Update on Projects

It has been awhile so this is a quick overall update on projects:

* Goat Island Skiff kits can be cut anytime. Marketing for kits will begin by late Winter time and CNC cutting will be part of the plan. Meetings with CNC companies will happen early winter. I am taking coursework in Rhino/CAD to enable me to create files, modify files, and give them to CNC cutters.

* The Deblois Street Dory lines and offsets are finished an available. Hull #1 is being built by a customer here in Portland. Construction and sail plans are being produced now and plans will be available this winter. Kits for the D St. D will eventually be produced for the kit catalog.

*Frolic, the Flying Fifteen is as it was upon delivery. The keel comes off in the next week. As this is a personal side project, progress on it depends on how much customer work is going on at the time. Clearly, we have been busy with customers, so Frolic sits awaiting her complete restoration.

*Carbon fiber blade-Spruce oars are underway and will be part of a line of custom and semi-custom oar and paddle offerings that will become part of our specialty line of products. An online shop will be part of this endeavor, but probably wont be set up until early Spring in time for the Boat Shows. The blades are epoxy, vacuum-infused carbon fiber for total lightweight blades and balanced oars.

* Another specialty is Birdsmouth mast and spar construction for craft up to 22. In the shop, staves are being cut for a Shellback Dinghy and Goat Island Skiffs. We use beautiful White Spruce and Sitka Spruce. Well be combining the two species to make beautiful masts. Clint will have a line of mast types to choose from revolving around Birdsmouth construction, with different wood species to choose from for the spars.

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An Old Head on Young Shoulders

It is often said that words of wisdom come from the mouths of babes...

The other week one of my sons mentioned that he wanted to build one of my First Mate designs. I was full of enthusiasm and told him that Id build one too, and maybe I could arrange to have the parts for both boats cut by CNC.

He looked at me and said, "Marking and cutting is easy and fun - can you arrange to have the sanding and painting done by CNC instead?"

First Mate is a nice boat - you can see more designs on my website here.

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Spiling Lapstrake Planks Interesting Shapes

You often hear designers describing the "lay" of planks. What does this mean? Well, depending on the form of a boats hull, and the way in which the planking has been lined-off (another subject in itself), the shape of the individual planks when they are being marked out on the bench can be quite remarkable.

Here is an extreme example - the photo sequence shows the development of the sheer strake (top plank) of one of the Bolger Hope designs which we built. The boat is quite wide for her length, and she has extreme flare in the forward sections. Phil Bolger told me that the lapstrake planking might be a bit difficult up there, and he was correct (as always).
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Here you can see the temporary battens I used when carrying out the lining-off process. After establishing what I thought was a fair run of planking, tick marks were transferred to the molds and the battens were removed.

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Here you can see my son, Dave, marking the shape of the sheer strake onto the plywood planking material. He is tracing around the spiling batten which we had fabricated to lift the plank shape from the boat

This photo shows just how severe the shape of the plank appears when laid out on the flat. But after being bent around the complex shape of the hull, everything looks normal. In the photo, the end closest to the camera is the bow end of the plank.

With the planking complete, you can see that the strange and twisted shape of the plank pattern resulted in a nice, fair plank line on the finished hull.

This picture shows another extreme. These are the topside plank patterns for an Eve 16 - a boat which has very little twist and concavity in here sections. You can see that the plank patterns are all very similar, with subtle shaping. 

This is the planked hull of the Eve 16 - the bottom was laid up with glued-strip planking

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Fall Row

Today was a short 9 mile row around some inner islands of Casco Bay. Pushed hard and maintained a little under 5 kts much of the time. One of the few times Ive really pulled much of a wake in Drake. One thing to look for in any great rowboat is the wake. The clean exit of water such that it is not attached to the boat, but rather breaks cleanly from the surface of the boat as the hull passes by means less drag. When power is applied to a boats hull, the stern is depressed as the hull approaches hull speed and tries to climb the bow wave created by the hull itself. The result of this is drag from the transom, if the boat has one. Others have commented about the lack of any visible wake left as we row by in Drake. The trade off of this low drag means that it is tough to hit top speeds...getting into the 5-6 knot range is something I have not done with Drake for any stretch, but have also not spent much time trying to do. This row I took, leaving the kids behind with Mom on the beach, saw a variety of conditions that reminded me how proud I am of designing Drake. Whether it was headwind, tailwind, a cross-breeze, a chop on top of open ocean swell, or bucking a strong flood tidal current, we were still able to maintain 4.5 + knots for about 2 hours. My wife, who was a top collegiate sculler, commented as I rowed back onto the beach, "Holy cow, that was quick! Howd you do that so fast."

