The idea behind this blog is very simple, to post images and information on a 1001 boats
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Of all the designers inspired by Colin Archer's seaworthy double-enders, William Atkin seemed to get it just right. And of all the boats he designed in that tradition, his Ingrid seems to inspire blue-water sailors and wannabes the most.
Of the design he said: "She has all the characteristics usually associated with seagoing ability. She is the kind of boat that behaves in rough water. She can be depended upon to sail herself. She is ableness personified. And equal to any situation."
Since the design appeared, boatbuilders have made Ingrids of wood, fiberglass and even ferro cement. Spiritus is as beautiful an example as you are going to find. She's made of fiberglass, most likely by one of the several boatyards who produced Ingrid hulls.
Many of these builders would sell to any stage of completion. For every well-found yacht like Spiritus, there is probably at least one unfinished boat in a field or boatyard whose owner ran out of money, time or enthusiasm. In one boatyard I visited, there were three Ingrid hulls lined up - two of fiberglass and one of ferro cement - the boats were decades old, yet never finished. A sad fate for a lady made for the sea. LOD:37' 6" LWL: 30' Beam: 11' 4" Draft: 5' 6" Displacement: 25,000 pounds Sail area: 816 square feet
Originally designed as a ketch, later Ingrids also had a cutter rig, like this Alajuela 38.
Designed by Sandy Douglas, the Thistle debuted in 1945. The sail plan consists of a marconi main, small jib, and a spinnaker. The boat planes easily in 10-12 knots of breeze and will glide effortlessly in light air. Sandy Douglas was mentored by the superlative Uffa Fox and the racing canoe influence is readily apparent in the nimble Thistle.
One of my favorite boats, hull number sixteen, was manufactured in 1946. The Thistle Class Association has no record of this boat, so it is speculated that it was a "kit" boat, possibly assembled by it's owner and probably never raced.
The original wood thistles were built by a "hot molding" method. All of the wood hulls up through the 1960's were taken from a single mold in a plywood factory, where the double diagonal mahogany strips were fastened to the mold with bronze staples and glue, then heated under pressure in the factory's drying kiln. The resulting laminate is amazingly resilient even though it is only 5/16"(79.4mm) thick. A finished hull, with lead centerboard, thwart, seats, mast partner and rudder weighs in at 500 lbs (US). The bare hulls, along with all of the wood parts were sold as a kit, so many of these old boats were finished at home by the racers themselves.
The Thistle Class migrated to fiberglass boats in the 1960's and as such are still manufactured today.
One-design rules dictate that the boats be held to strict specifications in order to be raced. There is no reason this 63 year-old wood boat would not be competitive with a modern Thistle. In fact modern racers believe the antique wood hulls to be stiffer than a fiberglass hull just a few years old. Retired wood hulls from all over the US are being restored and pressed back into service. Hull number 16 is no exception and following her restoration in my shop on the west coast of the US has moved cross-country to be raced in the Delaware area by her new owner.
Roger Rodibaugh of Lafayette, Indiana kindly sent us pictures of his delightful Melon Seed skiff Nancy Lee named after Roger's wife. The Mellon Seed has been a favourite ever since I first discovered the lines in Howard Chappelle's book American Small Craft.
Roger tells the story - In the 1880s, in the bays and backwaters of New Jersey (USA), there developed a shapely gunning skiff called a Melon Seed. H.I. Chapelle imortalized the type in his American Small Sailing Craft. He and other historians suggest that the Melon Seed was a developmental improvement on the Sneakbox, better able to handle the open, choppy waters of the Jersey Bays by virtue of its more complex shape. Others argue that the Sneakbox, being easier to build, and therefore less costly, came after the Melon Seed. Whichever the case, it remains indisputable that this little skiff is a right virtuous craft, suitable today for easy singlehanding or a crew of two and a picnic.
Roger Crawford builds a version of the Chapelle skiff in fiberglass and teak in his two-man shop. Largely thanks to him and the over 450 boats he has built, the type has become more widely known. http://www.melonseed.com/ There are also a number of professional and amateur builders who have built carvel, plywood lapstrake, and strip plank boats to various plans.
I have sailed a Crawford Melonseed for nearly 20 years and can attest to her virtues. I live 50 miles from my sailing waters, so easy trailering and quick rigging are important to me. The 235 pound boat is effortless to trailer, and the sprit rig sets up instantly. She relishes a breeze, but takes well to the oars in a calm. Her diminutive size belies her toughness -- she's very capable, and seems to know just how to step through a chop -- and the side decks keep the green water out. All this, and pretty, too, with her hollow bow and saucy sheer.
Melonseed particulars:
length overall: 13'8" beam 4'3" draft 6" to 2'6" displacement 235 lbs. sail area 62 sq. ft.
