Cavaliere 48, yacht

from The Essential Paradise, doc. 5.09

The Cavaliere 48 is a model of sailing yacht appearing in various stories within the Two Paradises fiction/fantasy realm devised by author Jonnie Comet.

Configuration and design
First of a range of three semi-custom sailing yacht built by Cavaliere Yacht & Marine Corporation, the 48 is the second-largest 'stock' or 'production' model in the range. It was designed by P Richard ‘Rick’ Cavaliere in about 1960; the design receives a few technological facelifts over the following two or three decades. With its elegant clipper bow and trailboards, counter, wine-glass stern, raked masts and long, moderately-deep 'full' keel, the 48 is much admired and sought-after; though only about six are built each model year after 1978.

Having two headsails, one a staysail (sometimes club-footed) and one a Yankee (high-cut) jib, the rig, though frequently misrepresented as a 'clipper ketch', is properly known as a double-headsail auxiliary ketch.

Appearances in stories
Jonathan Cavaliere purchases a C48 in 1979, having it painted in deep navy-blue and naming it Indigo. He, his brother Andrew, father and two friends sail Indigo to the Paradise Islands in 1986-87; Andrew's sudden case of appendicitis whilst en route turns a pleasantly swift sail into a trial with life-or-death consequences.

After arrival in Paradise, Indigo is kept at the boat basin on Treasurers' Cay and frequently sailed about the territory, often as a form of entertainment for visiting business and political associates. The Prince of Wales admits his admiration for the yacht during the royal visit of 1992.

Brian Traynor acquires a slightly-neglected example in about 1999, remedies most of its old-boat problems and effectively makes it his home afloat. Called Ariadne, the yacht is the setting for Janine Hewlett's losing her virginity to Charlie Richardson during a cruise round Eden Island in July 2001.

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