Small Boat Designs | Small Boats Nation

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21′ Zimmer Utility Launch

Comfortable for two people cruising, or six to eight people day running.

The Zimmer utility launch design takes its cues from the slim, handsome launches and cruisers that silently and gracefully passed by Nelson Zimmer's waterside home in the days following World War I. If you're looking for a relaxing launch with an able hull, give this project a try.

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16′ Pulling Boat, Shearwater

Norwegian-influenced rowing/sailing craft designed for glued-lap plywood construction.

No lofting required for the Shearwater design plans. This boat is great for the intermediate builder looking for the performance of a Maine peapod.

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17′ 1″ B. N. Morris Canoe

A general use wood-and-canvas canoe.

Rollin Thurlow's beautifully detailed drawings describe three different construction methods for this canoe: traditional wood-and-canvas; all-wood strip-on-frame; and wood-strip fiberglass.

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20′ Crocker Yawl, Sallee Rover

A heavily built smart sailer with accommodations for two.

The Crocker Yawl, Sallee Rover, can be built as a yawl or sloop, with a cabin adequate for shelter. Celebrate wooden boats with this project.

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22′ Friend-Ship Canal Cruiser

A house/canal boat designed for slow, enjoyable journeys in protected waters.

The Friend-Ship canal cruiser's 14 sheets of plans include construction details, options for windows, and instructions for the sequence of assembly.

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16′ 6″ Elfyn

An Oughtred faering designed for sheet-plywood construction.

Plans for the 16' 6" Elfyn include 7 sheets plus 17 pages of additional notes from the designer. No lofting is required, and this one is ideal for an intermediate builder.

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18′ Plywood Runabout, Downeaster

Deep-V bottomed, open runabout built of plywood over sawn frames.

The 18' Downeaster Runabout plans are well detailed on five sheets: lines and offsets, construction sections, a construction plan, and arrangements for both the utility runabout and center console models.

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Sepia-toned photograph of man in a small Annabelle sailing skiff.

10′ Sailing Skiff, Annabelle

At just 63 lbs., Annabelle is well-suited for cartopping.

The Annabelle Skiff is a 10' skin-on-frame boat for sailing and rowing.

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While speed isn't going to be a strong point for any canoe under 11' long, the Stickleback can move smartly, track well, and maintain its stability when pushed hard.

10′ 8″ Stickleback Canoe

The shortest of the four canoes in Iain Oughtred’s catalogue.

Being as small as it is, the Stickleback is not a one-size-fits-all canoe. Iain Oughtred offers three optional station spacings to stretch the length to 10'2", 11'2", or 11'6".

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21′ 1″ Zimmer Gaff Sloop

Centerboard sloop with inside ballast and two settee berths for coastal cruising.

Zimmer Gaff Sloop is a strong, sprightly little boat best suited to daysailing and camping/cruising.

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Friends and family explore the tide line. With the centerboard up, the peapod only draws 7".

14′ Maine Coast Peapod

A timeless design, perfectly suited for both sailing and rowing.

Joel White's Maine Coast Peapod is a great first project for learning traditional boatbuilding techniques. Check out this timeless design.

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18′ 6″ Outboard Skiff Cruiser, Redwing

A gentle, shoal-draft, low-powered, sheet-plywood outboard cruiser.

Because of her relative silence and sharp control, the Redwing outboard skiff will be welcome in most any harbor. But we see her as in the evocative sketch on the title page of this book: pressing far upstream past the cattails.

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18′ 8″ Mackinaw Boat

Suitable for rowing, daysailing, or coastal cruising.

The plans for the Mackinaw Boat show good detail, and an experienced amateur or a professional would be able to build her. Although she is best suited for carvel planking, some similar boats have been built lapstrake.

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12′ Catspaw Dinghy

The Catspaw Dinghy is an easy boat to trailer or haul on the back of a pickup truck.

