Sturdy

This boat is designed for relaxed sailing on lakes in moderate winds. The low weight makes it a good cartopper. In relation to the amount of material given, it has a reasonable stability, which of course is not too much. Thus it got a keel similar to my "Clipper"-design, which keeps the lever of the heeling momentum small. The keel is a bit deeper than the keel of Clipper because the multichine hull itself does not provide lateral resistance when heeled (a sharpie hull does, as the Weekender proves). The keel has the further advantages of a very shallow draft and good rudder protection but limits the upwind capability of the boat and might be troublesome when you try to beach the boat in order to leave dry-footed. However it is possible to build a daggerboard version of the boat.

The boat carries two not too heavy adults or an adult and two kids. There's some stowage under the foredeck and, if a hole is cut into the rear bulkhead, under the aft deck. However I'd personally prefer to leave that aft compartment as emergency floatation. Additional floatation may be provided by a styrofoam block which is fixed under the thwart. An (almost) watertight hatch to close the front compartment would provide a maximum of safety, but I couldn't get it to fit on the sheets any more, so it's an extra.

In the following pictures, all parts made from plywood are yellow, whereas the parts made from lumber are red. The thwart in the middle is not to be used while sailing. Its main function is to stiffen the hull. It can be used when the boat is rowed (oarlocks are not in the picture but meant to be fitted) or anchored.

(Click on the image to see the VRML model)

The front bulkhead is built as a frame of four pieces of 25 mm (1") lumber (top and bottom are 40 mm wide, the sides are square) which serve as butt plates as well (These parts are cut from the rest of the "keel" plank). The outside of the butt joint is made by 50 mm wide fibreglass tape (maybe 200 g/m², which has to be laminated before the panels are bent.

The plywood sides which are glued to this frame give it the necessary strength (torque resistance) to cope with the mast forces. The mast is put in a mast step on the bottom through a hole in the foredeck and is secured in place by the forestay. Shrouds should not be necessary due to the hull's limited stability.

Building sturdy

The 1" lumber is cut up like this:

Keel, Stem and Rudder are cut to a thickness of 22 mm, the aft bulkhead to 12 mm and the thwart to 18 mm. One of the 2"x4" beams is intended to be cut into 8 parts of about 20 x 20 x 2400 mm. These are used as follows:

• main boom (2300 mm)= 1 part
• main gaff (1550 mm)= 1 part
• 2 rubrails scarfed from 2 parts = 4 parts
• left: 2 parts (might be used to make a pair of small oars/paddles)

The mast and bowsprit are made from the poles.

The following pictures show how the sails fit in the given polytarps. They do not show the real sailcut.