Design and Construction
The Mk II is built in glass-reinforced plastic, with a 7ft 2in beam and a displacement above 2,000lb. Two keel configurations were offered: a fin-keel model drawing 3ft 0in and a bilge-keel version drawing just 2ft 2in. On the bilge-keel hull the ballast is encapsulated within the GRP keels themselves, a construction choice that removes external ballast bolts from the equation and lets the boat be hauled out or dried out upright on a hard or beach — a real advantage for owners who maintain their own bottoms. Below the waterline the rudder is skeg-protected, and the hull carries a low profile with a noted overhang at the stern that owners describe as good looking. The only skin fittings on at least one well-documented example were those serving the self-draining cockpit, a minimal through-hull count that simplifies the underwater profile.
Rig and Handling
The masthead sloop rig carries a sail area in the range of 154 to 175 square feet, modest canvas for a 20-footer but well matched to the boat's weight and 16ft 3in waterline. Owners who have sailed both keel types report that the fin-keel version will probably sail better than the bilge-keel model, which trades upwind ability for the ground-touching convenience of its twin keels. That trade is deliberate: the bilge keels are ideal for running up a beach or onto a drying mooring, and several Corribees in capable hands have exploited exactly that trait on significant voyages, including a double Atlantic crossing, a passage to the Azores, and circumnavigations of the UK.
Accommodations
Down below, the Mk II provides four berths, a sink, and a stove, with a cabin headroom of 4ft 8in — enough, as one owner put it, to sit comfortably. The space is minimal by any modern standard, but the layout reflects the boat's origins as a voyage-capable miniature rather than a weekender with standing headroom.
Known Issues
The stern overhang that gives the Mk II its looks is not ideal for outboard motor mounting, a limitation owners note when describing the boat's aesthetic strengths. The skeg-protected rudder and encapsulated ballast avoid some common small-boat failure points, but the outboard-stern geometry remains a practical constraint for anyone relying on auxiliary power from the transom.
The Verdict
The Corribee Mk II is a small, genuinely voyaging-capable Tucker design whose bilge-keel option and encapsulated ballast make it uniquely manageable for the do-it-yourself owner who dries out or beaches the boat. Its modest size, low headroom, and stern-outboard limitation are the price of that simplicity, but the Atlantic and Azores passages argue that the design punches well above its length.
Pros
- Bilge-keel ballast encapsulated in GRP; dries out upright for easy maintenance
- Minimal skin fittings; skeg-protected rudder
- Documented offshore passages including double Atlantic crossing
Cons
- Stern overhang poor for outboard motor mounting
- 4ft 8in headroom limits below-deck comfort
- Fin keel likely sails better, leaving bilge-keel version a handling compromise
