Boat Profile

December 2017

Pooduck Skiff

An able dinghy by Joel White

The Pooduck skiff provides a good feel for traditional boatbuilding. After it leaves the shop, it is easily trailered, well suited for rowing, and gorgeous under sail. It carries a lug-rigged mainsail that can be sailed with or without a jib. A cleverly designed mast partner allows the mast to be angled forward or backward to keep the rig balanced whether raising the main alone or the main and jib.

November 2017

19′ Bartender

A seaworthy outboard

The Bartender was designed by George Calkins during the 1950s to negotiate the river bars along the Oregon coast and the outboard-powered double ender quickly earned a reputation as a capable rough-water hull. We take a look at the 19-footer, the smallest in the series of six sizes and configurations.

November 2017

Noank

A sliding-seat pulling boat

While Nick Schade of Guillemot Kayaks has been building boats since 1993, the strip-built Noank is his first boat with a sliding seat. With watertight compartments in each end and generous freeboard, it is designed for light and fast camp-cruising and recreational rowing in exposed and choppy water.

October 2017

15′ Sailing Dinghy

An evolution in design

The 15’ Sailing Dinghy from Stirling & Son is the biggest boat in their range of lapstrake dinghies and the only one equipped with a deck to adapt it for coastal voyaging and adventure sailing.

October 2017

Glen-L Zip

A twin-cockpit runabout

Glen-L’s Zip was designed in 1954 and can be built from fir plywood and painted as a utilitarian boat or dressed up with varnished mahogany to give it the look of a classic runabout.

September 2017

Milford 20

A New Zealand Sharpie

The Milford 20 design appeals as a very elegant, classic craft for home building, and gives a great sailing experience for both experienced and inexperienced sailors. It also would be a suitable craft for a couple or family of four; a delight to sail and appealing to those who want a safe boat for leisure and pleasure.

September 2017

Drake Raceboat

Easy speed under oars

The Raceboat is designed “for the greater speeds in race conditions,” but you don’t have to compete to appreciate the boat. It will give you an exhilarating workout and reward improvements in your stamina and technique.

August 2017

Tango 13

A twin-tailed transom

The Tango Skiff has interesting hull extensions that create an attention-grabbing geometry aft of the transom. The additional running surface and buoyancy of the extensions appealed because of previous experience in small outboard-powered boats. When operated solo, many of them with a conventional transom will squat under the weight of the motor and the skipper and set the bow pointing skyward.

August 2017

Tenderly Dinghy

An able boat to row, tow, motor, and sail

When John Harris of Chesapeake Light Craft came to WoodenBoat School here in Brooklin to lead a six-day class in building his newly designed Tenderly Dinghy and brought two finished boats with him, there was an opportunity to see the progress on the student-built boats, and to take the finished ones for a spin in Great Cove.

July 2017

Peeler Skiff

A lightweight fishing and utility skiff

The requirements were simple. The boat had to be light enough to tow behind a four-cylinder SUV, small enough to fit in a garage, and capable of getting two and gear the 50 miles from the south end of Lake Chelan to the north end and back again in the afternoon when the lake gets rough. Although there are many affordable aluminum and fiberglass boats that would serve the purpose, the boat had to be something distinctive.

July 2017

RoG

Microcruiser and Adventure Racer

RoG was designed, in some part, for the 300-mile Everglades Challenge, a Florida thin-water endurance voyage, but for less grueling adventures the RoG is a charming miniature cruiser. It is just 15′ 3-1/2″overall, yet it has a deep, comfortable, private cabin with built-in bookshelves forward, obviously designed for a contemplative sailor. The cabin has sitting headroom and offers a chart-sized nav/dining table that drops down to seat level to form two full-sized berths.

June 2017

Penobscot 17

An Arch Davis cruiser for sail and oar

Arch Davis drew the Penobscot 17 with three rigs—gunter sloop, ketch, schooner—and we take a look at his sloop-rigged version. The plywood lapstrake cruiser sails and rows well and is well suited for meandering among small islands and along convoluted coasts.