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SRR 2013

Report from the Small Reach Regatta 2013

Beautiful weather, wonderful people, and a humbling location

Hog Island, Muscongus Bay, Maine

Elyssa tied up on first night at Audubon docks, Hog Island.

Waiting for the "go" word from lead chase boat as all the boats get underway. This morning we were in rowing mode and hanging out with the rowers, my usual crowd.

The fleet sets off with sails flying.

A typical lunch at the SRR. Boats galore!

Here is video shot as we beat out of a narrow channel in 15-20kts after lunch, day 1.

Going downwind afternoon day 2 in the Yawldory, wing-on-wing.

The downwind view from the Yawldory sitting in the bow seat at the end of day 2.

A great shot of the sleek and traditional, the 22 Yawldory.

Another favorite, the Myst by Don Kurylko.

Day 2 lunch spot and a napping participant. Can it get better?

The SRR participants are treated like royalty by the Hog staff and volunteers. Great food.

This is what every meal looks like, great food and great company.

Its not all about boats (but almost). It is also about enjoying a walk around Hog Island, birding and breathing the same air the spruce, moss, and lichens breath.

We also do a lot of helping each other. Here I am caught in the act of discussing lug reefing with a fellow lug nut.

A typical lunch stop (day 3) includes a skippers meeting and logistics to discuss the haul out procedures for 57 boats at one ramp in little Round Pond!

Heading back into camp.

A Caledonia Yawl being hauled in Round Pond on the last day.

A loon saying goodbye, until next year.

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Family Corporate Boatbuilding

Some new photos up at my Flickr site for the two past corporate and family boatbuilding events at Mystic Seaport.

One thing we love is that all our participants launch every boat on the third day and they always look great, the people and the boats!

It is interesting that 29 boats were built at Family Boatbuilding and even out of the biggest group of 18 canoe builders led by "man with PA system", none of these canoes were launched and paddled on Sunday.

However, we were out there rowing for a solid hour in our Echo Bay Dory Skiffs. Yeah, kit builders!

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Blue Clipper Van de Stadt Legend 34

To kick off 1001 Boats I’ve chosen Blue Clipper a Van de Stadt designed Legend 34, built in 1970 by Tylers a famous UK yard.

E.G . Van de Stadt has a reputation for designing fast and sea worthy yachts and Blue Clipper was no exception, she was easily driven, close winded and comfortable. It’s only many years after she was sold and with the experience sailing many other boats that I realise how good and forgiving a boat she was.



What made her special is that in 1997/8 she carried Erica and I safely for ten thousand miles, sailing from Portsmouth, England, across the Bay of Biscay to Spain and Portugal, out into the Atlantic to Madeira and the Canary Islands, then south again to The Gambia in West Africa before crossing the Atlantic to arrive in Barbados. Our cruise in the “islands,” took us south to Trinidad and then north visiting most of the Antilles; the Windward and Leeward Islands, before returning back across the Atlantic, stopping at the Azores and finally returning to England.

Blue Clipper was a bit small, certainly compared to a modern 34 yachts, but she coped with light winds, huge ocean swells, what might have been pirates, gales and a frisky whale. She took us out of our comfort zone, stretched us as sailors and individuals, she will always have a place in our hearts.

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Summit 35

Summit 35
Nice Profile

One of the best things about being in the market for a new boat is checking out the newest designs, going for test sails and pondering cruising to distant places or collecting trophies. When I started looking at the Summit 35, I quickly forgot about the distant coves and palm trees, and instead, thought about racing and collecting pickle dishes.

