# Cortez 16



## gnusailor (Sep 6, 2012)

Anyone heard of / sailed on /own a Cortez 16 ft? Made in Phoenix, AZ I believe.


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## overbored (Oct 8, 2010)

designed by Will Crealock who designed many good boats. several columbia designs. sailed one once seemed ok but very small sail area. biggest 16' boat I ever sailed. I remember as the beer supply got lower the boat seemed to go faster. fun but not even fast


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## Lark (Feb 28, 2013)

Yes, I own a Cortez 16.


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## sailscape (Mar 19, 2013)

I have a cortez 16 and would like to have discusions with other owners as i would like to fix er up a bit as well make sure she is performing as designed ... perhaps aquir another one , have sails made or purchase gear etc... ive sailed mine for @ 4 seasons on lake dilion


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## jasenj1 (Feb 2, 2013)

sailscape said:


> I have a cortez 16 and would like to have discusions with other owners


I suggest you check out Trailer Sailor. They are aimed more at the smaller, trailerable boats. You can find a lot more general info here on SailNet, but TS is probably better for specific info.

- Jasen.


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## bswinhart (Dec 1, 2002)

I also have a 16 Cortez. #102


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## sailscape (Mar 19, 2013)

thanks for the reply, id like to be able to discuss the boats character, maybe tune it up better... etc. do you sail her much? how long have you had her?


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## bswinhart (Dec 1, 2002)

I have been sailing mine for about 13 years. I need to get new sails, mine are so stressed that i have to rig it with an open foot. But even with bad sails, it can move. It did take me a few years to get the balance right. basically let go of the rudder, and set the keel. My sails have teletails on them. 

I have noticed my cortez likes 7-15 knots of wind. Which is great cause I live in Oklahoma. The bad part is all the lakes within 150 miles are at 50 - 60% capacity. I haven't been able to launch in a few years.


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## Lark (Feb 28, 2013)

Sorry I am so late in continuing this thread. If you're still monitoring it, I have maybe four cents worth to add.

I have owned my boat for three and a half years. Last year, I bought a new furling genoa (about 130%) but with the area lakes all so low I did not sail her. This year, I had knee surgery and am just now ready for the water again.

My boat is tough but tender. She likes winds in a very narrow zone of about 8-15 mph. Below and she won't really make way, above 15 and it gets very interesting in a hurry. She heels over quickly and I haven't yet found the spot where she stiffens naturally until she is being hit really hard by a side wind. She is very hard to point up toward the wind. By changing the weight distribution in the cuddy so she noses down a bit, I feel like I am able to reach better and the cockpit is also more level. 

After a near disaster with a 47 mph micro-burst, I really did some re-thinking about this boat. I changed the way the boom was rigged - there was an odd little metal rail or bar at the stern that had no provision for sheeting in and holding the boom amidship. I now have two pad eyes with simple rigging that allows me to use the boom traveller cleat more effectively. I now the trimming capabilities of the furler. The new sail is waiting for some lake trials and the main has been re-sewn with a reef point added. 

A few other things: The fiberglass hull is hand layed-up and it seems very substantial. Because the boat has such a tall freeboard it really needs a swim ladder for safety. The relatively heavy keel is quite reassuring. It is heavy enough that I think it would take a huge wind to knock this little boat down. While she launches rather easily, my boat is not easy to get back onto the trailer after being on the water. I have only sailed this boat on smallish lakes .

My rudder is very odd. I have to use trucker's tie downs in order to get it to pop up an down properly, but it is not very streamlined. How is your rudder assembly designed?


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## bswinhart (Dec 1, 2002)

Lark, can you post up some pictures? 

I still have the original rudder also. I've been thinking about a new plastic broad one. But all of that is after new sails. 

Sorry for the bad picture but all I got.


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## bswinhart (Dec 1, 2002)

Another view


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## bswinhart (Dec 1, 2002)

And what a Cortez looks like when it sinks. Lol (btw it's back on top of the water now)


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## Lark (Feb 28, 2013)

Great pics! I thought the boat had some positive floatation built under the berths. 

I am an infrequent visitor to sailnet. I do not have any pictures of my boat in the water.


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## bobsquatch (Feb 27, 2014)

Hello every one. I am thinking of buying a Cortez 16 but there is not a lot of information out there (beyond basic stats/specs) from what I can see. I would be learning to sail on it and I think it is a great boat for that. Slow and stable as well as comfortable looking. Does anyone have access to an owners manual so I could properly rig and use this boat. Being able to source information will be the main factor in my buying decision. Does anyone have a good reason to avoid this boat? Are there typical problems most people have with them? Thanks for any info as I am looking forward to joining the sailing community.

