Design and Construction
Greg Elliott drew the boat at precisely 5.9 meters to meet the NZ Trailer Yacht Association limits for boats under six meters. He built the first wooden hulls himself in the early 1980s.
Numbers grew quickly once production moved to fiberglass. Today’s molded hulls come directly from the plug of an original wooden boat, so neither the hull shape nor the cabin top has changed since the 1980s. The only notable modifications have been a relocated mainsheet traveler and the sealing of the outboard well; neither altered the hull or cabin-top shape.
The 5.9 displaces 1,323 pounds, including 551 pounds of lead ballast. Its lifting keel gives a maximum draft of 4 feet 3 inches. It’s a true trailer yacht, intended to be towed behind a modest car to sailing events across New Zealand.
Rig, Handling, and Racing
The boat carries an efficient, single-spreader fractional rig with a well-balanced sail plan totaling 265 square feet. It’s sailed by a crew of three.
Combined with a displacement-length ratio of 95.28 and a sail-area-displacement ratio of 35.18, that rig helps explain the 5.9’s emergence as a high-performing trailer yacht. The boat won the 1983 Trailer Yacht National Championships, and its one-design fleet is regarded as one of the fiercest in New Zealand.
Deck Layout and Accommodation
The practical deck layout suits a three-person crew handling the fractional rig. Its straightforward arrangement and rig also help make the 5.9 a low-maintenance sailboat. The unchanged cabin-top shape reflects the class’s broader physical continuity since the 1980s.
Sealing the original open outboard well was a step toward a drier cockpit arrangement. Along with the moved mainsheet traveler, it remains one of the design’s few minor updates.
Ownership and the Traveller Series
Owners race through the Elliott 5.9 Traveller Series, which provides the boat’s one-design class structure. Because the shape hasn’t changed, an early wooden boat and a modern fiberglass hull share the same hull lines.
The original towing brief remains relevant, too. For a keelboat of this length, the ability to tow it behind a modest car makes transport and storage unusually easy.
The Verdict
The Elliott 5.9 is a purpose-built racer-cruiser trailer yacht that has retained both its shape and its competitive edge for decades. Its origins in a restrictive sub-six-meter rule produced a light, easily trailered boat and exceptionally even fleet competition.
Pros
- Designed to a strict sub-six-meter rule and towable behind a modest car
- Fiberglass hulls molded from an original wooden boat, preserving the 1980s shape
- Efficient fractional rig and balanced sail plan for a three-person crew
- Fiercely competitive one-design Traveller Series in New Zealand
Cons
- Only minor updates since the 1980s, notably the traveler relocation and outboard-well sealing
- Early wooden boats predated the expansion of the fiberglass fleet
