Schock Ups the Comfort Quotient Aboard This Second-Generation Daysailer

"It was really fun to create a boat designed around a market, rather than a racing rule," says Tom Schock, the main driver behind Schock Corporation. "We took the owner feedback from the Harbor 20 and built its bigger sister to get more people back out on the water."

The "bigger sister" Schock is referring to is the Schock Harbor 25, an attractive daysailer that is really much more. Designed by Steve Schock, Tom's brother, it is targeted to experienced, affluent owners looking to extend their day on the water aboard a boat with a head and other creature comforts.

The California builder has created more than 90 cruising and racing designs and launched more than 13,000 hulls over five decades. In fact, the Harbor 20 saw 290 hulls launch in 10 years.

The small daysailer was designed for couples and single-handers to take advantage of summer afternoons and to race in simplicity and style. Half of the hulls landed in Newport Beach, California, but the rest headed as far away as Canada and Australia. And just about everywhere, owners' wives and girlfriends had suggestions: "Add a head and make the cockpit dry, and I'll join you more often."

And that's how the Harbor 25, with a base price of $100,000, came to be. Overall, it is a clean and well-appointed boat that performs well. The boat is true to its roots as a daysailer (if you want a compass or a stove, for example, you'll have to add them). But the company employed some new thinking and novel strategies to create a boat that is also capable of gunkholing and weekend cruising.

'NOT FIRST-TIME BUYERS'

The boat is naturally finding footing in Southern California, as some Harbor 20 owners stepped up. But it's also proving to be popular on the waters of San Francisco Bay and the Great Lakes. One recent hull even shipped to Japan.

With the optional blue hull, the Harbor 25 is often confused with an Alerion – an Express 28, to be exact. They both have clean lines and a nice sheer. Another design that could be considered a competitor is the Martin 242, which is rumored to be a little faster but more spartan. "Ours are not first-time buyers," Shock says. "They're interested in quality, comfort and style that gets noticed in the harbor."

The Harbor 25 was designed purposely with no overhangs, even though many other Hereshoff-inspired daysailers have them. "Those traditional designs are pretty, but we get so much more in our 25 feet," Schock says.

Careful placement of deck hardware and rigging ensure the deck is clear and open, and more freeboard makes for a dryer cockpit. The eight-foot cockpit comfortably seats at least six people underway when the tiller is in use and eight to 10 when at the dock or anchor. The coamings are high, the seatbacks are angled and the entire space stays dry even when sailing in a small chop. Schock stresses that everyone can remain in the cockpit, eliminating the need to hike out, which is part of the appeal.

BELOW DECKS BENEFITS

Given that this is effectively a daysailer, I spent a surprising amount of time inspecting the accommodations. Building a 25-foot boat with a comfortable interior poses some challenges, but Schock made optimum use of the eight-foot beam. In fact, the Harbor 25 feels like a much larger boat below, perfectly weekend-capable.

A six-foot V-berth forward and two six-foot, four-inch quarter berths aft provide sleeping accommodations for four. The V-berth, with storage below, gains privacy thanks to a sliding door. The head that clients requested is located to port, near the V-berth. While a portable MSD is standard, a full head with a pump-out MSD fitting on deck is a popular option.

The main cabin has four feet, nine inches of headroom and features two settees with storage behind and below. There's a galley cabinet with a sink on the port side, aft of the main bulkhead, with a built-in ice chest below the opposing settee. Although there are no cooking facilities, a small camping burner could be clamped to the compression post.

Beaded board detail on the headliner and cabinet doors and Schock-manufactured, easy-to-maintain, "granite-like" countertops (made of polyester resin) add to the clean and elegant finish. The same is true of the mahogany trim and the teak-and-holly sole. An offshore Lewmar hatch forward and four opening ports in the cabin provide excellent ambient light and ventilation.

Fulfilling practical needs, one 12-volt Group 24 battery is to port beneath a settee, and an optional second battery can be installed to starboard, again below a settee. An access panel at the head of the V-berth opens to the chain locker, while an optional electrical panel is located in the saloon.

CONSTRUCTION

To ensure the Harbor 25 would perform well, the design incorporates a lean hull shape, a fine bow and sharply rounded bilges; a 49-percent ballast ratio; and a bulb keel to keep the weight low. The 1,900-pound keel provides good stability and great handling characteristics. It is encapsulated in fiberglass but also bolted on with stainless steel keel bolts, which are accessible below the cabin sole. The leading edge of the keel is swept 33 degrees so that weeds or lines will not foul it. The spade rudder is fiberglass with a stainless steel rudder stock and is placed far aft for control. In fact, the boat turns easily in its own length.

