Jaguar 23

Much of what has been said for the pretty 21 will also apply to the Jaguar 23. Designed by John Mullins, she was the follow up to the 21, & is styled identically: no bad thing as it makes her one of the best looking yachts of her type.

However, the 23 was not the success in sales terms that the 21 was, being succeeded by the Castro designed 24, possibly so that Jaguar would have something to compete more directly with the likes of Hunters excellent Horizon 23. The J23 was in production until the mid 80s. At the time of writing I have no record of numbers built.

Construction & layout below are basically the same as the 21; the rig again being an easily handled fractional rig with loose footed main. Compared to her contemporaries of the period, despite being aimed perhaps at those with a young family, she carried a greater sail area, & sails well in light airs.

Some may feel that the lifting keel model a little tippy, so Jaguar later offered a twin keel variant, & a report at the time praised its sailing abilities. This added over 300KG to her ballast. I believe ( but I’m not sure) that only 4 of the twin keel variants were built, which would explain why I couldn’t find one, when I was looking for one…………….

The interior on the bilge keel variant differs to the lift keel, & has a galley running down the starboard side

We also have a, seemingly unique, 23 in the association, "THISTLE RUBH", previously, "FIVE-O", which, built in 1991, may have been a developmental boat, in response to the 23 lifting keel, yet satisfying the performance oriented customer. This yacht has a fixed fin & an inboard diesel; both of which, I’m informed, appear to be original features, as she has no outboard well fitted.

Summary by L. Milton

External links

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/jaguar-23/ (opens new window)