Design and Construction
The Mk V wears her traditional heritage plainly: period reviews described her as characterized precisely by old-fashioned lines, yet underneath sits a thoroughly modern structure. The hull and deck are solid fiberglass, with an iron ballast and a centerboard keel arrangement that lets the draft run from 1.40 meters down to about 70 centimeters, giving her access to shoal creeks at pivot and offshore stability when lowered. Displacing 2,250 kg with a beam of 2.66 meters and a hull length of 7.32 meters, she carries the compact proportions of her ancestors while meeting current build standards. The deckhouse is the defining visual and practical element — its rather pronounced shapes are a solution almost disappeared in favor of wider beams, and on this size of boat it yields interior headroom that would otherwise be impossible to achieve.
Rig and Handling
All sail handling is deferred to six winches in the cockpit, a concentrated control layout that keeps the crew seated and central. The two halyard winches sit to the side of the companionway, leaving the primary cockpit pair and others for sheets and tacking. Steering is by a tiller rather than wheel, reinforcing the traditional helm feel. With 32.62 square meters of sail area, the boat is managed through manual systems rather than powered assists, which suits her character as a hands-on coastal cruiser.
Accommodations
Below, the deckhouse does more than recall a bygone era — it allows a person to stand square, a genuine concession to comfort in a 24-footer. The interior includes a true kitchen area and a separate bathroom, uncommon partitions at this length. Sleeping is arranged with a double berth in the bow, two additional berths that can be added in the saloon, and in the stern two storage spaces of which one converts into an extra guard berth. The pronounced deckhouse volume is what makes these spaces habitable rather than merely nominal.
The Verdict
The Cornish Crabber 24 Mk V succeeds as a modern boat with the soul of a classic. Wolstenholme’s design respects the original 1980s pedigree while solving the perennial small-boat problem of headroom through bold deckhouse geometry. She is not a minimalist trailer-sailer but a proper miniature cruiser with enclosed facilities and a flexible berth plan.
Pros
- Liftable drift centerboard gives 1.40 m to 0.70 m draft range for shoal and offshore use
- Standing headroom via pronounced deckhouse at 24 ft LOA
- Separate bathroom and proper galley unusual in this size
- Six-winch cockpit keeps all maneuvering crew-centered
Cons
- Traditional tiller steering and manual systems demand active handling
- Old-fashioned lines and narrow beam trade modern interior volume for period aesthetic
