Virginia B — Landing School LS-26 Sloop

When The Landing School selected a design to be built in their shop it needs to serve more than one purpose. While in operation, the primary goal of the school was to educate aspiring boat builders, designers, and technicians to bring much needed new talent to the marine industry. Almost any existing yacht design would admirably suit that purpose, but the completed boat must also have appeal as a marketable product. The LS26 was purposely designed in-house by the Yacht Design Instructor, Ken Rusinek, to meet both of these objectives. The Landing School offered their LS26 from 1995 through 2003. Virginia B is a 2001 build, hull #14.

Her hull construction is cold molded — 4 layers of western red cedar over a laminated wood backbone with an outer sheathing of fiberglass in epoxy. Decks are marine ply over laminated spruce frame with a painted dynel/epoxy finish. All joinery on deck is bright-finished mahogany, as is the transom. She’s fractionally rigged with aluminum mast, boom, and spinnaker pole, and she carries her 110 jib on a furler. Auxiliary power is supplied by a well-maintained Westerbeke 12C Two 12hp diesel turning a 2-blade bronze feathering prop. 6.5 gallons of fuel is carried in an aluminum tank with on-deck fill.

Interior accommodations are simple and uncluttered. Starting from forward, there’s a V-berth with stowage beneath and a hatch above for ventilation. An enclosure for a porta-pottie is built into the aft end of the berth. Then there’s a pair of comfortable seats on either side. Aft of the seat on the starboard side is a cabinet containing a single burner stove with stowage outboard and electrical distribution panel below. To port is another cabinet with a sink basin and stowage. Water is carried in a 6 gallon plastic tank. Cockpit benches are about 8’ long, offering plenty of space to sprawl.

Mixing the appeal of a traditional above-deck aesthetic with a modern underbody and very high build quality from the Landing School team brings us something special. Virginia B is an excellent example of a boat that has earned quite a cult following for the relatively small number of them out there.

Included Gear and Equipment

• Main, furling jib, and spinnaker
• Mainsail cover
• Canvas boom tent/cockpit cover
• Spinnaker pole
• Cockpit and interior cushions
• Dock lines and fenders
• Lazyjacks
• Anchor and rode
• Aluminum swim ladder
• Two marine 12-volt deep cycle batteries
• Raymarine Tacktick wireless wind instrument system
• Fairclough canvas winter cover with metal frame