Bio:

Jeff Williams is an avid dinghy sailor on Lake Huron in Ontario. He owns and operates Skycraft Sail and Canvas, producing mostly sails for small one-design craft. He also works with children’s summer camps to maintain their sailing programs.

Design Brief for the Sail Training Skiff

This sail trainer is intended to be used by sailing schools, summer camps and families to teach young sailors. It can be sailed on the mainsail alone on windy days or with lightweight crew by swinging the daggerboard aft to move the CLR aft, or with an overlapping jib to challenge more experienced sailors. Although features such as the jib and boom vang make the rig more complicated than necessary for a boat of this size, they help to prepare students for larger and more complex racing boats.

A pointed bow is specified to reduce docking damage, which is often severe on pram bowed boats. The daggerboard and rudder can swing back, preventing or reducing damage from grounding.

The bottom is flat to ease building, but more importantly to provide enough displacement and stability for two to three children or one adult.