Caribbean Sailing Yachts

CSY's unique script logo was imprinted on a brass companionway medallion, dishware, and trailerboard design.

CSY also used a film strip, plant tours, boat shows and trial sails as sales tools.

They were the first company to come up with the concept of charter ownership, pioneered by CSY founder and owner Dr. John Van Ost, a New Jersey dentist with a love of sailing.

In this program, an individual purchased the yacht and subsequently placed it into the charter fleet to cover the cost of the initial payments.

CSY went into the boat manufacturing business, working initially with Ted Irwin, a well-known and successful designer of affordable cruising and racing sailboats in Tampa.

CSY developed several models including a 33, two layouts of a 37, the popular 44' "Walkover", a 44' "Walk Through", a 44' pilothouse, and a special purpose sailing / fishing vessel known as the Bottomliner.

Features like a built-in full-size trash receptacle in the galley, large refrigeration boxes (three boxes totaling 21 cubic feet (0.59 m3) on the CSY 44 WO), and a larger-than-king-size bed in the aft master cabin (CSY 44) made the boat comfortable in port as well as a good sea boat.

The only wood used in the construction of these boats are heavy laminated structural stringers, bulkheads and interior furniture.

CSY developed a full line of sailboats: the 33, the 37, the Carib 41, and the 44, of which two configurations were constructed i.e. the "walk-over", and the Pilothouse Ketch.

The Carib 41 was the first production model destined for CSY's new charter bases in Tortola and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

[2] This model is referred to as "walk-over" because one has to walk up to the cockpit from the main salon and then down to the separate aft cabin.

[8] The CSY 44 Walk Throughs were built late in the production run and are sought after boats, mainly because of their walk-through configuration.

While this design sacrifices some cockpit space in order to add the below-decks walkway from the main salon to the aft master stateroom, it is seen by many as a fair trade.

Many of these boats were outfitted with a large fiberglass box on the stern deck suitable for fuel and gas storage.

The after section of the main cabin coach roof is raised, adding headroom below and increasing visibility through four large windows.

[9] All of the WT masts were in the cutter position, and if a ketch, a mizzen would be added onto the aft deck with the boom extending far astern.

This version of the CSY was delivered as a true ketch, which has the main mast moved forward 4 feet (1.2 m) from the cutter position of the other rigs.

This commercial pilothouse provides a good visible with navigation counter, resting berth, and galley-sliding doors either side.

A shaded area was built over the fish hold; side decks are continuous, with no steps or raised section aft.

These six fishing vessels were caught up in CSY's demise in 1981, and remained tied up to the docks in St. Petersburg for an extended period of time, suffering neglect and deterioration.

Like all CSYs it is a sturdily built boat that exhibits many of the CSY distinctive touches such as the scroll work on the bow.

Apparently the company viewed boat production simply as a means to supply their charter fleet in the Caribbean.

Since their main customer was lease back for their charter business, the closing of tax loopholes most likely contributed to or accelerated their demise.