The result is a heavy, narrow, bilge-keeled pocket cruiser. Its proportions and ballast plan mark it as a traditional family boat rather than a modern performance craft.
Design and Construction
The hull and deck are both solid fiberglass. The boat measures 24 feet overall with an 8.75-foot beam, giving it a length-to-beam ratio of 2.74—narrow by contemporary standards.
Displacement is 5,340 pounds, including 1,435 pounds of iron ballast. The resulting 27 percent ballast ratio and displacement-length ratio of 322 place the Rowan Crown firmly among what one design summary calls “heavy cruisers.” That mass isn’t wasted: a capsize screening value of 2.00 and Motion Comfort Ratio of 21.8 describe a stable hull with easy motion for its size.
The twin bilge keels draw only 3.25 to 3.55 feet, depending on load. That shallow draft lets the boat dry out or enter shallow marinas that a fin-keeled 24-footer couldn’t reach. The underwater body has about 172 square feet of wetted surface, while an immersion rate of 595 pounds per inch indicates a hull that sits heavily and changes trim slowly.
Rig and Handling
The Rowan Crown carries a masthead sloop rig. Its specified running-rigging lengths are a 60-foot mainsheet and 24-foot jib and genoa sheets, all 3/8-inch in diameter, plus a 52.8-foot spinnaker sheet for downwind sailing.
Under power, the recorded calculated maximum speeds are about 4.3 knots with a Yanmar 1GM10 and 4.5 knots with a Bukh DV10. Both figures are well below the theoretical hull speed of 5.9 knots for a displacement hull of this length. An outboard is often fitted for docking and maneuvering rather than a permanent inboard. This keeps the lazarette and bilge simple, but it also means the buyer is dealing with portable power.
Accommodation and Capacities
Below, the Rowan Crown has a single-cabin arrangement with 2+2 berths. It’s the classic pocket-cruiser compromise: a double berth forward and two settee berths aft. The single cabin provides the boat’s only enclosed private space; the remaining berths are in the main saloon.
Water capacity is 55 gallons, compared with a fuel allowance of just 12 gallons. That balance reinforces the Rowan Crown’s character as a sail-and-anchor coastal cruiser rather than a motoring trawler.
Verdict
The MacWester Rowan Crown is a modest, thoroughly traditional small cruiser. Roy’s early-1980s lines and Trident’s solid-fiberglass construction produced a heavy, stable, shallow-draft boat that is easy to keep and simple to handle, though slow under power and narrow on deck.
For a couple or small family interested in coastal wandering, it offers an honest 2+2 layout and bilge keels that open up shallow water.
Pros
- Bilge keels provide 3.25–3.55 ft of draft and grounding tolerance
- Heavy-displacement hull with a 2.00 capsize screening value and 21.8 Motion Comfort Ratio
- Solid-fiberglass hull and deck
- Simple, outboard-driven maneuvering
Cons
- Narrow 2.74 length-to-beam ratio limits interior beam
- Calculated motoring speed is only 4.3–4.5 knots
- Single cabin and 2+2 berths suit only small crews
