Custom Ed Burnett Gaff Cutter

Brokers Comments

It is hard to disagree with Ed Burnett’s aim to design yachts of distinction that would give their owners many years of pleasure. We would go further and flag him as one of very few designers of the modern era who could draw a long keel yacht to match Laurent Giles for proseaportion, type, and ability. As with most Ed Burnett designs, DAPHNE DU CAP was conceived to give pleasure both in the building and in use: for blue water family sailing adventures and cruising in a vessel that applies great volume to the popular ZINNIA type - even more than in the first to do that, IVY GREEN - without becoming a burden to handle for her commissioning owners and their young family. DAPHNE is now very well proven, with two South to North Atlantic passages, an east to west North Atlantic crossing, and thousands of cruising sea miles effortlessly accomplished. And, for European Ed Burnett fans, she is no longer just that faraway dream vessel in the lovingly compiled recently published review of Ed’s work by his parents. DAPHNE DU CAP is now based in South West Ireland: impressively provisioned and maintained; ready to explore and enchant.

Owners' Comments

After numerous long distant discussions with Ed Burnett, sv DAPHNE DU CAP (known to us as DAPHNE) was commissioned in late 2003. Building started in May 2004 and by August 2006, after three yard visits by Ed, we launched Daphne in Simon’s Town, South Africa.
The standard brief to Ed was as follows:
Inspiration from the ZINNIA & IVY GREEN designs, but larger. The work vessel/ captain cutter influence for sea worthiness, ease of handling with minimal team and ability to stand off, heave-to in a blow.
- LOD: 38 ft /
- LWL: 33ft
- Displacement: 13 tonnes
- Draft: 6’
Sail area of size providing a vessel that is gutsy, but not overly powerful or difficult for two to handle.
- Gaff cutter configuration
- Deck to provide good working space.
- Consideration to be given to sheltering in the cockpit with a doghouse and dodger unit
- Comfort below, essential for long term cruising for two adults & two children
- Standing rigging of bronze fixtures and stainless wire
- Sails of Oceanus cloth
- Transom hung rudder & tiller direction
And this is more or less exactly what Ed gave us. Ed made sure we understood the choice of rig. His very first question was, “why a gaff rig?” Not having much experience with gaffers, it was a legitimate question and there was no easy answer. We kfresh that sail handling would be more demanding than what we were pre-owned to, and that the large boom could be a handful in any large seaway, but we were keen to have more options at hand while cruising. There had been times while sailing long distance with various Bermudan rigs, with the relative ease & simplicity of the rig, that we felt we needed more options and we were up for a fresh challenge. Most imseaportantly, we believed that the type of displacement vessel we were after lent itself to gaff rig and that the variety of options that gaff sail handling offered us were of benefit to a cruising vessel. It was what we wanted and that seemed good enough for Ed.
Composite wood development is typical of gaffers from Ed’s design board. She has ring frames and keelson laminated in Sapele, body strip planked in Douglas Fir and covered with biaxial cloth and epoxy laminate. Her decks and super structure are epoxy glassed marina ply; the decks overlaid in 16mm teak. Her inside is panelled in V-grooved marina ply and cutmed with African mahogany to match the blueprint tops and inside furniture. Bronze was pre-owned unsparingly for all her fastenings and fittings, especially below the water line. Her keel bolts, chain plates and rudder fittings are all in aluminium bronze.
DAPHNE’s index is of a high standard and she comes fully provisioned for cruising. (See details below).
Regarding the ease of service, we have attended to DAPHNE’s needs with