Up until the 1970's there was a ferry crossing connecting Southampton to Woolston over the Itchen river, the small village on the banks of the river became known as Itchen Ferry as did the inshore fishing boats which were built there in the later 19th century and fished the waters of the Solent.
Typically transom stern gaff cutters of around 20 feet, characterised by a broad beam as much as eight feet. Despite their beam the boats had fair lines and were known for their speed and the ability to run straight in difficult sea conditions.
Several local boat builders were making this type of fishing boat around the 1850's and 1860's but perhaps the most famous was Dan Hatcher of which SU120 Wonder is a surviving example of his work.
Several other builders including Luke, Alfred Payne, Stockham & Pickett and Fay's built boats of the type which probably more correctly should be called Solent Fishing Cutter's.
A good few other examples survive to this day, although recognisable as an Itchen Ferry, this grey boat was spotted a long way from her home waters, in the east coast town of Woodbridge.
Our thanks for bringing this boat to our attention go to Robert Ditterich, who featured her on this Page Three Boat Blog.
Thanks also to builder Paul who describes the thinking process behind the boat and building of "Beth" the yawl rigged sail boat - on his blog Licensed 2 Tinker, as well as sending us these great photos.
Beth is a 15.5ft sailing boat designed by Iain Oughtred. She was launched in 2007 after a two year build. Iain Oughtred's original "Tammie Norrie" design was a 13.5ft boat with the option of a lug yawl or sloop rig. Paul scaled the boat up 10% from the original design and changed the rig to a gaff yawl instead of lug sail. Paul was also keen on a boat which was small and light enough to row home when the afternoon wind fails.
Iain Oughtred designed Tammie Norrie as an open boat with a yawl rigged lugsail. Paul wasn’t keen on the lugsail and he knew Iain had another, bigger, design for a gaff rigged yawl. Iain was also working on a version of the Tammie Norrie design that had been scaled up 10%, so Paul went ahead and bought the Tammie Norrie plans and then proceeded to scale them up 10% and modify the mainsail to a gaff himself.
In addition to the technical challenges involved in scaling up the design Paul had to test recoverability after capsize and deal with ballasting the larger boat. Whatever the challenges they were well worth it, Beth looks fantastic.
One of my favorite boats was a 13-foot-5-inch Chamberlain dory. It was designed by John Gardner based on dory-builder William Chamberlain's legendary boats. Gardner said of the boat, “For a rowing sea boat, you can't do much better within the 13-foot limit.” I put that to the test many times in the 12 years I owned her and she took care of me every time.
For several years I would row eight miles with the boat loaded with camping and archery equipment to bow hunt elk on an island on the Washington coast. I once rowed into some of the steepest wind chop I've ever seen and she didn't ship a teaspoon of water. I also entered a 11-mile rowing race and and did well even though my boat was the shortest in the race. In the first few years I owned her I did a lot of tinkering: I lowered the rowing thwart and the stern seat and reinforced the front thwart to serve double duty as a mast partner. I also added a mast step and made a mast and sprit so I could sail her. I think the best change I made to the boat was to add a carved back rest for the stern seat. It made it more comfortable for the passenger and gave the boat a somewhat more refined look. My wife called it the "princess seat."
The spritsail rig worked well and I decided that rather than complicate a wonderfully simple boat by adding a centerboard and rudder I would sail her peapod style by trailing the lee oar and shifting my weight to steer. It worked well thanks to a shallow, full-length keel that terminated in a generous skeg. The rig even allowed her to go to windward pretty well.
The boat works well with one or two adults and a couple of kids, was OK with three adults and could even accommodate three adults and two small kids.
The odd thing about my Chamberlain dory was this: of all my boats, she is the only one that went nameless. It wasn't because I didn't love her, I did, it's just that she didn't come with a name and one never occurred to me. She was always "the Chamberlain dory."
Onawind Blue is a 15 foot Light Trow designed by Gavin Atkin and fellow blogger of In The Boatshed. The Trow was in part inspired by a traditional working boat from a very unusual stretch of protected water on the Dorset coast known as the Fleet, which is enclosed behind the gravel banks at Chesil Beach.
The traditional Trow was a heavily built, flat bottomed boat, Gavin has bought the design up to date with much lighter ply construction adding some influence from Dory designs and providing a sailing rig. The result is the Light Trow.
Based on the Mediterranean coast of Spain Ben Crawshaw has documented the build of his Light Trow - Onawind Blue and then followed up with his sailing and rowing exploits on his blog The Invisible Workshop
What's very interesting about The Invisible Workshop is how Ben involves his readers rowing and sailing Onawind Blue in very different waters to those from which the design originated. It is fascinating to watch as Ben develops his skills and experience with the boat, pushing the boundaries of her capability.
