Uruguay is not a place that most of us associate with yachting, but as with everywhere that has a coastline the call of the sea is strong, and the seafaring traditions of Portugal and Spain still for part of the national psyche. Luis Nin Estévez wanted a serious cruiser, one that he could take offshore into the south Atlantic . It needed to be tough as although the Uruguayan coast runs from about 32 South to 35 South and the country has a pretty mild climate, a lot of that coast is very exposed with few harbours and long stretches with no shelter at all. Not so far offshore are the Falkland Islands, South Georgia beckons beyond and down wind from there is Africa’s Capetown.

North will take him to the Caribbean, Mexico and the USA so there is a lot to think about.
Luis wanted a small cruiser, one that would not stretch the budget too much but which was capable of fulfilling the dreams, so chose my Swaggie design, junk rigged, sailed from inside, comfortable beyond the boats 18 ft of length and as tough as it is possible to be at this size. Here are a couple of photographs of Luis Swaggie, shes all planked up, has quite a lot of the interior already in place and is temporarily upside down having the keel fitted and the protective fibreglass skin and paint applied to the hull.

She’s looking good, I’m looking forward to the next set of photos.

Heres Luis website , do go and have a look.

http://www.swaggie-uruguay.com.uy/eng/proyecto.html