The plans for the Catspaw Dinghy are very detailed and include full-size mold patterns which, if used with the building instructions contained in WB Nos. 26, 27, and 28, should make this lovely round-bottomed boat easy to build for an amateur.

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15′ Sea Kayak, Tursiops

Tursiops has one of the prettiest sheet-plywood hulls we've seen.

This friendly kayak might be a nearly perfect "impulse boat." She'll ride happily on top of your car waiting to explore a stream running unnoticed under a highway bridge, and she'll tackle open water with equal enthusiasm.

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20′ Bangor Packet Rowing Wherry

Lightweight, reasonably seaworthy recreational single with a sliding seat and outriggers.

Plans for the Bangor Packet Rowing Wherry consist of five sheets, and include lines and offsets, outboard profile and deck plan, construction plan, and full-size loftings of stem and sternposts.

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17′ 1″ Wittholz Catboat

Designed for easy and efficient building.

Plans for the Wittholz Catboat come in 11 sheets, including outboard profile, sail plan (with spar and rigging details and bowsprit arrangement), lines and offsets (with or without mahogany sheerstrake), construction, keel construction details and plan for open cockpit model.

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What was designed as a hunting skiff serves as the family's water taxi, getting to shoreside destinations quicker than they could drive to them.

Candlefish Skiff 13′, 16′, 18′

Choose from three sizes based on your needs.

Designed as a hunting skiff, the round-bottomed Candlefish works just as well transporting a family of four to shoreside destinations.

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With a reef in her 152 sq ft sail for a fresh breeze, LITTLE T's 9" draft allowed her to take a break in some protected but thin water.

15′ Marsh Cat Catboat

Cold-molded construction results in a light, tight hull that is well suited to trailering.

Plans for the 15' Marsh Cat catboat leave little guesswork for the beginner, and they include many touches that would make an old salt nod with approval.

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20′ 3″ Flatfish Class Sloop

Inspired daysailer with a centerboard conversion similar to the Haven 12 1/2.

The 20'3" Flatfish Class Sloop is a handsome daysailer based on the Herreshoff Fish Class, but with a centerboard conversion similar to that of the Haven 12 1/2.

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Bulkheads under the seats enclose storage compartments and serve as framing to reinforce the glued-lap plywood construction.

15′ 6″ Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff

A Maine Coast classic redesigned for strip-planking.

Designed by Joel White, the original Jericho Bay Lobster Skiff was built plank-on-frame by Jimmy Steele (of Peapod fame), but no plans were ever drawn...until now. Tom Hill and Eric Dow have taken lines off the original boat and Tom built the prototype and has drawn a very detailed set of plans for strip construction, including full-sized mold patterns (so…

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Color photo of blue rowboat sitting on a dock.

9′ 6″ Martha’s Tender

An easy-towing, easy-rowing tender featuring simple plywood construction and good capacity.

The Martha's Tender is a particularly well-proven design because so many boats have been built from it over the years. Both fishermen and yachtsmen have found what they were after in these boats: robust carrying capacity, reasonably light weight, and reasonable initial cost.

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Cropped photo of MacGregor canoe being piloted by sailor.

13′ 7″ MacGregor Canoe

An able double-paddle canoe.

Unlike the original models, Iain Oughtred's MacGregor Canoe can be built on a tight schedule and with average skills, thanks to the recent development of glued-seam lapstrake plywood construction. It is ultralight, traditionally attractive and versatile.

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19′ 6″ Caledonia Yawl

A clean, frameless, glued-lapstrake plywood hull makes this a handsome double-ender.

Designer Iain Oughtred is known for applying an artist's touch to his light lapstrake creations. This four-plank per side version of his Caldeonia Yawl features easy construction and low maintenance.

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While this skiff has a single rowing station, the plans call for a second station at the thwart that serves as the mast partners.

12′ 10″ Pooduck Skiff

A big little boat with a lot of excellent qualities.

Joel White’s Pooduck Skiff is a big little boat that's about as large as two average people would want to carry on shore. A first-time builder can make a fine boat with these plans and with some effort.

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