Ben's voyages demonstrate that you don't need a mega yacht to go sailing, even in the open ocean. His crossing to Ibiza takes courage, skill and a well found boat which he clearly has in Onawind Blue. His sailing also interweaves with the strong regional Catalan culture in which food plays an important role. Cooking on an open boat can be a challenge, but sailing out in the early morning to enjoy breakfast on the clear and sunny Mediterranean is clearly something special.
The Norske 35 design is a tough, double ended design very much in the style of Colin Archer and billed as an ocean cruiser by Harley Boats for construction in ferro cement.
Dimensions are 35' LOD, beam of 11' and a relatively shallow draft of 5'3". Hartley describe her as "traditional relatively cheap and easy to construct craft, for general cruising or ocean wandering. The rig is easily within the limits of the loner." The sail plan shows either a gaff cutter or ketch rig.
Windboats in Wroxham, Norfolk better known for construction of the Endurance 35, also built a number of Norske 35's using their "SeaCrete" method of ferro cement during the 1970's. Despite a poor reputation with insurer's, yacht surveyors and for resale value, there are a number of well built examples around which are doing well even after 30 odd years.
Grace is a Windboat built Norske she is normally based on the Hamble, but currently taking a sabbatical on the west coast of France.
The Bursledon Gig is actually an adopted boat, built in fiber glass from a mould taken from a west country punt, the original boat probably dredging for oysters and doing other inshore work in Carrick Roads, Falmouth.
At 15’” LOA with a wide bean of 5'4", the Bursledon Gig is a stable rowing platform as was adopted by the Hamble Sea Scouts and others along the Hampshire River as a safe and versatile boat which can be rowed with up to four crew plus a cox. With approaching 20 gigs on the river they became a regular fixture at Bursledon Regatta competing for the Sheave Trophy.
In 2010 Hamble River Rowing was formed to promote rowing on the river, the club now has two new gigs in build and another on order.
Glenn Woodbury is skipper of this little sloop which was designed in the mid-1960's by Captain R.D. "Pete" Culler when he was working at the Concordia Company in South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, USA.
Feather was built by John Graham in Sausalito, California in 1983 and now resides on Marrowstone Island in Washington state.
Glenn describes his fine vessel: "She is clinker built, 17'-8" long, 5 feet wide, and draws 18 inches with the centerboard up and 3 feet with it down. She is rigged as a gaff knockabout sloop with 172 square feet of sail, 127sq ft main and 45sq ft in the jib. There is no standing rigging and the jib is set flying. She displaces 1240 pounds with rig and anchor and carries as many as six adults. She has two sets of reef cringles in the mainsail, allowing her to sail to weather in 35 knots of wind with both reefs in and the jib set"
I have sailed in company with Feather and she is as fine a small boat as you will ever find.
While we are talking about Waldo Howland's Concordia Company, we might take a look at the most famous design to come out of that shop in Massachusetts.
The Concordia yawl was designed in 1938 by naval architect C. Raymond Hunt for Llewellyn Howland and built by Llewellyn's son Waldo.
I found this Concordia yawl preparing to hoist anchor while cruising in the San Juan Islands near the western extreme of the Canadian border with the US.
Concordia Yawl Design Specifications: Length Over All 39'-10" Length Waterline 28'-6" Beam (Extreme) 10'-3" Draft 5'-8" Ballast (Iron Keel) 7700 Lbs. Displacement 18000 Lbs. Sail Area 690 Sq. Ft. (Fore Triangle, Mainsail and Mizzen)
Construction - Oak keel, steam bent laminated oak frames, African mahogany planking, bright mahogany deck trim, canvas covered main deck and house top, bronze plank fastenings, galvanized iron keel bolts.
Rig - Hollow spars, including spinnaker pole, stainless steel rigging, galvanized tangs, bronze fittings and winches.
The Concordia yawl has won numerous prestigious races including the Newport/Bermuda Race (1954 & 1978), the Annapolis Race (1955), Cowes Week (1955) and the Marblehead-to-Halifax Race (1955 & 1997); Proving that a cruising boat can also be competitive.
Good Intent is a Bawley, another traditional craft from the English east coast.
Typically used to catch whitebait and shrimps in the Thames Estuary the Bawley is characterised by full, but relatively shallow hull lines and a transom stern very similar to that of a Thames barge in shape, giving the Bawley good sail carrying ability. The rig is typically a lose footed main with an almost vertical leech and a large topsail for catching the light airs as they made their way up the Thames.
Good Intent was lying at Woodbridge at the top of the River Deben in Suffolk a few years ago when these photographs were taken, even laid up at the quay she looked lovely.
Built in 1860 by Shrubsills of Milton at 36 feet on deck, she is registered as a Lowestoft boat - No. LO136, she fished for sprats and cod under sail until she retired from fishing in 1927.