Mark Mills designed it for Summit Yachts and Edgewater Boats builds it in Florida. The Summit 35 is really a buoy racer with enough accommodations for a couple to spend a week or so cruising, or for longer coastal races. Mills describes the boat as being designed to excel under the IRC. The IRC is a handicapping rule that is in some ways like PHRF and some ways like other measurement rules such as the now defunct IOR rule. I say that because to get a rating you must have your boat measured or have the builder certify the dimensions of the boat. Then you submit all the required information to the Rating Authority, which has a secret formula that they use to calculate the boats handicap rating. The PHRF aspect comes from the fact that the Rating Authority may use subjective judgments as well as the boats measurements to give a boat a final rating. The idea behind the secrecy of the rating formula is that designers and builders aren’t supposed to know what it is and therefore can’t tweak their designs to take advantage of the rule. Some of you may recall the goofy designs that came out of the IOR rule, where speed producing factors were penalized and credit was given for speed reducing factors.

The S-35 has a displacement of 10,930 lb with 5,300 lb of ballast, most of which is in that massive bulb.

Enough of the handicapping jargon…Let’s just evaluate the Summit 35 based on common sense. I should say out front that I haven’t had an opportunity to sail one yet and all the information I have on the boat was taken from Summit-yachts.com and yachtworld.com. I like the overall proportions of this boat. The very slightly raked stem and transom make the hull more visually attractive than if they were vertical, as does the slightly sprung sheer. Below the waterline we see a fairly shallow hull with a narrow waterline beam and lots of flare in the topsides. The keel consists of a vertical fin with a slightly raked leading edge coupled to a massive lead bulb. Notice in the photo that the bulb extends a long way forward from the fin. There doesn’t appear to be a kelp cutter on the keel so that bulb could be a problem in areas with lots of kelp, like southern California. On the other hand, the bulb will keep the boat on its feet in a breeze.

Big cockpit, square corners and German mainsheet system

I like the deck on this boat. It has a beautiful cabin trunk and a nice big cockpit with seats forward and plenty of room for the crew. The options list includes twin wheels instead of the standard tiller. I would choose that option in spite of the extra weight and cost. The wheels are smallish, but allow the helmsperson to sit well outboard, and leave plenty of room for the crew. Notice that the main traveler is located well aft on the cockpit floor, with the sheet led forward along the boom, then down under the deck and back to a pair of winches just aft of the short cockpit coamings. This arrangement is known as a ‘German’ or ‘Admirals Cup’ system. With 2:1 purchase and the ability to trim the main quickly, it can be an excellent arrangement for a racer, and has some benefits for the cruising yachtsman who understands the strengths and weaknesses of this system. On the Summit 35 with tiller steering, the helmsperson sits forward of the main trimmer, on or outboard of the coaming, with the main trimmer sitting aft. It doesn’t look too comfortable for the helmsman. With wheel steering, the helmsman will be aft of the main trimmer, but it’ll be a tight fit for the trimmer. This will be fine on the upwind legs, but could get complicated on the downwind legs jibing in heavy air and at the leeward mark where the main trimmer will be ripping in the mainsheet and the helmsman is busy getting around the mark and avoiding flying elbows and mainsheet tail.  It’s not a big deal, but will take some practice for the helmsman and trimmer to work out how to do their jobs without getting in each other’s way.

In studying the cockpit, notice that everything is pretty well squared off and all the edges and corners have roughly the same radius. There is nothing wrong with this and it is quick to tool straight lines and squared edges, but this very nice looking overall deck design could have been more artfully sculpted. Of course boats have a way of getting prettier if they win a lot of races, and I have no doubt that the Summit 35 will do that.

Compact galley is suitable for sandwiches and MREs

It’s hard to fault the interior of this boat. The layout is just about perfect, with a good sized galley and nav station as well as a positively luxurious head for a boat this size. The interior drawing shows a big dropleaf table in the main cabin, but Im sure few Summit 35’s will sail with it, as it looks heavy and takes up space needed for packing chutes. The galley is fitted with a gimbaled Origo two-burner alcohol stove. This is a very good unit that eliminates the need for a gas bottle and its attendant locker, solenoid, etc. While the galley is too small for cruising, it’s quite adequate for the racing crew that expects sandwiches and MRE’s instead of ‘meals’.

