 38 knots (43mph or 70kmh), but remember, RIB’s respond well to a lightening of load, so with one up, 50mph would be possible and boy that would be exciting!

Layout RIBs sacrifice a bit of internal volume in exchange for the extra stability the tubes provide, but even with this limitation the Caribe had comfortable seating for six. This area consists of a twin helm seat, a centre bench seat and a bow seating area with a step.

The helm had just enough legroom in the seated position, but the wheel position allows the driver to stand while leaning against the bolster seat. It’s your choice and will depend on the speed and conditions being encountered. Instrumentation was very good with gauges for speed, rpm, fuel and engine trim, which is more than ample for this vessel. There were also switches for the navigation lights and cockpit lights.

The Caribe had a few bonus creature comforts including a freshwater shower, a swim ladder stowed in the floor, concealed rod holders, pop-up stainless steel bollards and a self-draining cooler under the aft passengers seat. There’s no stowage for large items like my camera bag except for the bow locker, which would suit an anchor and wet items, but there were plenty of nooks and crannies for everything else, including a long stowage area suited to life vests under the middle bench seat.

Overall finish Overall finish and attention to detail was outstanding on the Caribe CL14. The vessel was constructed from long wearing Hypalon and had protective wear pads at various traffic points on the tubes. The four separate air chambers and extra large rub-strakes were also above average.

These Caribe boats go fast and turn fast, so grab handles are a very important consideration, wary of this, I noted that there were grab holds for every seating position. There were actually 10 holds along the tubes alone.

The CL14 is clearly a well thought out vessel. Her nimble performance, dry ride and abundant creature comforts suggest that this 14-footer’s $30,000 price tag, with the ETEC 75hp motor and trailer, is good value in this category. This vessel would be ideal as a standalone family runabout or as a luxury tender to a larger vessel. And if a luxury tender is her purpose this Venezuelan has ‘lifting point’, so she’s ready to go when you are.

CL 14 Detailed Review

If you are a boat enthusiast looking to get more information on specs, built, make, etc. of different boats, then here is a complete review of CL 14. Built by C&L Boatworks and designed by undefined, the boat was first built in 1980. It has a hull type of Centerboard Dinghy and LOA is 4.32. Its sail area/displacement ratio 49.76. Its auxiliary power tank, manufactured by undefined, runs on undefined.

CL 14 has retained its value as a result of superior building, a solid reputation, and a devoted owner base. Read on to find out more about CL 14 and decide if it is a fit for your boating needs.

Boat Information

Boat specifications, sail boat calculation, contributions, who builds cl 14.

CL 14 is built by C&L Boatworks.

When was CL 14 first built?

CL 14 was first built in 1980.

How long is CL 14?

CL 14 is 4.24 m in length.

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Double-handed sailing dinghy CL14 recreational symmetric spinnaker

Characteristics

4.3 m (14'01" )

Description

No catalogs are available for this product.

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• Thread starter frank hassler
• Start date Aug 25, 2023
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frank hassler

We just purchased a CL14 and are looking for advice on stepping the mast safely  

See your duplicate post.  

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• Sailboat Guide

1990 C&L Boatworks CL-14

• Description

Seller's Description

Nice condition CL-14. Light boat with lots of sail makes for a lively ride and great performance in light winds. Roller jib, boom vang, custom motor mount with nice running Johnson 2 cyl. 3hp. Motor easily moves boat at hull speed for a quick run on and off the dock. Pivoting centerboard allows for as little at 6 of draft. Centerboard and rudder are both kick up design. Sails are in nice condition. Main sail has one small patch. Really nice galvanized trailer has new tires and LED lighting. Hull is in very nice condition with minimal crazing. Boat is wrapped up for winter but Ill add extra pics if/when I get it out for the season. Selling to move up to a small cruiser.

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

This listing is presented by SailboatListings.com . Visit their website for more information or to contact the seller.

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Sailboat Review: Light and Lively Excess 14

• By Mark Pillsbury
• November 7, 2023

When Groupe Beneteau’s Excess Catamarans introduced its first model in 2019 , a test sail in winds approaching 40 knots made it abundantly clear that the 38-foot-7-inch Excess 12 wasn’t just another pretty new face in the ever-growing cat crowd. That boat could sail.

A recent light-air outing aboard the company’s newest model, the Excess 14, was perhaps equally revealing. With a hull length right around 44 feet and a beam of 25 feet, 9 inches, this is a big, roomy and comfortable cruising cat. But in just 5 knots of breeze, sailing with the main and working jib set, the chart plotter’s speed over ground read 4.1 knots heading upwind with the sails sheeted hard. A little later, with the jib rolled up and the code zero unfurled and set on a sprit that brings the boat’s LOA to 52 feet, 5 inches, our boatspeed was 5.7 knots on a reach in wind gusting to maybe 6. 

