Cascade Yachts - Robert A. Smith

[Plymouth Sailor]

I wonder if anyone is familiar with the aforementioned yacht builder? I had never heard of Cascade before however was viewing one for sale (not in the market for one myself). It was a 1961 29’. I was amazed at the design itself. Most sailboats at the time had full keeled/skegged hulls and we’re wood and just starting to transition to fiberglass. This boat, the 29, was built in fiberglass, and had a bulbous fin keel! Way ahead of it’s time and built by Robert A. Smith, of Sparksman & Stephens designers. They were unsure how rugged fiberglass was at the time so they built them heavy. From the little research I’ve done, Cascade tested the fiberglass by shooting a 45 slug into the hull and the bullet was repelled (no pea shooter)! I’m NO expert at yacht design but it appears that Cascade/S&S were the genitors of the modern sailboat design as we know it today. Jist curious as to anyones thoughts, thanks!

 

[jssailem]

Yes Cascade Yachts are still building yachts. Founded in Portland, Oregon ( the other Portland for you NE coasters).

The innovation you describe is the ideas of the former Sparkman & Stephens designer coupled with the new technology of fiberglass construction.

The broker who showed me one of their boats in 2014 used the pitch that the hull was proven to be bulletproof.

 

[FastOlson]

I knew Mr. Smith, altho not as a close friend. He really was a Naval Architect. Kind of opinionated, but right a lot more often than not.... !
The Cascade molds were purchased some years ago and moved to the Astoria area, but no boats are known to have been produced from them. The 29 and the 42 were early designs and the very popular 36 came later. The 27 was his last design built. (They built a hand full of 23 footers from some older tooling purchased from Islander, also. )

I remember seeing the piece of hull section, standard laminate, in their office. Slug embedded in it, and it did not fully penetrate. That's not surprising since their hull were all solid roving layup.
The designs, particularly the 42 and 36, were similar in hull form to the Cal 40. i.e. a more "canoe shaped" under body and way ahead of their time in general. Actually, except for my somewhat wider aft sections, the basic Cascade hull form is similar to my Olson 34. Offshore they are fast. They do not surf like my Olson, but can cover miles comparably. I would take one anywhere.

One of the 36's won a major race to Hawaii, double handed, against some very expensive "modern" go-fast yachts. Among the several mentions on the web, here is just one: Cascade 36 “Rain Drop” wins Pacific Cup Race

I am no expert on those boats but have crewed on one down to SF, thru gale conditions. That boat later went to Tahiti. And returned. No damage or problems.

I have often seen the 36 referred to as the "affordable circumnavigator."