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Caribbean Sailing Yachts, also know as CSY, were heavy displacement recreational sailboats built during the 1970s and 1980s in Tampa, Florida. CSY went out of buisness in the early 1980s; however, the well founded boats have continued to sail the world's oceans for the past two decades.

The CSY boats were sold directly from the factory, without any dealerships or middle-men. A 125 page soft-cover book showing all stages of construction was used as the primary means of promotion for the line. Called the CSY Guide to Buying a Yacht, it was a key marketing tool.

Introduction

Caribbean Sailing Yachts Corporation (CSY) was initially a charter company, operating primarily in the Caribbean. CSY developed and perfected the 'charter lease back' program where an individual purchased the yacht and subsequently placed it into the charter fleet in order to cover the cost of the initial payments. CSY originally purchased boats from companies such as Irwin, but soon realized they needed stronger boats which would withstand the rigors of bare-boat charter, with less than experienced captain and crew. CSY went into the boat manufacturing business, working initially with Ted Irwin, a well-known and successful designer of very affordable cruising and racing sailboats in the Tampa area at the time, who particularly influenced the CSY 44 hull design.. CSY's center-cockpit boats of between 38 ft and 50 ft, of the 1975-1990 era were similar in their appearance: hull shape and raised aft deck allowing for a large aft stateroom. CSY boats were built to unusually high standards of strength, durability and quality, due to the demands of their use in the charter business. The CSY Guide described how the boats met Lloyd's stringent design and boat building requirements.

Although many of these new boats were purchased outright by their new owners, many of them, 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 know as the "charter lease back" and is used by such companies as the Moorings or Sunsail.

CSYs were built with deep or shallow draft, or their draft could be modified and cut so that they could be used in the Caribbean under charter, and then returned to their owner, usually to be cruised on the East Coast, the shallow Florida Keys, or the Bahamas.

Eventually CSY developed numerous other models such as the 37, 33, pilothouse, or even a special purpose sailing / fishing vessel know as the Bottomliner.

Construction

The CSY line was well regarded. Features like a full size trash can, large refrigeration boxes (3 boxes totaling 21 cubic feet 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 with 14 dual layers (one sheet of fiberglass mat and one sheet of fiberglass weave = one layer). The avoidance of wood extends to the deck. The CSY has a solid fiberglass deck. As a matter of fact the CSY only used wood in the hull and deck to support the lids for the lockers.

CSY Models

CSY developed a full line of sailboats: the 33, the 37, and the 44, initially in two flavors: what is now called the "walk-over", and the pilothouse. Most of the 44's built were walk-overs, with a very 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.

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: 44’0" (13.4 m)
LWL: 36’4" (11.1 m)
Beam: 13’4" (4.1 m)
Draft (shoal): 4’11" (1.5 m)
Draft (deep): 6’6" (2.0 m)^{Note - the keel is designed to be modified by the owner from deep draft to shoal draft}
Ballast (deep): 12,000 lbs. (5,443 kg)
Ballast (shoal): 10,000 lbs. (4,536 kg)
Disp (deep): 33,000 lbs. (14,969 kg)
Disp (shoal): 31,000 lbs. (14,062 kg)
Sail area: (100%) 906 sq.ft. (84.2 m²)
Mast above water: 55’0" (16.8 m)
Mast above water (tall mast) 63'.0" (19.2 m)
Fuel: 100 gal. (379 L)
Water: 400 gal. (1,514 L)in two separate tanks
Original engine: Perkins 4-154 diesel ^{many boats have been repowered with different engines}
Cabin headroom: 6’7" (2.0 m)
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 70 and early 80s

Walk Through 44

About 41 of these were built

LOA: 44’0" (13.4 m)
LWL: 36’4" (11.1 m)
Beam: 13’4" (4.1 m)
Draft (deep): 6’6" (2.0 m)
Draft (shoal): 4’11" (1.5 m)
Ballast (deep): 12,000 lbs. (5,443 kg)
Ballast (shoal): 10,000 lbs. (4,536 kg)
Disp (deep): 38,000 lbs. (14,969 kg)
Disp (shoal): 36,000 lbs. (14,062 kg)
Sail area: (100%) 906 sq.ft. (84.2 m²)
Mast above water: 55’0" (16.8 m)
Mast above water (tall mast) 63'.0" (19.2 m)
Ballast/Disp: .32 (shoal), .36 (deep)
Disp/Length: 288 (shoal), 307 (deep)
SA/Disp: 14.7 (shoal), 14.1 (deep)
Fuel: 100 gal. (379 L)
Water: 200+/- gal. (1,514 L)in Five separate tanks, One main+ several little ones under saloon floor
Original engine: Perkins 4-154 diesel
Cabin headroom: 6’7" (2.0 m)
Designers: Frank Hamlin, Peter Schmitt

The CSY 44 Walk Through is a sought after boat. While this design sacrifices cockpit space in order to add the walkway from the main salon to the master stateroom it is seen by many as a fair trade.

