Design and Construction
The Sun Cat is a small monohull with a length overall of 16.5 feet and a waterline length of 15 feet, a beam of 7.25 feet, and a displacement of 1,200 pounds. Clark Mills gave the boat a catboat sailplan on a Bermuda rig, carrying a single 165-square-foot mainsail — a configuration that later distinguishes the original from the Com-Pac Sun Cat developed in 2000, which adopted a gaff rig instead. The original Sun Cat is further identified by a sail emblem of a sun with a C in the center. Draft varies from 0.75 feet with bilgeboards up to 2.58 feet with them down, and the design was offered across several sub-types: bilgeboard, centerboard, or fixed keel. A transom-mounted rudder completes the steering arrangement.
Rig and Handling
As a cat-rigged daysailer, the Sun Cat relies on a single large mainsail for propulsion, which keeps crew work simple on a boat this size. The open daysailer version carried a roller reefing boom, a feature Mills used to make sail reduction straightforward without leaving the cockpit. Bilgeboards gave the daysailer a shoal-draft capability for trailering and gunkholing, while the pocket-cruiser variants with enclosed cabins were built either with a centerboard or a fixed keel, trading some simplicity for cabin accommodations.
Accommodations
Sun Cats were built in two broad formats. The open daysailer came with an 11-foot self-bailing cockpit and an optional removable cuddy cabin, a flexible arrangement that let owners sail bare-boat or add shelter as needed. The alternative was a pocket cruiser with a proper enclosed cabin, available with centerboard or keel, for those who wanted overnight capability in a 16-foot hull. Dilks & Company offered the open daysailer either as a kit or a complete boat, broadening access for amateur builders.
Known Issues
The known variation lies in configuration: buyers and owners must be alert to the three keel/board types (bilgeboard, centerboard, fixed keel) and to the open-versus-cabin hull forms, since each carries different handling and trailering implications. The strip-planked Hull #1 is a one-off personal boat and not representative of production fiberglass construction.
Refits and Ownership
Ownership of a Sun Cat 17-1 can mean anything from a kit-built open daysailer to a factory-complete pocket cruiser. The roller reefing boom and removable cuddy on the open version are period features worth preserving, and the Bermuda rig is the mark of the original against the later gaff-rigged Com-Pac. Trailering is inherent to the design as a trailerable sailboat, and the shoal draft with boards up suits yard storage and shallow launch sites.
The Verdict
The Sun Cat 17-1 is a Clark Mills exercise in minimalist trailerable sailing: a 1,200-pound catboat with a single 165-square-foot main, offered in open and cabin forms and multiple board types. Its appeal is historical and practical rather than luxurious, and its simplicity is its strength.
Pros
- Clark Mills design with documented 1960 pedigree and a surviving Hull #1 on public display
- Catboat rig with roller reefing boom simplifies sail handling
- Bilgeboards yield 0.75-foot trailering draft and 2.58-foot sailing draft
- Offered as kit or complete boat, open or cabin, centerboard or keel
Cons
- 16.5-foot length limits accommodation to daysailing or minimal pocket cruising
- Three board/keel configurations complicate used-boat identification