I was surprised to see that the Summit 35 is equipped with an aluminum mast instead of carbon fiber. This may be due as much to the IRC rule as to economic considerations. The boat carries non-overlapping headsails and can be fitted with symmetrical or asymmetrical spinnakers. There are some advantages to symmetrical spinnakers in tactical situations, especially at the leeward mark, but these are outweighed by the simplicity and efficiency of asymmetrical kites. Unless you plan to race your boat under IRC rules, which apparently favors symmetricals, you’ll want to set your Summit 35 up with a short bowsprit and asymmetrical kites.

If I were in the market for a racer, I’d consider the Summit 35. It’s a nice looking and fast boat with reasonable accommodations and, inspired by Barry Carroll, a good pedigree. I like the fact that it’s built here in America. I think that, regardless of whether the IRC rule really gains much traction in the USA, the S-35 will be a very effective PHRF racer as well. Its interesting to compare this boat to the J-111. Its very close, but I think I like the J just a little bit more. Of course neither is well suited for the kind of cruising were planning, but it would be interesting to see these boats matched against each other in a buoy race and in a long distance race.

Inasmuch as were in the market for a used cruising boat, my next review will be the Beneteau 423. In the meantime I invite you to visit www.summit-yachts.com if youd like to learn more about the S-35.

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Updates and Launches

Im slowly updating the webpages on the blog. In the meantime, three Deblois Street Dories are slated to launch in the next several weeks, including two in Maine and one by a woman who teaches college Geology in Indiana. The first Drake19 rowboat will launch midsummer. I will do sea trials with Walter Baron, the builder. An Echo Bay or two should launch. And a Caravelle sailing skiff will also launch this season. Lots of activity!

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New Boat CIY 16

The Calendar Islands Yawl 16

A Sail-and-Oar Dinghy for one or two people

The CIY 16 began as a 19 x 6 1/2-foot daysailer design with a deck and coaming with a bit of Herreshoff flavor. A friend who sails the Goat Island Skiff design by Michael Storer wanted a similar boat -- singlehanding, lightweight, lug rigged sail-and-oar dinghy -- but with a hull shape more amenable to Maine waters. I immediately thought of my CIY lines that I had drawn years ago and that had been sitting untouched and in need of inspiration. I had already put the lines into the computer so I scaled them down and reworked them to make this hull. The specs are:

LOA 15 1/2

Beam 5 1"

Displacement ~522lbs

Depth amidships 19"

DWL is 310" x 132"

Cp is 0.54

The hull has a wide plank keel for rolling the boat up and down the beach. The skeg is there for tracking under oars, but the cutaway allows the stern to come through the wind when tacking. The lines are fairly straight forward and full aft. In a breeze she will plane. Yet trimmed on her DWL, the transom is out of the water and the stem is in the water and shell row fine with 10 oars so long as we keep her light. Construction will be 1/4" plywood: bottom and garboard stitch and glue style, with lapstrake sides, about 5 strakes total for topsides.

Its always fun designing something really new. The next steps are to put in all the planks in the model so look forward to that post. Ill be looking for someone to prototype the boat. Let me know if you are interested. Stay tuned!

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The 1000 Hour Mark

The end of November 2009 brought about the 1000 hour mark for actual time spent on the build.




She is really starting to show her shape.


Scaffolding was applied to each side as needed.


Screws with washers were used at the ends of planks to pull the shape in, and create the slight concave shape at the bow.

The strips of red cedar are very colorful and make us want to finish her "bright". She is very beautiful at this point.

Any excess epoxy will be removed during the fairing process.

Some strips were left long during the planking process.

The scaffolding creates a little more room on the port side.

Its still a tight fit.

The strips were reduced from 1 1/16" in height to 13/16" to help make the turn up toward the keel easier. The narrower the strip, the less sharp edges and flat surfaces will need to be shaped in the fairing process, but the slower the planking process.

Only about 5 rows could be applied each day, taking over 1 hour per strip. This included staggering any joints, slathering unthickened epoxy on all surfaces, reslathering thickened epoxy on the strip already on the boat, nailing the new strip to the existing strip with plastic nails and ring shank nails in any areas that did not want to cooperate. Then excess epoxy was scraped from the squeeze lines. The scaffolding also had to be adjusted intermittently.

The planking at the bow will need to be trimmed back to accept the outer stem.

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