Boat Profile

December 2022

Salish Voyager

An expedition boat for sail and oar

With a hull form inspired by working skiffs of the New Jersey Shore, the Salish Voyager is a customizable fiberglass boat that can be equipped for long-distance coast cruising under sail and oar.

December 2022

North Shore Dory

A dory design from the 1900s

A 16′ dory built around 1900 on the North Shore of Massachusetts for summer rowing on the Maine coast found its way to a maritime museum where detailed drawings were made 80 years later so boatbuilders could give it new life.

November 2022

Drake 13

A Selway Fisher sharpie

The Drake 13 from Selway Fisher is a small sharpie designed to be propelled by oars, a lugsail, or an outboard and to serve as a tender, a daysailer, a beach cruiser, or a fishing skiff.

November 2022

L’Ark

A cozy canal cruiser

Phil Thiel’s Escargot canal boat plans come with an option for a roomier hull and a cabin with standing headroom. The modifications for L’Ark provide comfortable accommodations for four.

October 2022

A 17′ Outboard Runabout

Paul Gartside's Design #221

Paul Gartside’s Design #221 is an outboard-powered runabout with the look of a classic but more easily built using lapstrake-plywood or strip-plank construction.

October 2022

Nutshell

Joel White's little packet

The 7′ 7” Nutshell Pram was designed by Joel White to row easily, tow well, and be fun to sail. All of the planks for the glued-lapstrake plywood construction can be cut from 8’ sheets of plywood.

September 2022

Shellback

An easily built all-around skiff

The Shellback is a 11′ 2″ lapstrake plywood dinghy designed by Joel White for sailing, sculling, and rowing. A precut kit can pave the way for a novice boatbuilder.

September 2022

Oonagh

A lapstrake plywood pram for oar and sail

The Oonagh was designed by Doug Hylan “to combine some of the best qualities of inflatables with the advantages of a traditional dinghy and put it into a package that is a little less hostile to the planet.”

August 2022

Shrimper 19

A trailer sailer from Cornish Crabbers

Built in Britain by Cornish Crabbers, the Shrimper 19 is a fiberglass production boat with a traditional lapstrake look, a gaff-sloop rig, and a flush-deck cabin.

August 2022

Firefly

Grace and ease in a quickly built hull

The 18’ Firefly is a performance rowing boat that has a combination of stability and speed that’s well suited for novices getting into sliding-seat rowing.

July 2022

Norwalk Islands Sharpie 23

The NIS 23 is the second to the smallest in a family of Norwalk Islands Sharpies designed by Bruce Kirby, who gave the world his Laser. He called the NIS 23 a “cruising Laser for grownups.”

July 2022

Excursion

A strip-built kayak for novice boatbuilders and beginning paddlers

The Excursion is a stable recreational kayak for quiet coastal waters and lakes. The kit from Newfound Woodworks can provide a novice with an easy introduction to strip-building boats.

June 2022

Brockway Skiff

A budget-friendly skiff for professional and recreational watermen

Richard Earle Brockway of Old Saybrook, Connecticut, built 5,000 boats before he passed away in 1996 at the age of 76. His utilitarian 14′ plywood skiff is quick and inexpensive to build.

June 2022

microBootlegger

A decked canoe with a Roaring Twenties flair

Nick Schade of Guillemot Kayaks combined the function of an 1880s Rushton double-paddle canoe with the look of a 1920s speedboat, to create an elegant strip-built tandem paddlecraft.

May 2022

Little Crab

Doug Hylan’s 13’ V-Bottomed Skiff for Sail and Oar

The Little Crab is a 13’ flat-bottomed skiff by Doug Hylan to serve as a tender to a yacht, a weekend camp-cruiser for two, or a boat for exploring protected waters under oar and sail.

May 2022

The Six-Hour Canoe

An easily built 15' double-blade plywood canoe

Designed by Mike O'Brien in 1977 to put two extra sheets of plywood to good use, the Six-Hour Canoe has been an introduction to boatbuilding and boating for thousands.

April 2022

Hunky Dory

A beach-launched outboard fishing skiff

Patterned after the outboard dory skiffs of the Oregon Coast, Glen-L’s Hunky Dory has a wide flat bottom and an upturned bow, features that make it possible to launch from a broad sandy beach and safely negotiate the surf zone.

April 2022

La Paz

A plywood deep-V sportfisher

Glen-L’s La Paz is a center-console sportfishing boat with a deep-V hull that smooths the ride in rough water. The 100-gallon fuel tank under the cockpit sole gives the boat enough range to reach far-flung fishing holes.

March 2022

Handy Billy

An outboard out of sight

Handy Billy, Harry Bryan’s V-bottom launch, has classic lines inspired by William Hand’s deep-V inboards of the early 1900s but gets its power from a modern 4-stroke 25-hp outboard. Concealed by a housing over the motorwell, the outboard is hidden from view and as quiet as it can be.

March 2022

Colonia Dinghy

A 17' daysailer from N. G. Herreshoff

In 1901, N. G. Herreshoff designed a 17’ sailing dinghy for the steam yacht COLONIA. The boat proved successful, and 36 more Colonia dinghies were built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. Sea trials aboard a 1975 copy suggest the design would be well worth reviving.

February 2022

Utility Launch

Zimmer's "good, common-sense little boat"

Nelson Zimmer designed his Utility Launch to shuttle people between towns and fishing camps in Canada’s North Woods. Powered by a small diesel motor, it’s efficient and elegant, and what he regarded as a “good, common-sense little boat.”

February 2022

Outer Banks 26

Cruising in comfort for two

The Outer Banks 26 is the newest and longest of the three Outer Banks cruisers from B&B. They are designed for economical cruising for a couple, with the 26 providing more features and additional room for multi-week adventures.

January 2022

Sand Dollar

A skiff for oar, sail, and outboard from Arch Davis Design

Arch Davis designed the Sand Dollar as a boat that a novice woodworker could build. The flat-bottom skiff can be rowed, propelled with a small outboard, or equipped with one of the three sailing rigs detailed in the plans.

January 2022

Port Aransas Skiff

A shallow-draft outboard

The Port Aransas Skiff was developed in a Texas Gulf Coast fishing town for fishing and duck hunting in the flats and shallows of the nearby barrier islands. Originally designed for sailing and rowing, the skiffs are now built for outboard power.

December 2021

Ptarmigan 17

A Selway Fisher pocket cruiser

Created by Paul Fisher of England’s Selway Fisher Design, The Ptarmigan 17 is a pocket cruiser with a comfortable cabin with berths for two and the choice of a gaff sloop or gaff yawl rig.