I’ve written about this fast cruiser on Burlesdon Blog a while ago and was very taken by the design when we first saw her in the Mediterranian. Designed by French Naval Architect Jean-Pierre Villenave she is a Turbo 950.
France is one of the most exciting centers of yacht design where many small scale designers are applying lessons and technologies from racing yachts to produce fast and capable cruisers. The Turbo 9.5 is one such design, built with strip plank construction, she is light, fast and from the look of her a blast to sail.
The pilot house design and flush deck is rightly popular and highly practical for cruising combining as it does low wind-age forward with a spacious deck space for working, especially useful when at anchor.
Details like the swivel seats at the transom are a practical response to the wide stern hull shapes which gives the yacht its planning ability and speed. Compared with the complication and cost involved with the twin wheels which are so often seen on modern yachts, a comfortable outboard seat with a tiller extension is a very refreshing, not to mention low cost, low maintenance solution, something many of us strive for in a cruising boat.
We know from fellow blogger Robert Wise on Boat Bits that the Orange Boat has left the Mediterranean and arrived safely in the Caribbean after crossing the Atlantic.
Jean-Pierre has designed a range of yachts many for amateur construction using ply wood as well as his smaller version the Turbo 650 meter which is a fast, low cost cruiser which would get a young family on the water and having a lot of fun.
Capt. Robert Gray is one of the unsung heroes of maritime history. He discovered the great river of the West in 1793 and named it after his ship Columbia. He discovered two important Northwest harbors: Grays Harbor in Washington State and Tillamook Bay in Oregon. He also had a number of firsts to his credit: he commanded the first American vessel to circumnavigate the globe (the Columbia), the first American vessel to visit the West Coast of North America (the Lady Washington), first to visit China, and the list goes on.
Fast forward 200 years. The Grays Harbor Historical Seaport finished building the Lady Washington, a replica of the first of Gray's historic commands. This was supposed to be just a warm up to building the much larger Columbia Rediviva. But with only a fraction of the money to build that fully-rigged ship in the construction fund, the fledgling organization punted and built, not one, but two replicas of the Columbia's longboats: the Capt. Matt Peasley and the Hewitt R. Jackson, both launched in 1993.
A ship like the Columbia would carry about four ship's boats with the longboat being the largest. One or two of the other boats would be nested inside it while the ship was underway. Longboats were as big as would fit between the foremast and the mainmast of the mother ship. On the Columbia that was 26 feet, the same size as the longboat of the HMAV Bounty, on which Capt. Bligh made his record-setting voyage.
The longboats were the workhorses of the early explorers. They would lighter cargo of everything from horses to barrels of rum from shore to ship. They also did the hard work of exploring. In fact, the Columbia's longboat entered the Columbia River before the ship did, sounding as she went, to prevent the loss of the mother ship.
These vessels were built tough with thick planking and heavy frames. The boats have so much wood in them that when the U.S. Coast Guard filled them with water to test their buoyancy they floated with their gunwales well above the surface without additional buoyancy tanks or bags and with several shivering volunteers sitting inside. Carl Brownstein, the boatwright who built the two vessels, call them "two-ton dingies." A similar longboat built to yacht scantlings in another Washington port floated so high on her lines that she had to have more than 1,000 pounds of ballast added.
These longboats are amazing vessels in their versatility, utility and beauty. They can use up to 10 oars, but move well under just two. (Six is about optimal, especially if the crew are inexperienced rowers.) They have three masts and four sails. The main and the foremast are fitted with dipping lug sails, which are all kinds of fun! Each of the thwarts has a mast step that can accommodate either the mainmast or the fore, allowing for many different sail combinations.
Oh, I almost forgot the best thing, both longboats have a swivel gun mounted on the samson post.
Soon after the first longboat was completed it won the King of Spain Cup in a rowing competition in British Columbia. The Grays Harbor Historical Seaport uses these vessels for youth training in Washington state's San Juan Islands most summers.
The early pilots of the Bristol Channel earned their living by seeking merchant vessels approaching land and using their detailed knowledge of local navigation, pilot them safely into port.
The Pilot Cutters would race westwards to meet the incoming ships. The pickings were rich if you could get them, which meant being the first out to the incoming ship, racing and outwitting other pilots. The results were unparalleled seamanship and the evolution of very fast, able boats.
The cutters were usually crewed by a skipper, a "boy" and the pilot on the outward journey. Once alongside the incoming ship the boy would row the pilot to the merchant vessel, where the pilot would scramble aboard.
Baggy Wrinkle is a British Channel Pilot Cutter built in 1982 at the Northwest School of Boat Building. Her home waters are the western US and though far from her ancestors, she is very well suited for the ravages of the eastern Pacific Ocean.
