Plastic Classic Forum

Hi all,

Here is a picture of a plastic classic at Fortman Marina. I was told that it is a Choey Lee. Does any one know what model Choey Lee it is? I love the hard dodger on this boat. Most hard dodgers are not very attractive (usually too boxy).



Thanks and best regards,

This boat looks nearly identical to a 40ish' boat I worked on in Florida years ago (I believe the boat was out of Dog River Marina in Mobile, AL). I really liked the boat but don't remember the model. Funny how some details stick out and others don't. The boat had not been well maintained (inside or out), and if I recall we were dealing with an odd assortment of maintenance issues. And it had varnished masts. Looks like these may be painted.

Nice boat.

It looks like an Offshore 40 (Rhodes design).

Not to disagree with Tim, but I do not think these are exactly the same vessel, though they could be different years or some other minor variant.

If you look at the companionway at the forward part of the cockpit you will see it is not centered but offset to starboard. This is as it was on the boat I worked on. It is hard to see, but if you look at the port in the bulkhead (not in Tim's photos), it is pretty clear the compionway is not centered.

Just an observation.

The plan view of the Offshore 40 shows the companionway slightly offset to starboard, and I think the companionway on the stern-on photo that I posted above looks similarly offset to both the original photo at the top of this post and the plan view below.

Choey Lee also built a very similar Phil Rhodes designed boat to the Offshore 40 which was the Rhodes Reliant (41 ft.) with the companionway offset to strarboard.

I think the discussion about the off set on the cabin hatch is on target.

I believe that on the original Rhodes Reliant and/or Rhodes 41 the hatch was offset to the starboard side by quite a bit. This allowed the galley to be tucked in on the port side of the cabin without having a ladder or steps cut into the counter space (there used to be a couple of really good web pages devoted to Rhodes Reliants that should have detailed line drawings).

When Cheoy Lee did their usual presto chango act several years later and released their own version of the Off Shore 40 (and stopped paying Phil Rhodes any commissions on HIS design), they either eliminated the offset entirely or reduced it as one of the ways the differentiated their "design" from his original.

Regardless of the version, they were all stunningly beautiful boats... and exceedingly well built.

Pretty boat! You gotta love the wood on the cheoy lees.

ghostwriter247 wrote:Pretty boat! You gotta love the wood on the cheoy lees.

Or to put it another way, you gotta love wood to love a Cheoy Lee.

Also called the EMPIRE 40.
Royalties not paid and other cost cutting measures (such as iron ballast)

Tim wrote:The plan view of the Offshore 40 shows the companionway slightly offset to starboard, and I think the companionway on the stern-on photo that I posted above looks similarly offset to both the original photo at the top of this post and the plan view below.

Bluenose wrote:

ghostwriter247 wrote:Pretty boat! You gotta love the wood on the cheoy lees.

Or to put it another way, you gotta love wood to love a Cheoy Lee.

that too!