June 2017

Pelicano 20

A trig outboard cruiser

The owner of the first Devlin-designed Pelicano 20 had high praise for the boat: “A real jewel. We were impressed when we first took the boat out for sea trials. Even with that big 115-HP outboard hanging on the stern, it floated perfectly on her lines, and its performance turned out to be nothing short of breathtaking.”

May 2017

The Coot Dinghy

A proper little boat

Andrew Wolstenholme’s Coot is a proper little boat. With respect on your part it will look after you, take you on mini adventures on rivers, lakes, and estuaries, and be greatly admired wherever it goes.

May 2017

All-Rounder

Pygmy's SUP board

The All-Rounder SUP is Pygmy Boats’ newest kit. The 11’ stand-up paddleboard has plenty of stability for beginners and volume enough to take a youngster along for a ride.

April 2017

Woods Hole Spritsail Boat

From workboat to daysailer

The Woods Hole spritsail boats are similar to the iconic Cape Cod catboats, with a few distinct differences. They are sprit rigged, not gaff rigged, to make it easier to unstep the mast to pass underneath a stone bridge at the entrance their traditional harbor, narrower to allow them to be rowed by a lone fisherman, and have more freeboard for the notoriously rough waters of Vineyard Sound.

April 2017

The Glen-L Utility

Classic 1950s style in a boat that's simple to build, a joy to use

The Utility, a small general-purpose outboard, was designed in 1953 and is among Glen-L’s earliest designs. For over six decades, it has endured as a standard offering in the Glen-L catalogue, and with good reason. It was specifically designed to be affordable and easy to build for the first-time amateur builder.

March 2017

Fairhaven Flyer

A light dory for solo or tandem rowing

The Fairhaven Flyer from Devlin Designing Boat Builders is a versatile 20’ light dory that can be rowed solo or tandem, with fixed thwarts or sliding seats, and used for exercise or adventure.

March 2017

Saturday Night Special

More Bang for the Buck

The Saturday Night Special was John Welford’s idea for a fast beach cruiser that was so simple to build that you could arrive a few days early at a multi-day small boat cruise or raid, build the boat, participate in the event, and fly back home, leaving the boat behind for someone else to use.

February 2017

Maine Coast Peapod

Joel White's classic

The peapod might be one of the most easily identifiable, traditional small craft found on the coast of Maine today and Joel White’s classic take on this timeless design is perfectly suited for both sailing and rowing.

February 2017

Tadpole Tender

Cottrell's 10' Whitehall

The Tadpole Tender from Cottrell Boatbuilding is a scaled-down Whitehall that can do well as a tender, a rowing trainer for kids, or a lightweight rowboat you can carry by cartop.

January 2017

Seaclipper 16

A folding trimaran for the home builder

The Seaclipper 16 can be built as an open-cockpit cruiser or a daysailer with a tandem cockpit. Equipped with side decks between the akas, it offers good options for seating, moving around while under sail, and sleeping aboard while moored.

January 2017

Wee Lassie

A classic in skin-on-frame

In the 1880s, Henry Rushton designed the original Wee Lassie as a beautiful lapstrake canoe and since then, his iconic design has been rendered many times, in many ways, by many builders. The skin-on-frame (SOF) version is 10′ 6″ by 27″, just like the original, and, at 19 lbs, about a pound less.

December 2016

Lightning Bug

Quiet power, stately pace

The Lightning Bug’s range of 35 miles between charges will theoretically get it to points with a 17-mile radius from home. That’s a lot of territory, but a boat that is so easy on the eyes and ears isn’t about merely getting from one place to another. The vessel is in and of itself the destination: a place to relax, enjoy solitude or the company of friends, and take in the view, both within and beyond the boat.

December 2016

Milgate Duck Punt

Simple rig, rewarding sailing

Mersea Island, tucked into England’s Essex coast about 50 miles east northeast of London, is only truly an island twice a day, when the high tide covers the causeway that connects it to the mainland. There’s open water to the island’s southeast side at the junction of the Colne and Blackwater estuaries, and to the northwest mile after mile of tidal salt marsh with a wealth of wild waterfowl. This is the spiritual home of the Milgate duck punt.