14' Vagabond 14

Vagabond 14 (1975?)

This little gem of a monohull has been marketed under various names. My first one bought in 1985 was a Holder 14 some years later, Hobie obtained the molds and sold it as a Hobie One. I kept this as one of the quickest to rig sailboats Ive ever had and Ive owned at least a dozen different models. Once you get your rigging system down it literally can go from trailerable to launchable ( fully ready to sail away) in 20 minutes all completely single handed. Many sailboats claim quick rigging. I have a WETA 14 which is a really cool boat ,they claim 25 minutes. Even in their demo video (which leaves several items to the imagination ) the video itself is 22 minutes long. There is no way to do the WETA solo in less than 45 minutes. This is not anti WETA, It is just that many advertised manufacturers set up times are not realistic.

The Vagabond 14 (Holder 14, Hobie One) has a slightly rounded planing Hull using a straight down daggerboard to prevent sideways slippage. When down, the daggerboard also works to prevent (or slow) Capsize. When up, the small hull hole keeps drag causing turbulence to a minimum.

I think about 4000 of these boats were made.

Following the WETA, I have made a foil bag. To transport, the Dagger board and rudder. The weight of the boat empty is about 250 lbs. The cockpit is large enough to accommodate 4 adults. Of course it wont plane easily with that load. I have added a jiffy reef to take out the lower 3 of the mainsail . With the reef in, one can sail confidently, even single handed, in 25kt winds.

Trailer is included with bearing buddies. Nothing special about the trailer . It has a mast carrier that will put the mast above most smaller cars. It has a winch for retrieving the boat. The trailering weight is <500 lbs. I used to pull it with my 1978 VW Rabbit. With a hitch, almost any car can pull that much. I used a 2 ball to standardize for my various trailers.

see above