Bob


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## bobsquatch (Feb 27, 2014)

bswinhart said:


> And what a Cortez looks like when it sinks. Lol (btw it's back on top of the water now)


Wow. How did you manage to sink her?


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## bswinhart (Dec 1, 2002)

Good luck on finding a manual. You are correct it is a good stable boat to learn on. Its a great fair weather boat. My boat is hard to run a course greater then 15 knots. But my sails are stretched out like pregnant pants. It has an weight swing keel that making small adgustements to can be difficult single hand. 

As for sinking it. Was out lake sailing and came in for lunch, tied it to a tree by the beach I parked on. While eating one of those great Oklahoma storms developed on us. Well my quick lunch knot didnt hold up in the +70 wind gust, it started to float away and 4-5' waves over took it.

But it back on top of the water , so its all good.


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## bobsquatch (Feb 27, 2014)

Wow, that will ruin your day. I am hoping to pick up the boat tonight or tomorrow. It is a 1973 early hull that has no hatches in the cockpit benches or in the berths. I can only assume there is flotation in there.


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## bswinhart (Dec 1, 2002)

They only made like 106. Post up pictures would love to see it.


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## bobsquatch (Feb 27, 2014)

I will. 106 hulls total or in 1973? I would love to see how the boom is rigged to the wire frame on the stearn. Mission bay is 7 miles from my house with steady prevailing winds. I will get aquainted with her there and as my skills improve I will make the 10-15 mile run down the coast to San Diego bay. Or up the coast to La Jolla. On good weather days. This hull has so much freeboard I think it will be fine on open water on nice days. Then again yours went diving in 4-5 foot waves on a lake. Do you think you could have kept her afloat if you were on board? Well i am getting excited. I hope to be on the water soon.


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## bobsquatch (Feb 27, 2014)

Well it looks like Saturday before I can get my boat. Does anyone know of a common sail that fits this boat? It seems none of the sails that come with this boat are right but some should suffice. I will post some pictures of this boat as soon as I have it. This could get interesting I have never sailed before (except windsurfing) but I have been on boats my entire life. I am extremely over confident in this could get interesting. my last boat was a 28' twin engine cabin cruiser so this dinghy should be no problem. (I love setting myself up for failure). I will report back with my triumphs and failures with pics and video hopefully. Does anybody have the actual measurements for the sails? Thank you all and here we go!!!


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## socal c25 (Nov 1, 2013)

Below is a copy and paste from sailboatdata.com 

Hull Type: Keel/Cbrd.	Rig Type: Fractional Sloop
LOA: 16.00' / 4.88m	LWL: 13.58' / 4.14m
Beam: 6.75' / 2.06m	Listed SA: 140 ft2 / 13.01 m2
Draft (max.) 4.00' / 1.22m	Draft (min.) 0.75' / 0.23m
Disp. 850 lbs./ 386 kgs.	Ballast: 300 lbs. / 136 kgs.
SA/Disp.: 25.01	Bal./Disp.: 35.23%	Disp./Len.: 151.52
Designer: W.I.B. Crealock
Builder: Recreational Products (USA)
Construct.: FG	Bal. type: 
First Built: 1973	Last Built: # Built: 
DESIGNER
More about & boats designed by: William Crealock
NOTES
Tooling (for the hull) adapted from an earlier boat called SUN DOWNER 16. A later boat, the DRIFTER 17 shares these same origins. 
Thanks to Tony Davis, former partner at Sun Downer Yachts, for providing additional information.

Have fun


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## bobsquatch (Feb 27, 2014)

Thanks Socal. I was able to find that and the nice little pdf downloadable brochure which is great but that's it. Who knows if they even came with an owners manual. If they did though there must be one in somebody's garage or office some where. It's not like you need one but I would love to have one.


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## sonosail (Mar 17, 2008)

bswinhart said:


> They only made like 106. Post up pictures would love to see it.


Just curious..
Was wondering how you got that number (106).

I spoke to one of the original partners in the company a while back and he couldn't remember.

Thanks.

rb


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## bswinhart (Dec 1, 2002)

Another partner owns Lynn's sailboat in Houston. I took mine by there when I first bought it. He told me about the production, building, some concerns he had back then etc..... He also told me he thought 106 was the last one. I have 102.


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## bobsquatch (Feb 27, 2014)

wow that is awesome information. what year was the hull 102 into built in? what were some of the concerns he had about these boats back then?


