This cat-rigged centerboard skiff weighs just 200 pounds, has a rated capacity of 400 pounds, and can be towed behind any vehicle with four wheels. Its defining feature is its unusual hull form. A snub bow leads into sections that flare dramatically near the maststep, while the beam carries aft like the wings of a paper airplane. The overall beam is 7 feet 4 inches, giving a length-to-beam ratio of 45 percent, though the waterline beam remains much narrower.
Design and Construction
The Raider’s distinctive flared sections aren’t hollow lockers; they’re filled with flotation. That buoyancy not only makes the boat extremely light and stable but also gives it the unique ability to self-right after a full knockdown.
Construction quality is excellent. The laminate schedule specifies biaxial E-glass and vinylester resin, while the curved hull sections require sophisticated tooling. The result is a boat that is both visually appealing and structurally sound. Drawe’s automotive background is evident in the engineered approach to a hull that looks more like a folded paper plane than a traditional dinghy.
Rig and Handling
The standard Raider 16 has a two-piece aluminum mast and no headsail. Instead, it relies on a loose-fitted mainsail released by a simple hook arrangement at the clew and outhaul.
Despite its unstayed single-sail rig, the boat is easily driven and very close-winded. It also tracks well with the centerboard down. Draft is just 6 inches with the board raised and 3 feet 5 inches with it lowered, providing both shallow-water access and real windward grip. The rudder kicks up.
A 48-inch tiller extension allows the crew to sit outboard and steer from the wing-like aft beam. A fractionally rigged asymmetrical chute, with a sleeve and a clever halyard-and-downhaul arrangement, broadens the boat’s downwind range. Hardware throughout is by Harken and Ronstan.
Cockpit and Daysailing Use
There are no berths or cabin; this is a pure daysailer. The cockpit is built around the broad aft beam. The Raider Sport adds a built-in cooler and storage, with a spacious, comfortable cockpit for crew daysailing.
With a rated capacity of 400 pounds and a displacement of 200 pounds, the Raider can carry two adults and their gear within its flared, flotation-filled hull without compromising its self-righting margin.
Maintenance Considerations
The centerboard and kick-up rudder are moving mechanical systems. Their pivot bedding should remain sound to preserve the stated drafts of 6 inches with the board up and 3 feet 5 inches with it down.
The sophisticated tooling needed to create the curved, flared hull sections may also make amateur repairs to damaged flare sections difficult.
Raider Sport and Ownership
The 200-pound hull and trailerable format make ownership relatively light-touch. The Raider Sport has a larger rig and carbon spar, with all lines led aft, as well as an asymmetrical spinnaker option. Waters Sail Loft in Columbia, S.C., developed the sails and rig for this version.
Raider Sailboats is now based in Sebastian, Florida, a relocation from the original Vero Beach build site.
The Verdict
The Raider 16 is a genuinely unusual daysailer: a 200-pound, cat-rigged skiff whose flared, flotation-filled wings provide a self-righting capability almost unknown in this size class. Drawe’s automotive-engineering logic produced a boat that is both structurally sound and visually distinct, while the standard model’s simplicity makes it an easy trailer-sailer.
The Sport version replaces the two-piece aluminum mast with a carbon spar and adds downwind capability and cockpit comforts.
Pros
- Unique ability to self-right after a full knockdown, thanks to the flared flotation sections
- 200-pound displacement; towable behind any four-wheel vehicle
- Excellent construction using biaxial E-glass and vinylester resin
- Easily driven, close-winded cat rig
- Kick-up rudder and centerboard provide shallow-water access
Cons
- No headsail
- Minimal accommodation beyond cockpit storage
- Sophisticated hull tooling may make amateur repairs to damaged flare sections difficult
