Caribbean Sailing Yachts (CSY) is a company which built heavy-displacement recreational sailboats built during the 1970s and 1980s in Tampa, Florida. CSY was one of the first companies to recognize the impending growth of the Caribbean charter industry and although the company went out of business in the early 1980s, the well-founded boats have continued to sail the world's oceans for the past four decades. CSY's unique script logo was imprinted on a brass companionway medallion, dishware, and trailerboard design.
The CSY boats were sold directly from the factory, without any dealerships or middle-men. Two books were published showing all stages of construction. These books, entitled CSY Guide to Buying a Yacht, were used as the primary means of promotion. One 168-page soft-cover book was published in 1977. A shorter 138-page version was republished in 1979. CSY also used a film strip, plant tours, boat shows and trial sails as sales tools. CSY published a 38-page soft-cover CSY Charter Manual (1979).
Introduction Caribbean Sailing Yachts Corporation began as a charter company operating in the Caribbean. They were the first company to come up with the concept of charter ownership, pioneered by CSY founder and owner Dr. John Van Ost, a New Jersey dentist with a love of sailing. CSY developed and perfected the "charter lease back" program. In this program, an individual purchased the yacht and subsequently placed it into the charter fleet to cover the cost of the initial payments.
Prior to the end of CSY, Dr. Van Ost envisioned the timeshare concept. He aimed to build the Corsair 81 mega yacht (considered mega in its day). These yachts would be available to multiple people to rent with crew. CSY originally purchased boats from companies such as Irwin. However, chartering demanded stronger boats to withstand bare-boat charter with less experienced captains and crew.
CSY went into the boat manufacturing business, working initially with Ted Irwin, a well-known and successful designer of affordable cruising and racing sailboats in Tampa. Irwin heavily influenced the CSY 44 hull design. From 1975 to 1980, CSY built boats of between 33 and . They were similar in their appearance and hull shape. The designs feature a raised aft deck allowing for a large aft stateroom. CSY boats were built to unusually high standards of strength, durability, and quality consistent with Lloyd's design and boat building requirements.
Although many of these new boats were purchased outright by their new owners, most, particularly the 44 walk-over model, were sold under an agreement that the boat would be in charter, run by the CSY Charter Company for a number of years, after which the boat would be paid off and revert to the "original purchaser". This system is a typical arrangement with many boats under charter even today. It is known as the "charter lease back" and is used by such companies as the Moorings and Sunsail.
CSY 44s were built with either a deep or shallow draft. Deep-draft models were designed so that their draft could be modified and permanently changed to shoal draft. This enabled the same boat to initially be used as a deep-draft vessel in the Caribbean under charter, and then returned to their owner who could then make the draft modification so the boat could be cruised on the East Coast, the shallow Florida Keys, or the Bahamas.
CSY developed several models including a 33, two layouts of a 37, the popular 44' "Walkover", a 44' "Walk Through", a 44' pilothouse, and a special purpose sailing / fishing vessel known as the Bottomliner.
Construction
The CSY line was well-designed. Features like a built-in full-size trash receptacle in the galley, large refrigeration boxes (three boxes totaling on the CSY 44 WO), and a larger-than-king-size bed in the aft master cabin (CSY 44) made the boat comfortable in port as well as a good sea boat.
CSY did not use wood lamination in its construction, a technique that is the curse of many boats of this vintage. The CSY hull is up to 1.5" of solid fiberglass reinforced plastic resin with 14 dual layers (one sheet of fiberglass mat and one sheet of fiberglass weave = one layer). The avoidance of wood cores extends to the deck, which is also solid fiberglass. The only wood used in the construction of these boats are heavy laminated structural stringers, bulkheads and interior furniture.
CSY models CSY developed a full line of sailboats: the 33, the 37, the Carib 41, and the 44, of which two configurations were constructed i.e. the "walk-over", and the Pilothouse Ketch. Most of the 44s built were walk-overs, with a spacious cockpit and separate, unconnected staterooms forward and aft. Only much later did CSY build the 44 "walk-through" model, and only about 40 of these were built before CSY went out of business.
CSY Carib 41 The Carib 41 was the first production model destined for CSY's new charter bases in Tortola and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Designed by Alan Gurney, a total of 30 were built between 1970 and 1973.
CSY 44
Walk-Over 44 This model is referred to as "walk-over" because one has to walk up to the cockpit from the main salon and then down to the separate aft cabin.
LOA: LWL: Beam: Draft (shoal): Draft (deep): Note – the keel is designed to be modified by the owner from deep draft to shoal draftCSY guide to buying a yacht by John R. Van Ost Ballast (deep): 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) Ballast (shoal): 10,000 lb (4,500 kg) Disp (deep): 33,000 lb (15 t) Disp (shoal): 31,000 lb (14.1 t) Sail area: (100%) 906 ft2 (84.2 m2) Mast above water: Mast above water (tall mast) Fuel: 100 US gal (380 L) Water: 400 US gal (1,500 L) in two separate tanks Original engine: Perkins 4-154 dieselmany boats have been repowered with different engines Cabin headroom: Designers: Frank Hamlin, Peter Schmitt
The CSY 44 WO is typically what one thinks of when someone mentions a CSY. This is due to its use as a charter boat in the Caribbean in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Walk Through 44 About 41 of these were built, with the last boat being number 42, completed outside the yard.
