40s
designs Polytarp sail exponent Dave Gray
has added some more designs to his great collection of plans from
the 40s, including Crawfish, a fabulous streamlined iceboat; Wheelie Willie,
an 8ft pram which can double as a wheelbarrow; Conga, a 12ft V-bottom
skiff, Frosty, a 10ft plywood sailing dingy; and Super Sunray, a 15ft Sam
Rabl-designed racing sloop. He'll be posting Flight, a 20' mahogany plywood
outboard cruiser with overnight accomodations, when he finds some more
free time. The list also includes a 14ft cat-rigged knockabout, a 20ft
sailing toothpick with a raisable weighted bulb keel, a blisteringly fast
20ft scow and various other sailing craft. For some, though, the gem of
the collection so far is a shanty boat with a sternwheel decorated to look
a bit like a Mississippi Showboat. It's just big enough to sleep two and
is pedal powered - you sit on the cannibalized bike frame and pedal with
your head in an observation tower. I think I know someone who won't be
able to rest until he has one... Wouldn't if be nice if someone converted
some of these to CAD? In the meantime, go and look - you'll love it!
Proa
link Check out the pictures and design
material for this proa! Some new goodies are available from
Carlson
Design Gregg Carlson's page now includes
a pair of free mast design programs for round wooden masts. The first develops
strakes for round masts, while the second calculates mast size and strength
for stayed and unstayed rigs based on sail area and wood types.
Johnboat
plans If you need plans for a johnboat,
you might just win some for free from Gator Boats. Send them an email including
just the word 'register', and at the end of the month yours might be the
lucky name they pull out of the hat.
Scarfing
advice no 1 and Scarfing
advice no 2 For advice on scarfing, check out
these links. Neither mention Dynamite Payson's method of butting
two sheets of ply together and taping and epoxying each side - but take
great care in handling the material while only one side has been taped!
Doily
for people who have got it bad You've got it bad. You haven't got
time to build a boat and can't afford to buy one. If it's making you feel
really unwell, why not run yourself up a doily in the meantime? Yes, I
know it's silly. .
Dynawing The Dynawing - a great sounding
idea, and it needn't be expensive to make one for yourself.
Black
Jack David designs Cruising enthusiast Andy Morley's
boat was designed and built by its previous owner. Andy has put up the
design as a backdrop; save the image, and you have the design. But don't
tell anyone I told you so. He says the boat works pretty well in most conditions,
but doesn't give of its best in waves and a light wind.
Sampans Fancy a real challenge? Why not
build a sampan - or at least a model for your mantlepiece. These pages
are from Craig O'D, a man who always keeps a surprise up his sleeve.
Plyboats New design software! The highly
regarded Plyboats boat design software is now available in the form of
a usable demo.
Dixon
Kemp punts Facsimile instructions for making
two punts, from the glossary section of Dixon Kemp's famous book of just
over a century ago. It's a rough old hand scan, I'm afraid, but you'll
get the idea. Just start off by ignoring the first sentence of the second
set of instructions. It baffled me, anyway.
Short
boats Some more minimalist designs from
the admirable Craig O'Donnell, including a little punt, a 12ft scow (similar-ish,
you might say, but it sails), a 10ft skiff, a 13ft 'seaside bateau', two
sneakboxes, the paper canoe, and a small catamaran..
Wood
knowledge Everything boatbuilders and woodworkers
in general could possible need to know about wood, provided by the US Government.
Tiny
dory Ira Einsteen's done it again - this
time he has drawn up a tiny 'dory' using a single sheet of 10ft by 4ft
ply. Does that qualify as a single-sheeter? I suppose I would have to say
so, as 10 by 4 is available where I live. These drawings are hosted by
Scotty, and come in a handy variety of formats.. Take a look around Scotty's
pages, while you are there.
Currachs Here's some fascinating material
about the design and build of currachs. These boats are still used commercially
and for pleasure on the West coast of Ireland, and I'm hoping someday soon
to be able to put up some more material about how they are made.
