The Mariner 19 descends from the Rhodes 19, a 1945 centerboard racer-daysailer, and shares its hull form.
Design and Construction
The Mariner 19 is built predominantly of fiberglass, with a rounded raked stem, a vertical transom, and a transom-hung rudder controlled by a tiller. Rebel’s Spindrift version used slightly updated hull and deck molds and added portlights on both sides of the cabin.
Unlike the wider Mariner 19 range, which included a fixed fin keel or optional centerboard, Rebel built only centerboard boats. The hull traces directly to the Rhodes 19. Steve Henkel notes that the underbody looked old-fashioned by the time Rebel built it. Stuart Marine later attributed that impression to slightly inaccurate sales-brochure drawings rather than the boats themselves, stating that the drawings—not the hulls—show a narrower entry than the original Rhodes lines. Richard Sherwood describes a sharp bow entry and high freeboard, traits that suit a daysailer more than a modern racer.
Rig, Performance, and Handling
The boat carries a fractional Bermuda sloop rig. Its mast tabernacle and the centerboard version’s shallow 0.83-foot retracted draft make trailer launching relatively easy.
With the centerboard down, the boat draws 4.92 feet. The keel-equipped variant draws 3.30 feet and offers more stability, although Rebel built none of those boats. Sherwood found that the Mariner could handle heavy weather, a capability he tied directly to the 210-pound centerboard acting as ballast when lowered.
The sail plan totals 184 square feet, including a 115-square-foot mainsail. The design has an average PHRF rating of 285 and a hull speed of 5.65 knots—figures that place it firmly among typical daysailers rather than thoroughbreds.
Accommodations
Below deck, the Mariner has a small cuddy cabin. O’Day enlarged it in 1969 under the “2+2” designation, and the Spindrift boats inherited that layout unchanged.
Headroom is a snug 44 inches. Two people can sleep in the bow V-berth, while two quarter berths increase capacity to four. There’s no pretense of cruising volume; consistent with a 19-foot trailerable boat, the cabin provides basic shelter for overnight stays and space for gear.
Known Issues
Spindrift production has one documented competitive anomaly. Hull No. 4037 was a factory boat brought to the 1981 Mariner Nationals by company president John Barnett. It was reputed to be about 40% lighter than O’Day-built boats, and class officers later retroactively revoked its measurement certificate and re-scored the event.
Beyond that, the only noted quirk is the discrepancy in Stuart’s brochure drawings. As mentioned above, the builder attributed it to the artwork rather than the hull.
Refits and Ownership
Spindrift built only a small number of boats before Stuart Marine became the licensed builder in 1986. As a result, most Mariner 19s on the water are earlier O’Day hulls or later Stuart boats.
Rebel’s 78 centerboard-only Mariners form a distinct subset. They can be identified by hull numbers 4000-4078 and the added side portlights. A 3 to 6 hp outboard provides the usual docking power. Owners can also fit the optional 105-square-foot genoa, spinnaker, or boom vang to extend the boat’s daysailing range without changing the underlying hull.
The Verdict
The Spindrift Mariner 19 is a small but clearly defined footnote in the history of a long-lived, Rhodes-derived design: a limited centerboard-only production run with updated tooling and one stained racing result. As a boat, it inherits the Mariner’s docile, trailerable character and weather-tolerant hull. Most of the features that distinguish the Spindrift are cosmetic and historical rather than structural.
Pros
- Shares the proven Rhodes 19 hull, with a sharp entry and high freeboard
- The 210 lb ballasted centerboard contributes to heavy-weather tolerance while allowing easy trailering
- Added cabin portlights admit more light to the cuddy than the earlier molds
Cons
- Only 78 were built, limiting spares and class-specific support
- Centerboard only, with no keel-stability option of the kind offered elsewhere in the design
- One factory boat’s reported 40% weight difference left a revoked-certificate mark on the class record
