The K8500 is an 8.5 meter (28 feet) sailboat designed for single handed or shorthanded day sailing and camp style overnight cruising. This boat is reminiscent of the ULDB boats of the 1970's like the Moore 24 or Santa Cruz 27, but with a relatively small fore triangle for ease of sail handling. Like the K-28, the K8500 is a minimalist boat with a flush deck.

Hull and deck construction is foam core fiberglass with conservative scantlings. The keel and rudder are simple trapezoidal shapes with enough sweep to shed kelp. The fractional rig has a double spreader deck stepped aluminum mast with swept back spreaders.

This design includes a forward buoyancy compartment and watertight bulkheads to prevent the boat from sinking in the event of flooding, as long as the flooding is confined to a single watertight compartment. A stability report for the K8500 including flotation and trim in the flooded condition can be downloaded on the Naval Architect's Notebook page.

The best way to study this design is to download the plans ... they're free, and you can use them to build the boat if you want.