Coracle And here's how to make a close relative
of the currach, the coracle. I've paddled one of these things, and I can
tell you that there's nothing like the suicidal balance of these little
boats. It was fun, in its way though. It's interesting that although thought
of a primarily Welsh and Irish in origin, these craft were - maybe still
are - launched from both the English and Welsh sides of the lovely river
Wye, and I understand there's an English professional soccer team that
uses one as a mascot. Don't come to Britain if you don't like things a
bit weird, I say.
Stability
essay How stable does a motorised fishing
vessel need to be for safety? Here's a useful-looking that explains a lot
about the subject. If you've read The Perfect Storm, you'll definitely
want to read this.
Making
oars More stuff on how to make oars,
this time from an old friend of these pages, Frank Ellinghaus.
Craig's
foils essay Have you seen this? It's an essay
by Craig O'Donnell about foils.
Folding
canoe A design for a folding canoe from
an old copy of the US magazine Popular Mechanics.
Shopbot
canoe Here's an article including ShopBot
cutting files and full instructions for making one of Bill Young's beautiful
epoxy lapstrake canoes. If you aren't one of the lucky people who have
their own ShopBot, my hunch is that the ShopBot's suppliers may be able
to put you in touch with someone who has one and is willing to cut out
you sheet material for a reasonable fee. For more on Bill Young's work,
follow the link to Seaside
Small Craft .
Paper
canoe Canoes are remarkably slim, wobbly
things. But if that isn't enough, you can also make them out of paper.
Click here for a design deriving from the heyday of paper canoes.
Simple
open canoe I'm not sure if this exactly counts
as a design, but you could just about make a boat from it - but if you
decide not to, there's some inspiration to gain.
More
stuff about foils Here's still more stuff about foils,
if you like that kind of thing.
Simple
scow Andrew Gibbens designed and built
his own 12-foot sailing scow, and has taken the trouble to share it with
us. As a Brit, I'm delighted to be able to publish something that originated
in my own country for once! PVC's time has clearly arrived.
David
Goodchild's cheap oars Here's an extremely neat way of
making very cheap and light oars from David Goodchild.
PVC
tubing cleats And here is how to make David Beede's
cheap and clever cleats, also made from PVC tubing.
Polytarp
kayak Well done chaps - you've both done
a brilliant job. How to make a kayak with some willow, and some polytarp.
If you haven't got any, I suppose a few animal skins will do. Live in a
cave, do you?
Polytarp
sails (i) Still more on polytarp sails, this
time from Frank Ellinghaus.
Polytarp
sails (ii) If you are thinking of having a
go at making polytarpauline sails, here's a link that will help you along
the way. If you're interested in this, don't miss out on the link to Craig
O'Donnel's pages on the same subject below.
The
Rules Every design book (and many books
that are not meant to be) include boat design 'rules'. Often they conflict,
and I know that many good boats exist that break one rule or other. Still,
the members of the boat design mailing list did think that a page of 'The
Rules' might be fun, and useful. Please submit any rules you have found
and think might be useful to others to me at gmatkin@clara.net.
We're looking for principles likely to be useful in boat design rather
than humour here, though I may well enjoy a laugh in private.
Have you
found anything I should add to this page?
Back to top This page has been visited
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This page was assembled by Gavin
Atkin using SiteAid
and Netscape composer. I have a policy of concentrating mainly on material
likely to be of interest to the low-budget sailor. The links on this page
DO NOT imply approval or endorsement of the products or services offered.
I would be grateful for constructive,
do-able comments, links to free and low-cost designs you may have found
or have put up on the Web or via FTP, or wish to put up, and also for any
other information about free and low-cost designs and resources I can include
on this page of links. In terms of designs, I'm looking for original work
based on a new concept or on traditional ideas. Anything recognised as
being too close to the work of a recognised current designer must be refused
- and this has happened. This page is meant to be interesting, useful and
fun, not a rip-off of those we admire. Email me at gmatkin@clara.net.
Do please let me know if you find these pages interesting or useful, and
if you have anything to add.
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