MERIDIAN

Owner: Stephen E. Taylor

Builder & Year: Concordia Yacht Builders; 1990

Designer: C. W. Paine

Type: Custom Sloop

LOA 45’

LWL 39.8’

Beam 12.5’

Draft 5.8’

Displacement 26,000 lbs

Meridian was launched in 1990, and was at the time the first boat of her type drawn by Chuck Paine. She has since been much copied in various sizes, and her design led to Paine’s creation of a whole line of bluewater cruisers called his Bermuda Series.

The boat was designed as a rugged, high performance offshore and coastwise cruising yacht for a young family and occasional friends; conceived with safe ocean voyaging in mind, and therefore narrower than it might have been for coastwise sailing alone. There is a very low VCG, good range of positive stability, and the boat has substantial back-up capacity in various systems as well as very complete self-steering capability (autopilot & wind vane).

Although the boat is not raced, she meets or exceeds ORC Category 0 safety and construction standards for trans-ocean racing.

The shape of the hull aims at the highest possible average speeds (not burst or surfing speeds) over a day’s run that are consistent with shorthanded crew and previously noted considerations of ruggedness, which also include such things as being able to haul on a crude railway in a remote location that lacks a travelift.

The boat has a winged keel, but one that is of lower aspect ratio and with somewhat shorter, stubbier, stronger wings than might be indicated for pure performance considerations. There is a very long LWL, but the stern shape is not so powerful as to significantly change the helm balance when heeling. Both wetted surface and prismatic coefficient are a little higher than might be suited to racing in very light air (not a consideration), with concomitant advantages in windier conditions with an autopilot at the helm.

The living spaces in the boat were designed with an overriding “function is beauty” attitude and a classic cruising boat aesthetic. The space devoted to the wet locker, forepeak, and navigation area are examples of the former; the simple white interior walls with varnished mahogany trim, among other things, are examples of the latter.

After some 50,000 miles and 15 seasons of cruising in Europe, Caribbean, and throughout much of the eastern USA & Canadian Maritimes, Meridian has fully met or exceeded early expectations, and continues to serve her owners well.