Benford 18' Cat Ketch
Description
The Benford 18' Cat Ketch is a compact, trailerable plywood sailboat design from the Benford Design Group, created by naval architect Jay Benford in the 1980s as part of his series of small, versatile craft inspired by traditional working boats. This ketch-rigged daysailer emphasizes simplicity, seaworthiness, and ease of construction for amateur builders, making it ideal for family outings on lakes, rivers, or sheltered coastal waters. With its double-ended hull, balanced lug sails on two short masts, and centerboard configuration, the Cat Ketch offers forgiving handling for short-handed sailing while providing stability for beginners or casual cruising. Plans are available for home construction (no lofting required), with a build time of 200–300 hours for intermediate builders. It's featured in Benford's "Small Craft Plans" catalog and aligns with his philosophy of affordable, low-tech designs that prioritize performance over luxury. No production fiberglass versions exist—it's strictly a DIY plywood project, with fewer than 50 known builds.
The standard boat dimensions
| i | - |
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| j | - |
| p | - |
| e | - |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
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| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Blueprints
Sails
| Sail Type | MAINSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 20 ft - (6096 mm) |
| Foot | 9.67 ft - (2947 mm) |
| Leech | 20.64 ft - (6291 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 80.14 ° |
| Diagonal | 20.67 ft - (6300 mm) |
| Head (inches) | 1.5 in - (38 mm) |
| Area | * 96.52 ft² |
| Sail Type | MIZZEN |
|---|---|
| Luff | 17.167 ft - (5233 mm) |
| Foot | 7.125 ft - (2172 mm) |
| Leech-AftHdBd | 17.35 ft - (5288 mm) |
| Tack Ang | * 80.11 ° |
| Diag (clew/head) | 17.42 ft - (5310 mm) |
| Head (inches) | 1.5 in - (38 mm) |
| Area (no Roach) | * 61.15 ft² |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.