Acapulco 40

[zeehag]

there is a sweet acapulco 40 in of all places, acapulco--i met the owner and his crew in zihuatenejo last high season...cool folks...sweeeeet boat

[Yachtbuilder]

Good morning all,

It has been a while since I checked in here to read the latest Acapulco 40 talk. This old retired yacht builder enjoys reading this stuff (and also being of any help I can to owners, or wanta be owners).

It occurred to me that some of you might like seeing a photo of the first one I had produced (Oriana) and the last one I had produced (Maluhia). We sailed Maluhia to Hawaii in 1979. The photo here shows both boats, together in the private marina where I used to live, Makani Kai Marina on Kaheohe Bay. The photo represents the only time they were ever together, so it has a special meaning for me.

I had mentioned some time back that the current owner of Maluhia, the finest one ever built, no expense spared (well it was for me) had been for sale and somebody would get a super bargain. That sale happened last year and I won't disclose the price (I had nothing to do with the sale) but it was beyond a bargain. I am surprised someone from this site didn't jump on it. The previous owner had let this once gold plater turn into something not pleasing to look at (on the outside), the inside was still fine.

Enjoy the photo!

Garry

[gvolos]

Hi Gary,
Nice to hear from you again. Don't know if you remember, but we had a chat regarding these boats some time back. Never got to realize my dream ever since the economy went down the drain here (Greece), but as they say in this part of the world, hope dies last.
Take care of yourself Gary.


George

[Yachtbuilder]

Hi George,

Yes, I remember our conversation well. The economy in a lot of places makes it difficult for many of us to know what to do in decision making, especially boats.

If you come across another one of my boats that isn't located on the other side of the world and care to pick my brain, please feel free to do so.

Best to you,

Garry Powell
Portland, USA

[gvolos]

Thanks Garry. Will do if I so happen to find one of your lovely boats.
All the best.

[jimlaverdiere]

Good day all, I have recently purchased an Acapulco 40, some of you may know her as Tension Reliever. There were no manuals, and now I realize why that may be, as it looks like these were not production boats. Any insights, plans, drawings, would be greatly appreciated. I will soon be having the deck and hull painted as they are in need, has anyone here gone through that process, anything you learned would also be appreciated.
cheers Jim

[Yachtbuilder]

Hi Jim,

Congratulations on getting one of these lovely boats! You are right, they were not production boats in any sense of the meaning (and I don't mean that in a derogatory way). It was my desire to produce a limited number of these lovely CCA designs from the Sixties and I only did 31 of them. It was not my intent to get into the production yacht business (and I wasn't bankrolled for that anyway). I felt this design deserved to be rescued, if only for a few years. There were not a lot of sailboat designs way back then that used NACA foil sections in their hull design, but this boat was one of them. I only produced a few custom finished boats, the rest of them were sold as "hull & deck" packages, offered in various stages of completion (the way Westsail started).

I wish I still had drawings to send you but I no longer have them. I had taken in a partner in 1979 so I could take a year off and sail over to Hawaii and ended up selling the rest of my little business to him. After that the business went downhill and no longer exists. I have often wondered what happened to all my tooling, drawings, etc. No one seems to know!

At any rate, if you want to pick my brain sometime feel free to do so. However, I can't make any guarantees as to what is left in there!

By the way, for any of you who are interested in these lovely boats there is a very nice example of an owner finished boat for sale by a broker in Rockport, Maine. One of the best one's I had seen and the price is right This vessel's name is "Janine", and I believe she has been on this forum. There is also another nice one that may be coming up in Oregon soon. This one is "Wind Chime" and was built alongside mine in 1978.

Fair seas and following winds,

Garry Powell
Portland

[jimlaverdiere]

Hi, I went to have aloof at Janine, and her interior is quite different than mine, it would appear that the wood in my boat must have been recently done ,but what I do like is the ceiling of Janine, our is a foam backed vinyl type product, still in good shape. When I get a chance I will try to post some pictures.
cheers Jim

[Yachtbuilder]

Did I really say "Fair seas and following winds"?? I must have written that too early in morning, or had too many the night before! Strange, I never used to be dyslexic!!

[jimlaverdiere]

Yachtbuilder, I was going through some binders in the boat , and came across some architect's line drawings, these are too big for my scanner so I will see if a friend back home can scan them for me and I could email them to you.

[Yachtbuilder]

Hi Jim,

Yes, I would like to have anything you can send me. Thank you!

Garry

[roadglide47]

Going down nostalgia lane here and thought you might like to see 3 Acapulcos at Angel Island(S.F. Bay) over a Memorial Day weekend back in the 80's. Mine was the ketch now belonging to Tom T. in Portland, OR.

[Yachtbuilder]

Thanks for the nice photos of my boats. I rarely get to see three of them together like that. I have a photo I took myself of two of them together at Makani Kai Marina on the windward side of Oahu, which were the first and last ones I produced. One of those, the ORIANA, did a 20 year cruise around the world. The owner, Ed Atkin, wrote a very good book about it titled "One Wave at a Time". Ed is even older than I am and he still owns this lovely vessel which is docked in Brookings, Oregon, alongside another one. Any sailor who reads Ed's book will probably want one!

Garry

[SamR]

Hi All. Just registered and am excited to be able to be involved with the forum. Currently we are considering an Acapulco 40 for live aboard and cruising. It's nice to have some information about these boats, because there is so little on the internet. My one question at the moment is why would anyone change the rudder configuration? I haven't read any negative feedback about it. I hope I haven't misread any posts, or am misunderstanding this. Overall the boat seems very well suited for long distance cruising and the ones for sale represent a great value.Thanks Sam

[Yachtbuilder]

Welcome to the forum.

I was the builder of the Acapulco 40's. As to your question asking why anybody would change the rudder configuration I can only say there are some owners who may think they know more than the designer. This design originally had just a tad too much weather helm. To correct that I added a short bow "platform" to move the C/E just slightly forward and made a minor change in the shape of the rudder which simply moved the CLP just slightly aft. That was all it took. It didn't need much.

I am not sure which boat you are looking at but there is another one for sale in Maine at what I consider to be an excellent price. I built it in a partial stage of completion for the owners and they finished her out themselves, and did a very nice job. The boat I am referring to is the JANINE and is very well equipped. You can google it if curious.

These are very well constructed cruising boats, designed in 1966 (CCA) and handle well. They have gracious overhangs and don't pound when going into a head sea. They also have excellent reserve buoyancy and they don't "hobby horse". To Quote one of my favorite N.A.'s, Bob Perry, "Hobby Horses belong in Nurseries"!

The first A-40 I produced (my prototype, actually) was purchased by a couple from Oregon and they did a 20 year cruise around the world in it. That boat is the ORIANA and is known by many cruisers. He has written a good book about their adventure that anyone considering one of my boats should read: ONE WAVE AT A TIME by Ed Atkin and Bernie Houston. I will be happy to provide his email address if you, or anyone else would like to order one.

Glad you are considering one of my boats. I will be happy to help you in any way I can.

Garry L. Powell
Portland