Design and Lineage
David Feltham drew the Cobra 700 in 1980. It was the final design from his freelance partnership with Cobra Yachts, which had begun in 1976 with larger cruisers.
The 700 measures 7.0 metres overall, with a 2.64-metre beam and a displacement of 2,045kg (4,500lb). Though it is the smallest boat in the range, its proportions are anything but timid. High freeboard and generous beam give it a roomy footprint for its length, while the streamlined underwater shape was designed for moderate conditions.
Like Cobra Yachts’ other cruising monohulls, the 700 was built in solid fibreglass. It has twin bilge keels and 2,000 pounds of encapsulated lead ballast. That gives a ballast-to-displacement ratio of nearly 47 percent and contributes to a stiff little hull.
Accommodation
Inside that high-sided hull, the Cobra 700 is arranged as a genuine four-berth cruiser with two cabins. A review in Yachting Monthly noted that it has four berths in two cabins, along with an enclosed heads.
Headroom is 1.8 metres—sufficient for a boat of this size—and helps keep the interior from feeling like a camping tent. The budget-family brief is clear: the 700 was meant to sleep a small crew in reasonable, unpretentious comfort. Its two-cabin layout also provides a degree of privacy that’s unusual in a 23-footer.
Rig and Handling
The masthead-sloop rig carries 245 square feet of sail. With a displacement-length ratio above 300, the Cobra 700 is no featherweight for its waterline, but its sporty underwater shape allows it to perform well in moderate conditions.
Period reviews describe the boat as ideally suited to moderate seafaring. That assessment also marks its limits: this is a coastwise and sheltered-water cruiser, not a rough-weather voyager.
The twin-keel arrangement draws just three feet. That shallow draft aids trailerability and makes the boat more tolerant of grounding on tidal shores.
Construction and Known Issues
The most sobering point in the record is that build quality was below average. Many of the 50 boats were fitted out from kits rather than completed by the factory. Cobra Yachts offered several models as bare hulls or kits for home completion, and the 700 was among them.
As a result, fit-out quality varies from hull to hull. Where amateur completion occurred, a buyer or owner should expect possible inconsistencies in joinery, hardware bedding, and systems routing.
Ownership Prospects
Good examples of the Cobra 700 make excellent, affordable starter boats, despite the caveat about uneven construction. With only 50 afloat, patient shoppers are more likely to find the right boat if they hold out for a factory-finished example or a well-executed kit completion.
Its shallow draft, enclosed heads, and four berths make the Cobra 700 a plausible first step into family cruising without the carrying costs of a larger yacht.
The Verdict
The Cobra 700 is a compact, beamy, high-sided Feltham design that combines four-berth accommodation with decent moderate-weather performance in a 23-foot twin-keel package. Its scarcity and variable kit-built finish are real drawbacks, but a sound example offers a sensible, low-cost entry into cruising.
Pros
- Roomy for its length, with 1.8 m headroom and four berths in two cabins
- Shallow 3 ft twin-keel draft helps with launching and tidal grounding
- Stiff hull, with a ballast ratio near 47 percent and a sporty underwater shape
Cons
- Below-average build quality across the class
- Many hulls were kit-finished, resulting in uneven fit-out quality
- Only 50 were built, limiting choice on the used market
