Seabird XS63 – Retrofitted Rig – Review by boat owner – Cyrus Heerjee

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Seabird XS 63 Retrofitted

It’s my ‘Dream Boat’ come true after wishful thinking for so many years.

She is a well proven Seabird class hull, which we have sailed all the way to Muscat and back through stormy seas, mated with a modern rig which makes it ever so much more comfortable and easy to sail.

The old rig and sail had that massive weather helm which made you hold the tiller ‘close to your chest’ to keep her from climbing too high. Then you had to spill the wind in anything over 12 knots if you had to keep a neutral helm.
With the XS 63 all that is ‘history’…

What else do I like?
You don’t have that agonizing task of lowering the gaff over your head and holding onto the boom crutch, trying desperately to make it stay in the right slot on the rear thwart and making sure the boom and gaff fall into place!

You don’t have to bend to your knees to look under the boom check for any starboard tack boat when you are approaching the windward mark. Instead you have a panoramic view all around-even under the jib.

The spinnaker rig is user friendly and you don’t have to hold the spin boom and walk it around the fore stay to gybe the spin around.

Last but not least, you tack and gybe without yelling out “let go the b**** runner man”.

I vote for the XS 63 as the ‘best of both worlds’ and an ideal boat for cruising and racing.

Keep on sailing….
– Cyrus Heerjee