The CSY Walk Over was normally delivered as cutters with a few rigged as Cutter /ketches. All of the WT masts were in the cutter position and a mizzen would be added onto the aft deck with boom extending far astern.

CSY 44 Pilothouse

LOA: 44’0" (13.4 m)
LWL: 36’4" (11.1 m)
Beam: 13’4" (4.1 m)
Draft (deep): 6’6" (2.0 m)
Draft (shoal): 4’11" (1.5 m)
Ballast (deep): 13,000 lbs. (5,443 kg)
Ballast (shoal): 11,000 lbs. (4,536 kg)
Disp (deep): 38,000 lbs. (14,969 kg)
Disp (shoal): 36,000 lbs. (14,062 kg)
Sail area: (100%) 954 sq.ft. (84.2 m²)
This sail plan differed from the CSY WO cutter rig in that it included a smaller boom on main, smaller Jib, and 154 sq.ft. added in Mizzen. Mast above water: single spreader rig only, 58'9" Mast above water: 55’0" (16.8 m)
Water & Fuel: 5 tanks available with an option for 6th. The tanks were 100-125 gallons each and could be configured to carry fuel or water. A common setup was 250 gal. water and 350 Fuel.
Original engine: Perkins 4-154 diesel (many have been repowered with different engines
Cabin headroom: 6’7" (2.0 m)
Designers: Frank Hamlin, Peter Schmittt

This version of the CSY was delivered as a true Ketch and have the main mast moved forward 4' from the cutter position of the other rigs. This true ketch rig was the only rig available on the Pilothouse 44.

CSY 44 Bottomliner

Only 6 of the Bottom Line 44's were actually built. This model was a CSY hull and rigging modified to be a fishing trawler. The idea was 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 and a Captains 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.

Cygnet 44

During the fifth year of manufacturing the CSY 44 in its various versions, the CSY Yacht Corporation came out with a new concept to reduce the cost of the yachts. This new version was marketed as the CYGNET 44 line. Shortly thereafter, the CSY Yacht Corporation went out of business. This must have happened in 1981. The CYGNET 44 WT was introduced at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show in 1980. The Cygnet did not have the trademark CSY hull ports on its bow.

CSY 37

The CSY 37 is an aft cockpit model with a roomy interior. The CSY 37 was built to the same high standards of construction as the CSY 44.

LOA 37.2 ft.
LOD 37.2 ft.
LWL 29.2 ft.
Beam 12.0 ft.
Draft 6.2 ft.
DraftMin 4.7 ft.
Displaces 19,689 lbs.
Ballast 8,000 lbs.
Sail Area 610.0 sq. ft.

CSY 33

The CSY 33 was the smallest CSY hull put into production. Like all CSYs it is a sturdily built boat that exhibits many of the CSY distinctive touches such as the scroll work on the bow. The CSY 33 was produced from 1979 to 1982. The 33 had an optional pilot house and inside steering.

LWL25'
Beam 10'6"
Draft 4'11"
Diaplacement 13,500 lbs
Ballast 5,000 lbs.
Rated sail area 480 sq ft.
Fuel 60 Gal.
Water 130 Gal.
Designer P.Schmitt

LOA 33'4"

Gulfstar CSY 50

This boat is often confused with the other CSYs on the market; however, it has no relationship to the Caribbean Sailing Yachts or the CSY company.

CSY history

Caribbean Sailing Yachts, Ltd. was unable to find a manufacturer who would build sailing yachts to the high standards it required for its charter service; therefore, C.S.Y. Yacht Corporation was founded by Caribbean Sailing Yachts, Ltd.'s chief executive officer, John R. Van Ost, on September 1, 1976.

At the start in 1976, a new plug and mold was built, and the first boat went into the water on January 15, 1977. Production gradually increased to seven CSY-44's per month by May, 1977.

Along the way, another version of the CSY-44 was designed and built. The CSY-44 Pilot House Ketch was introduced at the fall boat shows.

A CSY-37 was designed, built, and shown for the first time at the Miami Boat Show in 1978. The CSY-37 yacht was subsequently redesigned into two models, the two stateroom model, and the one stateroom model.

In the fall of 1978, the CSY-33 was introduced at Annapolis.

Fate

Many ask "if they made such a good boat what happened to them?" CSY was a victim of building too good of a boat. They went broke because the cost of the boats were too high for the price being asked. Some say this was due to their view of the business. Apparently they viewed the boat production as a means to supply their charter fleet in the Caribbean. Unfortunately CSY was not able to maintain this business model. Since their main customer was lease back for their charter business, the closing of tax loopholes most likely contributed to or accelerated their demise..

Antigua Yachts, under the ownership of John Coats, purchased the CSY molds and boats in progress and started building the CSY 44 again, under the new name of Antigua 44. It is said that 20-30 of these highly customized versions of the CSY 44 walk-through were built in the 80's. Oftentimes these boats had teak interiors versus the white oak or Formica interiors of the earlier CSYs. Antigua only made few of these boats before going out of business, thus ending the CSY line of sailing yachts.