Precious 23
Description
The Precious is a classic wooden sailboat designed by William Atkin (Atkin & Co.), a renowned American naval architect known for his practical, seaworthy designs inspired by traditional workboats and cruisers. This particular model is a small, gaff-rigged cutter (or sometimes sloop-configured) from Atkin's portfolio, emphasizing simplicity, affordability to build, and capable coastal/offshore performance in a compact package—ideal for single-handers, couples, or minimalist cruisers. It's part of Atkin's "Precious" design series (sometimes listed as Precious 23 or similar variants), drawing from his popular small cruiser lineage like the Eric or Ben Bow, but scaled for easier home or amateur construction with carvel planking over frames. These boats are cherished for their "precious" (as in endearing/valuable) character—beautiful lines, forgiving handling, and ability to handle rough conditions despite modest size. Many were built from plans in the mid-20th century, with some still sailing today as treasured classics.
Construction Details
| Designer | Atkin & Co. |
|---|---|
| Builder | Home Built |
| Length | 23.000 ft |
| LOA | 23.000 ft |
| LWL | 20.500 ft |
| Beam | 8.000 ft |
| Displacement | 7000 lb |
| Ballast | 2500 lb |
| Max Draft | 4.000 ft |
| Year Built | 1950 |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | - |
|---|---|
| j | - |
| p | - |
| e | - |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Sails
Precious 23 - SPRIT
| Luff | 4.83 ft - (1472 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 5.75 ft - (1753 mm) |
| Leech | 6.92 ft - (2109 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 88 ° |
| Diag (clew/throat) | * 7.38 ft - (2249 mm) |
| Head | 3.25 ft - (991 mm) |
| Area | * 25.08 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator |
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.
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