Boat Profile

Small Boats Annual 2009

Fenwick Williams’s 18’ Catboat

A frisky little cat

Fenwick Williams designed 17 catboats from 8' to 30' in length. All of them are legendary; but his first, an 18-footer created during the height of the Great Depression in 1931, stands out as a little gem.

Small Boats Annual 2009

Duckling

A sliding-seat skiff

When Sam Devlin of Devlin Designing Boat Builders was commissioned to build a rowing skiff to be carried aboard a 45' motoryacht, he was given two requirements: it had to be short enough to fit on the yacht’s cabintop, and it had to be equipped with a sliding-seat rowing rig.

Small Boats Annual 2009

BUFFLEHEAD

A high-end hybrid for paddle and sail

While you may not want to try building BUFFLEHEAD without some experience under your belt, when ready, your hard work will pay off in an eye-pleasing, seaworthy craft for daysailing or extended coastal passages.

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Small Boats Annual 2022September 2021

Bobcat

Bolger's adaptation of the Beetle Cat for tack-and-tape construction

Phil Boger designed the Bobcat as an adaptation of the legendary Beetle Cat for tack-and-tape construction to put a small, stable catboat within the reach of amateur boatbuilders.

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Small Boats Annual 2022September 2021

Ellen 12

Pretty in plywood

This 12’ glued-lapstrake skiff, designed by John Brooks for oar, sail and outboard, is a complex boat, but detailed plans and a comprehensive 281-page book devoted to it pave the way for a first-time builder.

Small Boats Annual 2009

Diablo

A fast and stable outboard-powered skiff

BONITO’s Diablo design is derived from the Amesbury skiff—itself a dory-derivative. The plywood hull is easily built, and easy on the eyes. A narrow bottom and wide, angled bilge panels combine to give Diablo an efficient planing surface and predictable banking in turns. She has great dynamic stability at speed.

Small Boats Annual 2009

Beetle 14

Sequel to a legend

The Beetle 14 (14'4") is the big sister of the 12' 4" classic. Lest you think 2' is not much of a difference, consider the designer’s observation that “You could fill two [original] Beetles with water and empty them into this boat.”

Small Boats Annual 2009

BEATRICE

A modified Saint-Pierre Dory

BEATRICE is a modified Saint-Pierre dory—a type once common on the waters of Canada’s Maritime Provinces. Born on the islands of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon off the coast of Newfoundland (French possessions to this day), the Saint-Pierre dory was a local response to a French government requirement for cheap, durable, and safe fishing craft for local fishermen.

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Small Boats Annual 2022August 2021

Penny Fee

A glued-lap plywood dinghy for oar and sail

The largest of Iain Oughtred’s half-dozen dinghies, Penny Fee was designed for efficient rowing and sailing with one of four rigs ranging from a simple lug rig to a gaff yawl.

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Small Boats Annual 2022August 2021

Sponge Docks Skiff 13

An easily built outboard garvey

J.F. Bedard’s Sponge Docks Skiff is a 13′ outboard-powered garvey designed for first-time boatbuilders. It will accommodate a crew of three, take a motor up to 29 hp, and, with a 15-hp motor, zip along at about 20 mph.

Small Boats Annual 2009

Tremolino Trimaran

What’s old is new again

The Dick Newick–designed Tremolino blends ancient technologies with high-tech design and construction methods. The strip-built trimaran gives even the less-experienced builder a chance to own this fast and fun-to-sail craft.

Small Boats Annual 2009

The King

A strip-planked kayak from Redfish

Redfish Kayak specializes in kits and plans for a range of strip-planked paddle craft. The King has plenty of volume for gear stowage, yet is fast and responsive.

Small Boats Annual 2009

The Asa Thomson Skiff

A humble gem

Asa Thomson was a New Bedford, Massachusetts, boatbuilder who clearly had a great deal of experience in skiffs. His design, devoid of any “wow” factor, has all the attributes of a craft born of lifelong learning.

Small Boats Annual 2009

The 16/30 Sailing Canoe

An easy-to-build racer finds its inspiration in history

The 16/30 class sailing canoe is the product of a long-term project on the part of John Summers, General Manager at the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario. He designed the canoe while at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York.

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Small Boats Annual 2022July 2021

Morbic 12

A versatile lapstrake dinghy

Inspired by the workboats of France’s Atlantic Coast, François Vivier designed the Morbic 12 to have the look of a classic, use contemporary plywood construction, and be powered by oars, sail, and outboard.

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July 2021

Solo Carry

A skin-on-frame double-paddle canoe

A canoe that weighs 25 lbs or less almost begs to be put on the roof racks and taken to the water. The Solo Carry was designed by Hilary Russell to be built quickly and used often.

Small Boats Annual 2008

Lumber Yard Skiff

The Model T of boats

From the 2008 Small Boats Annual - Walter Baron’s Lumber Yard Skiff is so-named because its materials can be procured from local lumberyards. The boat is rugged, inexpensive, stable, and meant for a variety of purposes—from fishing to recreation.

Small Boats Annual 2008

Acorn 13

A jewel of a boat

From the 2008 Small Boats Annual - Designer Iain Oughtred’s Acorn 13 has evolved from a series of designs, starting with a 7' 10" dinghy. With his 11' 8" Acorn, he used a finer hull for rowing and sailing, and the 13' version of the Acorn is simply the 11' 8" version stretched by spacing the construction molds a little…

Small Boats Annual 2008

Redwing

A power skiff for simple cruising

From the 2008 Small Boats Annual - Karl Stambaugh’s REDWING 18 is a plywood boat based on a Howard Chapelle design of traditional construction. Stambaugh designed his version “to make her easier to build while keeping the traditional appearance of the Chapelle design.”

Small Boats Annual 2008

Shearwater

A pulling boat with auxiliary sail power

From the 2008 Small Boats Annual - Shearwater is a lithe, easily built adaptation of a traditional Norwegian design—the oselver, or Os estuary boat.

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Small Boats Annual 2022June 2021

Expedition Rowboat from Angus

A sliding-seat cruiser from Angus Rowboats

The Expedition Rowboat from Angus Rowboats was designed by Julie and Colin Angus for their 2,600-mile journey from Scotland to Syria. The stitch-and-glue cruiser has the speed and seaworthiness to take on less ambitious adventures with ease.

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Small Boats Annual 2022June 2021

Oz Goose

A box that takes flight

The Oz Goose from Australian designer Michael Storer may look a bit like a sandbox but it is a high-performance sailer that can get up on plane and fly at speeds around 12 knots. Easy and inexpensive to build, it has achieved remarkable popularity as a racer, cruiser, trainer, and day boat.

Small Boats Annual 2008

The Core Sound Series

Camp-cruisers with attitude

From the 2008 Small Boats Annual - Designed by Graham Byrnes, the Core Sound 17 was a development of his earlier Spindrift 10-footer and Bay River Skiff 17. The latter, inspired by the traditional working skiffs of the Hatteras area in North Carolina, was conceived in the late 1980s as a “good utility boat that could be rowed, motored, and…

Small Boats Annual 2008

WAYWARD

An efficient canal and river cruiser

An easily driven hull needn’t be unattractive, as designer Paul Gartside has proved with WAYWARD, which relies on a 25-hp outboard for propulsion.

Small Boats Annual 2008

The Weekend Dinghy

High pleasure per pound

From the 2008 Small Boats Annual - The Weekend Dinghy, designed by Karl Stambaugh, is a quickly and simply built stitch-and-glue skiff. The Weekend Dinghy may be kept a simple rowboat, or rigged to sail.