The boat’s lasting appeal doesn’t rest on racing pedigree or demand for one. Instead, it combines towability, easy launching and recovery, genuine composure in heavy weather, and plain fun afloat.
Design and Construction
The Skipper 17 began as a 17-foot dayboat and passed through several distinct generations. Early boats had a single 3/4-inch retractable steel centreplate. From the late 1970s onward, every boat left the mould with twin 3/8-inch retractable steel bilge plates. These weigh only 75 pounds each and can be raised or lowered from the cockpit.
All versions have fully retractable steel keel plates. Because the ballast ratio is modest, much of the boat’s stiffness comes from the hull form. Sources differ on the exact ballast figure, but the Skipper’s stability comes largely from shape rather than lead.
The 1972 cabin version retained the single centreplate, whose case took up cabin space. The later twin-plate arrangement removed the case entirely and opened up the interior.
Rig and Handling
The Skipper 17 isn’t a racing dinghy. She’s short, beamy, and too heavy to plane easily, though she will beat most mini-cruisers up to 17 feet. She is directionally stable while always tacking readily.
She sails well to windward, shows little tendency to broach downwind, and handles heavy weather competently. Even when laid on her beam-ends, she bounces back upright virtually dry. Most boats carry jib roller reefing and slab reefing for the mainsail. Because the boat sails quite well under main alone, the crew can furl the jib completely if the wind rises unexpectedly and tame her right down. In gusty conditions, however, she becomes too lively unless sail area is reduced.
The Mk II brought several rig refinements: spreaders on the cap shrouds, plating to the toe rail, a jib sheeted inside the shrouds, and a black anodised mast and boom.
Cockpit and Accommodation
Early production boats were open dayboats with a forward storage cuddy. Later versions gained a proper cabin, and a 1972 redesign provided overnight space for two adults and perhaps two small children. The twin-plate arrangement greatly increased cabin room.
The saloon has good sitting headroom. A table slides down from the roof on the king post, and there is storage for a cooker and a loo. The cabin can shelter four adults or sleep two adults and a child.
The self-draining cockpit is genuinely large by the standards of the class. Source descriptions range from enough space for four people seated on the windward side to room for six to eight adults. Two stowage bins provide space useful for fenders. The crew sit well forward to avoid stern squat.
Deck Layout and Known Issues
The raised, raked cabin top and slim side decks make moving about the cabin for mooring work admittedly awkward. Visibility around the coachroof from the cockpit remains quite good, and the boat is stable when someone steps onto the side decks or foredeck. The shortcoming is therefore one of ergonomics rather than insecurity.
A fixed-bilge-keel version of the Mariner did not sell well, chiefly because it trailered poorly.
Later Versions
The 1985 Mk II introduced larger windows, cabin-side and headlining mouldings, and revised handrails on the cabin roof. It also gained a V-shaped dropped section in the transom for the tiller, replacing a slot that wasn’t entirely weathertight.
Later Eagle 525 versions added a cockpit well for an outboard and a tabernacle with A-frame mast-raising gear as standard, along with incremental increases in ballast and sail area. Morton Boats of Eagle nr Lincoln built the Eagle 525 into the late 1990s; to all intents, it was the same boat.
The Verdict
The Skipper 17 endures because it asks little of its owner while rewarding short-handed cruising with stability and shelter. It does so in a package that trails, launches, and recovers without drama.
Its long production run and many generations give buyers a choice between an open dayboat and a cabin cruiser. All versions share the reassuring habit of standing nearly upright when dried out and recovering dry from a knockdown.
Pros
- Forty-year production run, with more than a thousand hulls built under three names
- Fully retractable steel plates and trailer-friendly draft
- Self-draining cockpit that is large by class standards
- Composed in heavy weather and difficult to capsize
Cons
- High, sloping coachroof and narrow side decks make moving around the cabin awkward
- Modest ballast ratio means the boat becomes lively in gusts unless sail is reduced
- The centreplate case compromises cabin space in early single-plate versions
