Com-Pac 23 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Hull and Construction

The Com-Pac 23 carries a traditional profile that reads larger than its length. The sheerline sweeps aft from a short bowsprit before kicking back up at the transom, and the box cabintrunk with round or oval bronze ports gives the deck a coherent, purposeful look. Beneath the waterline, a long shoal keel keeps draft to just over two feet — enough ballast at 1,340 pounds to achieve real stiffness, yet shallow enough to launch off most ramps and thread the shallows that stop deeper-drafted boats cold.

Hull construction is solid fiberglass with a balsa-cored deck. Longitudinal stringers encapsulate the bulkheads and stiffen the hull panels, providing structural continuity without relying on interior furniture to do the work. The Hutchins philosophy has always been explicit: build small boats like they are just short big boats. That ethos shows in the interior joinery, which is notably handmade. Plywood bulkheads carry teak veneers, and the teak-and-holly sole is an unusual touch for a boat of this size. The craftsmanship exceeds what most production pocket cruisers of the era delivered.

Rig and Handling

The 23 is a conventional sloop with a mast that stands thirty feet off the water and was expressly designed to be raised and lowered without a gin pole — a real advantage for trailering. The sheeting angles are wide, and the boat is not close-winded; on the beat it develops weather helm that rewards a skipper who cracks off rather than fights. Where the design earns its reputation is on a reach: owners report regularly hitting the theoretical hull speed of 6 knots in this point of sail. The long waterline — just over 20 feet — supports that hull speed despite modest overall length.

The cockpit deserves particular mention. At more than seven feet long, it is the standout design feature on the boat and a deliberate choice: interior volume was not sacrificed at the cockpit's expense. It self-bails, incorporates two lockers and a bridgedeck, and provides genuine leg support at the tiller. The original tiller was laminated mahogany and ash. Standing rigging is lighter than it looks, sized with the expectation that the mast will be stepped and unstepped regularly. Teak handrails on the cabintop and molded nonskid keep the narrow side decks navigable.

Accommodations

The interior is more capable than the hull length implies, thanks to a beam approaching eight feet. Ventilation is generous: two overhead hatches and six opening bronze portlights. The layout sleeps four with some comfort — two settee berths and two forward berths — and a portable table mounts on the bulkhead. The 23/2 revision in the mid-1980s brought the most consequential interior upgrade: a hide-away galley with a two-burner stovetop to port and a stainless sink to starboard that fold and slide aft, recovering the space when not in use. A storage compartment between the forward berths accommodates a portable head, though there is no enclosed head compartment; the space simply will not support one without a serious compromise elsewhere.

Engine and Drive

The overwhelming majority of Com-Pac 23s came with outboard power mounted on a transom bracket, with an eight-horsepower unit being the most common configuration. A built-in locker is designed to house a six-gallon fuel tank. The outboard arrangement has a practical upside: when something fails, the motor goes in the car and gets fixed without the boat leaving the water.

A small number of hulls — roughly 35 were built — came fitted with a 10-horsepower single-cylinder Yanmar diesel as the 23 D variant. The inboard option provides obvious advantages including the ability to charge batteries efficiently, and these boats are genuinely scarce. Retrofitting a diesel is discussed on the Com-Pac owners' community site, though the practicality depends heavily on how long a given owner intends to keep the boat.

Model Variants and What to Watch

Three main variants exist. The original 23 predates the hide-away galley and the bowsprit. The 23/2 arrived in the mid-1980s with the galley, upgraded interior finishing, and a bowsprit that added needed sail area. The 23/3, which followed in the early 1990s, introduced mostly tooling refinements — the small round portlights gave way to larger oval ones. Knowing which variant you are inspecting matters for understanding what equipment to expect.

Trailerable boats present a specific inspection challenge: they can spend years on their trailers, sealed and forgotten. A well-sealed, lightly used example in that situation may just need a good cleaning. One that has been leaking while stored shut can conceal rotting plywood and a compromised cabin sole. The construction quality means a well-cared-for boat holds up exceptionally well; the variable is entirely the care it has received, not any structural weakness inherent to the design.

The Verdict

The Com-Pac 23 is a pocket cruiser built with unusual seriousness for its class. The construction philosophy — handmade joinery, solid fiberglass hull, quality materials throughout — puts it several steps above what most small production builders delivered. It is not a racing boat, not a bluewater passage-maker, and not a boat for sailors who need pointing ability. It is a confident coastal cruiser that reaches well, fits on a trailer, and sails waters too shallow for most boats its size.

Pros