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## bobsquatch (Feb 27, 2014)

Well I got her. Hull 26 I think and boy is my wife pi$$ed. I might as well have brought home a 26 year old girl. Anyway. here we go. Pics and fun to follow. Goodnight


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## bobsquatch (Feb 27, 2014)

well I picked her up yesterday morning and took her out yesterday afternoon and she motors fine under power there was a wonderful wind yesterday of sustained 15 knots even a little bit much for me I am certain. so I motored up wind and anchored into the wind and set the sail. as soon as I was done rigging the sails the wind died completely. My first sail in 20 years and I moved about 60' in 15 min. at the end of the day my kids and I motored to the boat launch where the wind kicked up to about 20 knots making a routine trailering a 45 min ordeal. My 8 yo daughter lost her hat. +30 min. The motor won't idle so I had to use a line to draw her onto the trailer+30 min. The kids made an awesome crew even though we didn't arrive home until 30 minutes after bedtime with homework still to do. It was a great day. I am already hooked there is no saving me now.


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## bobsquatch (Feb 27, 2014)

Here she is. Oops. Gotta have 10 posts to get pics


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## bobsquatch (Feb 27, 2014)

Hopefully this works. http://www.sailnet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=24481&stc=1&d=1394496952


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## bobsquatch (Feb 27, 2014)

Well I discovered my first issue. The hull has a crack in it where the swing keel drops through. When I learn to post pics I will show you. Should be a basic repair however since this is such a high stress area is there a better than original way to reinforce it. I would guess the damage was caused from the swing keel dropping violently or side loading a deployed keel in heavy sailing or running aground. I will take a better look this weekend. The good news is no leaks inside the boat.


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## bobsquatch (Feb 27, 2014)

Well I finally got a few pictures to upload and they are in my gallery. I will try to post but if not you can find them in my profile. Anyway the picture is of the keel at the forward end of the trunk. The crack is on both sides suggesting to me the swing keel dropped violently or ran aground traveling backwards. The white area is where the previous owner (PO) could not paint due to the roller on the trailer. It looks as though the PO tried a quick patch with epoxy or something like that. Anyway the keel goes up and down with the winch but it is sticky. At some point I will remove everything and cut out the cracks and re glass the area correctly. I will also replace all the hardware and clean up the keel to make it function normally.


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## Frank from Kansas (Sep 24, 2021)

I would love to hear more I just bought one from Oklahoma and so far I love it. I'm not sure exactly how to do the running rigging though could use some pictures or any help about what to do with the Main Sheet


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## Frank from Kansas (Sep 24, 2021)

I'm worried about the Keel as well but I haven't had it had it in the water yet so it may be fine
h


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## nnicoll80 (8 mo ago)

I only joined today. However when you guys started this forum I had just bought my Cortez in 2012. Currently on its third rendition rebuild. Went nuts and gave it NMEA 2000 network and autopilot. Currently working on rigging replacements≥ Have had her out of the water since Harvey. prepping for Texas 200…but in the autumn when its not ridiculously hot!


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## Frank from Kansas (Sep 24, 2021)

bswinhart said:


> And what a Cortez looks like when it sinks. Lol (btw it's back on top of the water now)


I thought I couldn't sink because of the are channels the low. How did this happen, could this happen?


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## hhurbed (4 mo ago)

Hello there, new guy here.... recently came into possession of a Cortez 16. The old man that gave it to me said it came from a factory around San Antonio. I was wondering if I could get some help with the running rigging setup? Most of it has rotten and fell away over the years. I tried looking up photos on line but there doesn't seem to be many pictures out there. Mostly I need help with the sheet system and back stay. Seems pretty straight forward till it wasn't :}. Most confusing is the back stay. it seems to be on its own purchase that is secured to a bracket on the transom? while the mainsheet ties to the bar (what originally may have been a car) on the transom and then leads up to the boom? Could any of you share your photos so I can tell what was suppose to happen?

I have attached a couple of mine.

Any advice is very appreciated.

Heath
Moody, Tx


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## nnicoll80 (8 mo ago)

hhurbed said:


> Hello there, new guy here.... recently came into possession of a Cortez 16. The old man that gave it to me said it came from a factory around San Antonio. I was wondering if I could get some help with the running rigging setup? Most of it has rotten and fell away over the years. I tried looking up photos on line but there doesn't seem to be many pictures out there. Mostly I need help with the sheet system and back stay. Seems pretty straight forward till it wasn't :}. Most confusing is the back stay. it seems to be on its own purchase that is secured to a bracket on the transom? while the mainsheet ties to the bar (what originally may have been a car) on the transom and then leads up to the boom? Could any of you share your photos so I can tell what was suppose to happen?
> 
> I have attached a couple of mine.
> 
> ...


Heath,

hit me up on FB. I have pics there of my set up. Did meet one guy out of AZ that has it rigged like yours. Mine has the main sheet by the swing keel line.

nicolas Nicoll


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## nnicoll80 (8 mo ago)

Frank from Kansas said:


> I thought I couldn't sink because of the are channels the low. How did this happen, could this happen?


Mine almost sank while I was cleaning around center board. Small piece came off and water started to rush in.


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