Quickstep 24 Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

Brewer gave the Quickstep 24 moderate freeboard, a pronounced sheer line, and a canoe stern, with a nearly full keel and attached rudder that reads as traditional rather than racy. The keel is cut away significantly at the forefoot, with a second bite taken out just forward of the rudder. Those cutouts are not cosmetic: they reduce wetted surface and drag, and they shrink the lateral plane so the boat meets less resistance to turning and is less inclined to stall halfway through a tack. All hulls are solid fiberglass laminates. Before Shannon Boat Company took over, hulls were laid up with woven roving, chopped strand mat, and polyester resin; Shannon shifted to unidirectional and bidirectional fiberglass and used vinylester resin for the first below-waterline layer to help keep osmotic blistering at bay. Decks are balsa cored, and the hull-to-deck joint lands on an inward flange with sealant and closely spaced mechanical fasteners. The production record runs through at least four New England builders — Stanard Boat Works, C.E. Ryder Corp., The Anchorage, and Shannon Boat Company — and these are well-built production boats that have held up well under reasonable care.

Rig and Handling

The Quickstep 24 is a masthead sloop with a well-balanced sail plan and a modest sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 16.4, paired with a displacement-length ratio of 260. Those numbers describe a boat that is no rocket but is considered a great sailing little boat by all reports. Most examples lead halyards to the cabin top so the crew can tack and trim without leaving the cockpit. The cockpit itself is huge, comfortably seating four adults, and passengers can sit far enough forward that even with four or five aboard the transom does not drag through the water. A 1978 manufacturer brochure listed a lighter 3,300-pound displacement and 1,300-pound ballast for a 39 percent ratio, but tester research suggests only hulls one and two were actually built to that spec; the fleet as sailed is the heavier, stiffer version.

Accommodations

Inside, the Quickstep 24 is best described by testers as a daysailer with overnight capabilities. A V-berth forward is adequate for two normal-sized adults, though the head sits in that same area with no privacy. Port and starboard quarter berths are sized for children but more often pressed into storage duty, and some models gave up the port quarter berth for a cockpit-seat-accessible storage locker. Galley facilities are minimal. The emphasis is clearly on daytime capacity and simple overnights rather than cruising comfort.

Power and Known Issues

Propulsion tells the story of a small-boat compromise. Early models offered an inboard diesel, but the vast majority carry outboards of six to 9.9 horsepower mounted in a lazarette well on centerline. That centerline placement cuts pitching moment and makes the motor less likely to pop out of the water in chop, but the well cannot be raised clear when the boat is parked and it eats into storage space. On the cosmetic side, older boats — particularly those with the popular dark blue or dark green gelcoat first owners favored — are likely to need a paint job to bring back a yacht-like finish.

The Verdict

The Quickstep 24 is a thoughtfully engineered small cruiser that punches above her length in cockpit comfort and seakeeping steadiness. Brewer's keel cutouts and conservative hull form make her easy to handle and forgiving in a tack, while the New England build quality has aged reasonably. She is, however, a minimalist overnight platform with thin privacy and galley provisioning, and the outboard well is a fixed trade-off rather than a tidy retractable setup.

Pros

Stiff, well-balanced sailing character with forgiving turn-through tacks from keel cutouts
Large cockpit that supports four or five without sagging the stern
Solid-fiberglass hulls with later vinylester barrier against blistering
Centerline outboard well reduces pitch and motor ejection in chop

Cons