LOA: LWL: Beam: Draft: (deep) , (shoal) Ballast: (deep) 12,000 lb (5,400 kg), (shoal) 10,000 lb (4,536 kg) Disp: (deep) 38,000 lb (15,000 kg), (shoal) 36,000 lb (14,100 kg) U/W Hull Area: (shoal) 578 ft2 (53.7 m2) Sail area: (short 100%) 906 ft2 (84.2 m2), (tall 100%) 1050 ft2 (98 m2) Mast top above DWL: (short) , (tall Kenyon mast) Ballast/Disp: 0.32 (shoal), 0.36 (deep) Disp/Length: 288 (shoal), 307 (deep) SA/Disp: 14.7 (shoal), 14.1 (deep) Fuel: 95 US gal (360 L) - single aluminum tank under companionway ladder Water: 165 US gal (625 L) - in five fiberglass main cabin tanks, one under each settee, three under floor-one under table and two small ones beside mast Original engine: Perkins 4-154 or Westerbeke (British Leyland) W-60, diesel originally had Walther V-Drive later eliminated Cabin headroom: Designers: Frank Hamlin, Peter Schmitt
The CSY 44 Walk Throughs were built late in the production run and are sought after boats, mainly because of their walk-through configuration. While this design sacrifices some cockpit space in order to add the below-decks walkway from the main salon to the aft master stateroom, it is seen by many as a fair trade. It has a comfortable, conventional cockpit with ample room for guest visiting. There are two longitudinal bench seats long enough for sleeping and an ample bench seat aft of the central binnacle. Other layout differences from the Walk Over include a stand-up engine room with workbench to port, a main cabin navigation station/table to port, the galley with side-loading refrigerator/freezer aft located in the starboard passageway leading aft, and all-oak instead of teak interiors. Many of these boats were outfitted with a large fiberglass box on the stern deck suitable for fuel and gas storage. The after section of the main cabin coach roof is raised, adding headroom below and increasing visibility through four large windows.
Many Walk Throughs were delivered with shoal draft and tall mast. The normal rig configuration was a cutter, with a few rigged as cutters/ketches. All of the WT masts were in the cutter position, and if a ketch, a mizzen would be added onto the aft deck with the boom extending far astern.
CSY 44 Pilothouse
LOA: LWL: Beam: Draft (deep): Draft (shoal): Ballast (deep): 14,000 lb (5,400 kg) Ballast (shoal): 12,000 lb (4,500 kg) Disp (deep): 38,000 lb (15,000 kg) Disp (shoal): 37,000 lb (14,100 kg) Sail area: (100%) 954 ft2 (88.6 m2)This sail plan differed from the CSY WO cutter rig in that it included a smaller boom on main, smaller jib, and 154 ft2 (14.3 m2) added in mizzen. Mast above water: single spreader rig only, Water & fuel: 5 tanks available with an option for 6th. The tanks were 100-125 US gallons each and could be configured to carry fuel or water.A common setup was 250 gal water and 350 gal fuel. Original engine: Perkins 4-154 diesel or 4-236, (many have been repowered with different engines Cabin headroom: Designers: Frank Hamlin, Peter SchmittFrank Hamlin was in charge of P.H. project
This version of the CSY was delivered as a true ketch, which has the main mast moved forward from the cutter position of the other rigs. This true ketch rig was the only rig available on the Pilothouse 44. No staysail.
CSY 44 Bottomliner Only six of the Bottom Line 44s were actually built. Only five actually saw service and were used in the CSY sponsored fishing school. The boats were sold to investors who then leased them back to CSY for use in the commercial fishing school. One of the inducements to attend the fishing school was that if a student went through the school and then captained one of the vessels for five years, the captain would then be eligible to buy the vessel at salvage value. This model was a CSY 44 hull and rigging modified to be a bottom fishing vessel. The idea was that the owner/fisherman could use the sail to help defer the cost of fuel when fishing. The original idea of the vessel was to have a large fish hold centered in the boat, with a crew compartment forward, a captain's quarters aft, and work center in the tall pilothouse. This commercial pilothouse provides a good visible with navigation counter, resting berth, and galley-sliding doors either side. A shaded area was built over the fish hold; side decks are continuous, with no steps or raised section aft.
The CSY Bottomliner was an excellent fishing platform for the grouper snapper fishery; it would fish in much heavier seas and at much greater depths than the standard vessels of the time. It was rigged with six large commercial bottom fishing reels called "bandits", for use in the grouper/snapper fishery. The vessels had all the latest electronics of the time, including dual marine FM radios and a single side band radio for long distance over the horizon communication. It also had multiple fish finding equipment, a whiteline recorder, and a color video recorder. The Bottomliner also had the latest in navigation with LORAN C, which would allow getting back to productive spots within about 100'. The boats were also equipped with radar as an aid to navigation.