Boat Profile

January 2021

Sweet Pea

An Instant Boat for oar and sail, with a removable keel

Phil Bolger and Dynamite Payson put their heads together to create an easily built plywood boat that would be at home on the waters of the Maine coast. Crossing elements of a peapod with a light dory led to their 15’ double-ender, Sweet Pea.

January 2021

Droleen

Long lost, finally found

The Droleen was designed in Ireland in 1896 and enjoyed a few decades as a racing-class boat, but was entirely forgotten in the aftermath of WW I. The plans resurfaced in 1996 and the 12’ lapstrake catboat was given new life.

December 2020

Atlantic 17 Dory

Jon Persson's fast double-ender

Jon Persson’s Atlantic 17 Dory is a 17’ double-ended pulling boat with plenty of speed, the seakeeping qualities of a gunning dory, and very simple plywood-on-frame construction. Christophe Matson reports on the Atlantic 17 he built.

December 2020

Good Little Skiff

Pete Culler's perfect boat

The Good Little Skiff is Pete Culler’s response to a call in 1970 for rowing enthusiasts to design the perfect boat. Ben Fuller takes a look at the 13’ version of this versatile flat-bottomed skiff for sailing, rowing, and sculling.

November 2020

12′ Clinker Dinghy

Paul Gartside's Design No. 130

Paul Gartside designed his 12’ Clinker Dinghy as training exercise in traditional lapstrake construction. The performance it delivers under oars and sail— as well as its visual appeal—make it a project well worth the effort.

November 2020

RowCruiser

A solo expedition rowboat

Colin Angus drew upon his thousands of miles rowing both open ocean and coastal waters to create the fast and light RowCruiser. A sliding seat and outriggers make it powerful underway and its compact cabin provides a comfortable refuge at anchor.

October 2020

The Guider

A capable and comfortable camp-cruiser

John Guider cruised more than 6,000 miles in Chesapeake Light Craft’s Skerry Raid. But when he entered the Race to Alaska, he asked CLC to design a new bigger boat, The Guider, which would be better able to take on whatever the Inside Passage might dish out.

October 2020

Elfyn

Iain Oughtred's other faering

Iain Oughtred’s Elfyn is his adaptation of a traditional Norse hull for glued-lapstrake plywood construction with the same three wide strakes and all of the beauty of its precursors.

September 2020

Ultra-Light Solo Packboat

A versatile Kevlar rowing boat

The 12’ Ultra-Light Solo Packboat weighs just 34 lbs, about as light as a boat designed for rowing can be. With a Kevlar composite hull and cherry trim, it is both tough and comely.

September 2020

Midget Flyer

A smart little runabout from 1938 designed by Bruce N. Crandall 

The 10’ Midget Flyer made its debut in the January issue of Motor Boating in 1938 and might have quietly slipped into obscurity if not for Mark Kaufmann’s desire to have an exciting boat he could power with an antique outboard motor he had restored.

August 2020

Duck Trap Wherry

Forty years a classic

Walt Simmons first offered plans for the Duck Trap Wherry in 1980 as a pulling boat for traditional construction. Later, in response to requests from his customers, he created a lighter version in glued-lapstrake plywood and added a sailing rig.

August 2020

Gartside’s Centerboard Lugger

Old ways at work

Paul Gartside drew the inspiration for his Centerboard Lugger from British workboats of a century ago. With its traditional lapstrake hull and lug-yawl rig, it’s nearly identical to the boats of the past. The addition of a centerboard trunk is the only notable “upgrade” from the original.

July 2020

Spira’s Hudson Skiff

An easy-to-build outboard skiff

The Hudson Skiff from Spira International is a simple 15-footer for outboard power. Typical of Spira designs, the skiff can be built with inexpensive common lumber by novice boatbuilders with modest woodworking skills and limited access to tools.

July 2020

Crawford’s Gunning Dory

A classic form in fiberglass

Crawford Boat Building is best known for their fiberglass Melonseed Skiff, but their Gunning Dory is equally able and attractive. The 15’ adaptation of a 19th-century Massachusetts predecessor has an appealing lapstrake appearance at a fraction of the weight.

June 2020

John Dory

Swampscott style in plywood

The John Dory is Iain Oughtred’s adaptation of a classic dory form for glued-lap plywood constriction. At less than half the weight of a traditionally built Swampscott, the John Dory offers time-tested seaworthiness with easy handling at the ramp and the beach.

June 2020

Bella 10

A breeze to build, a pleasure to row

Sam Devlin designed the Bella 10 to be built from a single 5x10 sheet of plywood, eliminating the need to scarf pieces together. The boat not only was well suited for the boatbuilding classes he was teaching, but also is an inexpensive project and an able rowing boat for the home boatbuilder.

May 2020

Laughing Gull

A working sharpie redesigned for exciting sailing

Arch Davis designed the Laughing Gull with youthful sailors in mind. The gunter-sloop rig had traditional roots but it had to provide plenty of power for exciting sailing, even planing downwind. And with youth being as they are, the boat had to recover easily from capsizes.

May 2020

Grumman’s 17′ Double-Ender

An enduring and durable classic

Grumman, renowned for making fighter planes during World War II, began making canoes as the war came to a close in 1945. The same care that went into aircraft went into the canoes, and the tooling and jigs that were created at the beginning are still in use. Grumman’s 17’ Double Ender is a classic that still serves paddlers 75 years after it first went into production.

April 2020

Carolinian Carolina Dory

An outboard skiff from Spira

Boats built to plans from Spira International are designed for readily available lumber and plywood and modest woodworking skills. The Carolinian design is no exception and produces an easily driven and versatile outboard skiff.

April 2020

Vermont Dory

A new guideboat in Kevlar

The Vermont Dory from the Adirondack Guideboat Company was developed to build upon the capabilities of the guideboats used in the Northeast since the 1800s. Its Kevlar hull can stand up to some hard use.

March 2020

Weekender

A Stevenson project

The Weekender from Stevenson Projects is a plywood pocket yacht that made its debut in Popular Science in 1981. Its gaff rig, cuddy cabin, trail boards, and ship’s wheel give the little 16-footer the look of the Friendship sloops that inspired its designer.

March 2020

PocketShip

Echoes of a British pilot cutter

Chesapeake Light Craft’s PocketShip is under 15’ long and trailers docilely behind a compact car and yet offers comfortable sleeping quarters for two in the cabin or cockpit and carries a powerful sailing rig. Stitch-and-glue makes construction amateur friendly.

February 2020

A Gaff Sloop

Paul Gartside's design No. 218

Paul Gartside’s 16’ Gaff Sloop has its roots in double-ended Scandinavian work boats. The New York-based designer created several different versions of the type and the final iteration kept the traditional construction but adopted a transom and, at a builder’s request, took on a bowsprit.

February 2020

Lighthouse Tender Peapod

A Maine classic updated

The original Maine peapods were well adapted to fishing and hauling lobster traps, but their full, round bilges made them difficult to build. Designer John Harris took an interest in the type decades ago, and recently drew his 13’ 5” Lighthouse Tender Peapod; Chesapeake Light Craft now offers his peapod in an easy-to-build kit.

January 2020

Jimmy Skiff II

Redesign adds outboard to sail and oar

Chesapeake Light Craft’s Jimmy Skiff has been popular for two decades, but the design’s success didn’t mean it couldn’t benefit from a thorough makeover. The latest version, the Jimmy Skiff II, has flotation-tank side benches and a transom that can take a small outboard.