Those were conditions that would have left a lot of similar-size multihulls parked, but the Excess 14 felt relatively lively underway and “tacked quickly,” I wrote in my notes. I also noted that line handling was easy, thanks to sheet winches within reach of the helms and an electric Harken FlatWinder winch that handles a traveler mounted outboard of a comfortable bench seat that spans most of the transom.

For the record, I’m a fan of the Excess brand DNA that calls for outdoor helm stations located far aft on either stern. Sitting at them underway, you can see and hear the water rush by and feel the breeze in your face. You know, like when you’re sailing. You can converse with people seated in the cockpit, and you have easy access to the salon should you care to set the autopilot and keep watch out of the elements, through windows that provide nearly 360 degrees of visibility.

Open to fresh ideas, the team at Excess started with a blank slate when they conceived the 14, and they gave naval architects at VPLP Design some liberty in terms of hull design in their quest for better performance. VPLP, drawing from their experience with a long line of racing machines, then tested and ultimately opted for asymmetrical hulls—think of a monohull sliced lengthwise down the middle and then separated—that tend to reduce the size of the waves produced between the hulls, thereby reducing drag that slows down the boat.

The design team also toyed with replacing the stub keels affixed to most cruising cats, including earlier Excess models, with the sort of lifting daggerboards found on high-performance cats. They dropped that idea, however, because daggerboards add complexity when sailing and take away from living space below. Instead, the 14 has more-efficient, deeper and thinner fixed foils that increase draft to 4 feet, 10 inches—a few inches deeper than what you would expect to find on cats of a similar size.

There are also interesting ­innovations found in the 14’s interior, where saving weight has a direct relationship to livelier sailing. Relatively lighter carbon-fiber cloth is employed in some structural areas for strength, and some bulkheads are infused using foam coring. And there’s less wood used in furniture, drawers and stowage areas. Overhead, the cabin top is injected-molded, eliminating the need for a liner. And in hulls with two staterooms and two head compartments located amidships, the toilets share a single holding tank to reduce plumbing, while the staterooms share one larger Webasto air-conditioning unit, saving the weight and wiring required for two. 

Excess is also involved with Groupe Beneteau’s overall efforts to adopt more-sustainable building practices. Laminates used for the performance mainsail and genoa are recycled material, and hemp fibers are used in place of fiberglass and injected with partly bio-sourced resin in some nonstructural parts such as locker lids. Even furniture knobs have been replaced by neat little loops of rope.

Buyers have a few decisions to make when ordering an Excess 14. There is a four-­stateroom version that would be well-suited for charter, and there are a couple of three-stateroom options. In one, the owner gets a large fore-and-aft bunk aft, a sitting area with a desk at the foot of the companionway, a head and shower forward, and a walk-in closet in place of a V-berth. A second plan, called the Transformer Version, has bunks far forward that can be folded down for sleeping or up for stowage. (One company photo shows a paddleboard stashed away there.) That’s the layout we saw in Miami and the one I’d choose if it were my boat. In all the layouts, the salon gets lots of sunlight and has a pleasant, airy feeling with the sliding door and window open aft. There’s an abundance of fridge and freezer space adjacent to the galley to port. Dining tables are indoors, at the front of the salon, and in the cockpit. 

The Miami boat included a pair of optional 57 hp Yanmar diesels with saildrives (45 hp engines come standard) that pushed us along at 7.8 knots in cruising speed and 8.4 knots in get-home-quick mode. Gear included an electric winch at the starboard helm to make raising the main easier, as well as engine controls at either wheel to make docking simpler. Davits are available, as are canvas Biminis over the wheels for shade.

The boat also had an optional seating area on the flybridge. It reminded me a bit of a stretch version of the footwell that you’d find on a Sunfish. I’m not sure if it’s an option I’d choose, and with the boom set relatively low on the mast, it wouldn’t be a place to lounge underway. Some might like to sit up there while at anchor to enjoy the view though.

The sail-away price for the boat we visited is right around $980,000, but that’s loaded with gear, including an Onan generator and a Pulse rig and sail package that includes a 70-foot-8-inch mast instead of the standard 64-foot-11-inch spar. The upwind Pulse rig sail area of 1,453 square feet will be appreciated by those who sail in variable conditions and like to go fast; in the trades, the standard 1,323 square feet might suffice, and the shorter rig would let you just squeeze under most Intracoastal Waterway bridges.

Me? I was happy to have the added horsepower provided by the bigger square-top main. Sailing a big cat in 5 knots of breeze isn’t always fun, but aboard the Excess 14, we had a jolly old time.

Excess 14 Specifications

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