Achilles 24
{{Short description|Sailboat class}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2019}}
{{Infobox sailboat specifications
|name = Achilles 24
|class_image =
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|image boat =
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|designer = Oliver Lee and Chris Butler
|location = United Kingdom
|year = 1968
|no built = 600
|design =
|class =
|brand =
|builder = Butler Moldings
|role =
|boats =
|crew =
|trapeze =
|draft = {{convert|3.75|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|air draft =
|displacement = {{convert|2600|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}
|hulls =
|hull type = Monohull
|construction = Fiberglass
|loa = {{convert|23.75|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|loh =
|lwl = {{convert|19.50|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|beam = {{convert|7.09|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|hull draft =
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|engine = diesel or gasoline inboard engine or outboard motor
|appendages =
|keel type = fin keel
|ballast = {{convert|1314|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}
|rudder type = Skeg-mounted rudder
|rigs =
|rig type = Bermuda rig
|I = {{convert|25.75|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|J = {{convert|7.67|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|P = {{convert|22.25|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|E = {{convert|10.00|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|mast length =
|rig other =
|sails =
|sailplan = Masthead sloop
|sailarea main = {{convert|111.25|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}
|sailarea headsail = {{convert|98.75|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}
|lp =
|sailarea spin =
|sailarea gen =
|sails other =
|sailarea upwind =
|sailarea downwind =
|sailarea total = {{convert|210.00|sqft|m2|abbr=on}}
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The Achilles 24 is a British sailboat that was designed by Oliver Lee and Chris Butler as a cruiser-racer and first built in 1968.{{cite web|url = https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/achilles-24|title = Achilles 24 sailboat specifications and details|accessdate = 12 February 2019|last = Browning|first = Randy|work = sailboatdata.com|year = 2018|archive-url = https://archive.today/20220408005809/https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/achilles-24|archive-date = 8 April 2022|url-status = live}}{{cite web|url= https://sailboatdata.com/designer/lee-oliver|title= Oliver Lee|accessdate= 12 February 2019|last= Browning|first= Randy|work= sailboatdata.com|year= 2018|archive-url= https://archive.today/20220116222228/https://sailboatdata.com/designer/lee-oliver|archive-date= 16 January 2022|url-status= live}}Sherwood, Richard M.: A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition, pages 154-155. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. {{ISBN|0-395-65239-1}}
The Achilles 24 is a development of the open Ajax.
Production
The design was built by Butler Moldings in the United Kingdom, but it is now out of production. A number of boats were also constructed by amateur builders from kits supplied by Butler.{{cite web|url = https://www.yachtingmonthly.com/reviews/yacht-reviews/achilles-24|title = Achilles 24|access-date = 12 February 2019|author = Yachting Monthly|work = yachtingmonthly.com|date = 23 September 2009|archive-url = https://archive.today/20220408005956/https://www.yachtingmonthly.com/reviews/yacht-reviews/achilles-24|archive-date = 8 April 2022|url-status = live}}{{cite web|url = https://sailboatdata.com/builder/butler-mouldings-ltd-uk|title = Butler Mouldings Ltd. (UK)|accessdate = 12 February 2019|last = Browning|first = Randy|work = sailboatdata.com|year = 2018|archive-url = https://archive.today/20220408005956/https://sailboatdata.com/builder/butler-mouldings-ltd-uk|archive-date = 8 April 2022|url-status = live}}{{cite web|url = http://achillesyachts.co.uk/page20.html|title = Achilles 24 History|access-date = 13 February 2019|last= Anthony|first=Norman |work = Achilles Yachts Owners Association |year=2009|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190214021603/http://achillesyachts.co.uk/page20.html|archive-date= 14 February 2019|url-status= dead}}
Design
The Achilles 24 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of fiberglass, with teak wood trim. It has a masthead sloop rig, with a deck-stepped mast, a spooned raked stem, a vertical transom, a skeg-mounted rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed fin keel or optional triple keel. It displaces {{convert|2600|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}} and carries {{convert|1314|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}} of ballast.
The boat has a draft of {{convert|3.75|ft|m|abbr=on}} with the standard keel and {{convert|3.51|ft|m|abbr=on}} with the optional shoal draft triple keel. The triple keel allows beaching the boat in an upright position. The manufacturer claims that the triple keel only exacts a 3% performance penalty. However Yachting Monthly magazine reported in 2009, "Butler competed in AZAB and OSTAR races in the Achilles 24, which featured a bulbed fin keel. This gave the boat quite respectable speed and windward performance but a triple-keeled, shoal draught version was much more pedestrian."
The boat was initially fitted with a small outboard motor, with an inboard gasoline engine optional for docking and maneuvering. Many were retro-fitted with diesel engines. The fresh water tank has a capacity of {{convert|20|u.s.gal}}.
Early production boats had three cabin windows, but this was later changed to a single long window.
Accommodations in the narrow-beam boat include two quarter berths and a forward "V"-berth, with a chemical head under the "V"-berth. It has a split galley, with a port side double sink and a starboard side two-burner stove. An anchor well is provide in the bow on boats after about serial number 250.
The design has a hull speed of {{convert|5.92|kn|km/h|2|abbr=on}}.{{cite web|url = http://www.sailingjoy.com/sailboat_specs/sailboat_specs/view/3205/achilles-24|title = Sailboat Specifications for Achilles 24|accessdate = 12 February 2019|work = Sailing Joy|author = InterVisionSoft LLC|year = 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190213123644/http://www.sailingjoy.com/sailboat_specs/sailboat_specs/view/3205/achilles-24|archive-date = 13 February 2019|url-status = dead}}
Operational history
The designer, Butler, raced the boat in the Azores and Back (AZAB) Yacht Race and Observer Single-handed Trans-Atlantic Race (OSTAR) races.
In a 2009 review, Yachting Monthly magazine said, "factory-built boats were sound, strong but simple. The quality of the many home-built models will be variable."