Including her bowsprit and bumpkin, the Nimble 24 measures 28.42 feet overall. She has a 24.17-foot waterline, an 8.25-foot beam, and a displacement of 2,600 pounds, including 900 pounds of lead ballast. On paper, those figures produce a ballast-displacement ratio near 35 percent and a capsize screen around 2.4.
Design and Construction
The hull is solid fiberglass, with lead ballast and a keel-and-centerboard arrangement that gives the boat two markedly different drafts. With the board raised, she draws 1 foot 4 inches. Lower it, and she draws 4 feet 4 inches. That change from 1.33 to 4.17 feet is the design’s defining feature: she can nose into creeks and shoals that would stop a conventional fin-keeler, then gain more windward grip once the board is down.
The outboard rudder pivots on a pintle rather than a post, and the tiller attaches directly to the blade. It’s a simple arrangement suited to shallow water, without a vulnerable skeg or exposed shaft.
Rig, Sailing Qualities, and Handling
The rig resists a tidy label. Technically, the Nimble 24 is a masthead ketch because the mizzen stands forward of the rudder pivot. Yet she’s almost always called a yawl: the tiny aftermost mast sits so far aft that it reads as a yawl’s riding sail.
Whatever the terminology, the split rig spreads a reported 252 square feet of sail across two short masts rather than one tall stick. That makes the sail plan manageable when sailing short-handed.
Owners report that the boat holds a steady course to weather much like a larger full-keel boat, a trait they credit to the long stub keel. One owner lashed the tiller and sailed closehauled in 25 knots without touching it. The Nimble 24 tacks through roughly 100 degrees. With the centerboard raised and the tiller secured, she’ll fall off a few degrees downwind but continue sailing upwind—a useful self-steering tendency.
The centerboard also serves as a rough depth sounder. Owners report feeling it bump the bottom, signaling that it’s time to come about.
Accommodations and Cruising Practicalities
Below, the Nimble 24 is a compact coastal cruiser rather than a miniature ocean racer. Owners mention a chart table for passage planning, brass lamps that provide warm light at anchor, and a gimbaled stove on which one owner brewed coffee without spilling it. These details add up to a usable, though snug, interior.
On deck, a deep lazarette in the cockpit keeps running rigging coiled and ready. The outboard well shelters the engine without intruding into the cabin.
Ownership and Production
Jerry Koch founded Nimble Boats in 1985. He partnered with Ted Brewer on the Nimble 20 and 30 before the 24 appeared as a lengthened derivative. Koch died in 2003, and few Nimbles were built after the early 2000s. The Nimble 24 therefore belongs to a finite and now-aging population of unconventional American cruisers.
The Verdict
The Nimble 24 is a characterful shallow-draft cruiser that trades outright speed for access to shoal water and surprising weatherliness from her stub keel. The split ketch-or-yawl rig is manageable short-handed, while the centerboard’s ability to bump the bottom and warn of diminishing depth is a genuinely clever cruising aid.
She is, however, a small and narrowly beamed boat with limited interior volume. Her production run was also short enough that finding a sound example may take patience.
Pros
- Centerboard provides 1'4" raised draft for gunkholing and 4'4" lowered draft for better windward grip
- Holds a steady, full-keel-like course to weather, according to owner reports
- Split rig is manageable short-handed; the far-aft mizzen invites the “yawl” nickname
- Centerboard can bump the bottom and signal when it’s time to tack in shallow water
Cons
- Narrow 8.25-foot beam limits accommodation space
- Finite production after Koch’s 2003 death, with few boats built after the early 2000s
- Outboard well and tiller-direct rudder are simple but exposure-prone in hard use