Every piece of the Harbor 25, from the main sliding hatch to the bottom of the keel, is hand-laid fiberglass, and there are no seams or joints in the interior, which is made of three individual modules: the forepeak and V-berth area, the head compartment and the main cabin. These parts, which are constructed of plywood and then glassed, are fitted between the three bulkheads and bonded to the hull. The advantage to this construction is that there is less movement of the interior when the boat is under load, according to the company.

The deck is a fiberglass sandwich with a core of end-grain balsa. It's interesting to note – an opinions may vary about this – that there are no through-deck penetrations. Deck hardware is mounted on pads of super-tough G-10, a glass cloth laminate with an epoxy resin binder, which replaces the balsa core in some places. Winches, clutches, cleats and other hardware do not penetrate the deck, and so there is no through-bolting – the most common method of mounting hardware, industry-wide. There are also no unsightly nuts or bolts below – and no chance of leaks.

DECK, COCKPIT AND RIGGING

The deck-stepped, double-spreader, fractional rig supports 356 square feet of sail area with a powerful main and a self-tacking jib with a boom on a roller furler. An optional retractable sprit sits to starboard and comes with the optional asymmetrical spinnaker. Lazyjacks for the main, a Harken traveler and a rigid vang, which eliminates the need for a topping lift, are standard.

The Harbor 25 features a well-designed foredeck, open weather decks, an attractive trunk cabin, a wide companionway, and an aft deck with a hatch leading to a large lazarette. A 25-foot boat with an interior and a garage – more than 20 cubic feet of storage space – is a rare find.

All sail control lines lead to the cockpit and are within reach of the helm for easy single-handing. Everything is color-coded and labeled. The emphasis is on a clean and uncluttered look, so some of the lines, such as the jib furling line, run aft in a well just below the deck.

A bow roller and anchor chain locker are standard. There are two bow chocks and two bow cleats forward and two spring line cleats amidships. A large round plate accommodates the self-lubricating deck bearing for the jib boom on the foredeck. The placement of the hardware allows for an optional bow pulpit, which was not on our test boat.

Two self-tailing Lewmar winches sit atop the cabin house on either side of the companionway. Four turning blocks at the base of the mast manage the main halyard, jib halyard, jib sock halyard, and continuous reefing line, and a Harken deck organizer leads the lines to the cockpit.

In keeping with the low-maintenance concept of the Harbor 25, the laminated-wood tiller is the only piece aboard that requires regular varnishing. According to Schock, owners have actually bought a new tiller rather than varnish the old one. Wheel steering is optional, though only a few owners have gone in that direction.

PERFORMANCE

To put the Harbor 25 to the test, I headed out with Schock onto Newport Harbor, under calm conditions – light wind and flat waters. With every small puff of wind, the Harbor 25 accelerated noticeably. It was rewarding to see this kind of response translate to immediate speed. On a close reach in 10 knots of true wind, we made 5.8 knots, and on a beam reach, we moved along at more than 6 knots. Because the boat is balanced, two fingers on the tiller sufficed.

Single-line reefing is led to the cockpit, with the boat deigned to reef in 15 to 17 knots, depending on point-of-sail and sea state. Like many Schock designs, the boat points well – up to about 40 degrees – so it's likely to put the squeeze on its competition in summer beer can races.

While I didn't test the boat under power, the results that Schock reports (see specifications box) are equally good. The Harbor 25 is equipped with a four-stroke Yanmar 2YM15 diesel with a two-blade SD20 saildrive and a 60-amp alternator. Access is quite good once you remove the fiberglass companionway steps. Because the engine is mounted on a giant gasket and has rubber mounts, it is quiet and results in little vibration.

The lack of clutter is much appreciated on a boat of this size, but I found myself looking for information from a knot meter and a compass. The first can easily be replaced with speed data from a handheld GPS, but the addition of a compass would be handy for racing.

The Harbor 25 was designed to cater to mature, affluent, experienced boaters looking for an elegant daysailer. And although most people will target it for fun afternoon outings, this design offers quite a bit more. Maybe Mom and Dad will use it as a civilized daysailer complete with a head, but their adult children may find it an excellent weekender perfect for gunkholing and racing.

Zuzana Prochazka is a freelance writer who additionally serves as Technical Editor for Seafaring Magazine and co-hosts Latitudes & Attitudes TV.

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