Sun Cat 17-1 Sailboats for Sale

Drawing Diagram

Builder drawing

Hull Type

Monohull · centerboard

Rig

Cat Rig

LOA

16.5' · 5.03 m

Disp.

1,200 lbs · 544 kg

First year

1972

Designed by the legendary Clark Mills in 1960, the Sun Cat—subsequently referred to as the Sun Cat 171 or the Dilks Sun Cat—was originally envisioned as a wooden, stripplanked dayboat for navigating the shallow, sandy reaches of Florida’s Gulf Coast. Mills, famously known for designing the Optimist pram and the Windmill class, sought to create a vessel that combined the immense interior and cockpit volume of traditional New England catboats with the ultrashallow draft required for beaching and gunkholing.