Small Boats Annual 2010

The Beachcomber-Alpha Dory

A classic racer from Marblehead, Massachusetts

Small-boat designer and builder Daniel Noyes launched his Beachcomber-Alpha dory—with some alterations—in 2008 as a kind of tribute to maritime historian John Gardner. John Gardner drew his lines for the Beachcomber-Alpha dory in the early 1970s.

Drake

A faering for today’s oarsman

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - Looking for a seaworthy boat suitable for fast solo or tandem rowing in open water, Clint Chase found his inspiration, as many small-craft designers do, in the faerings of Scandinavia.

Black Skimmer

A Phil Bolger sharpie

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - The 25'3" Black Skimmer floats in 10" of water and sails handily in not much more. She stays with, or ahead of, most stock boats of comparable size on all points (including to windward)...and nearly always outdistances cruisers of similar cost.

Kingfisher and Kookaburra

These birds can fly

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - Graeme King has devoted his career to designing and building wooden rowing shells. He developed the Kingfisher single for the home builder who desires a fast and elegant recreational shell.

The Penguin Class

A family-friendly racing dinghy

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - Designed by Philip Rhodes in 1933, the Penguin has had an enduring legacy as a racing dinghy, with more than 9,700 built. The plywood, hard-chined boats are simple to build.

Grey Seal

A Norse spirit in modern wood construction

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - Grey Seal is a comfortable pocket cruiser. Her double-ended shape, strong sheer, and lapstrake planking hearken to her Scandinavian influence. Glued lapstrake construction makes her accessible to the home builder.

The Morris 17′ Model A

The height of romance in the wood-and-canvas canoe

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - After World War II, aluminum canoes chipped away at the wood-and-canvas canoe’s popularity, and by the mid-1960s fiberglass ruled the market. However, in the mid-1980s, a few impassioned builders led a wood-and-canvas revival. Among them was canoe-builder Rollin Thurlow. He chose the Morris 17' Model A as one of the designs to help…

North Star Kayak

A modern take on an ancient design

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - Basing his design on the skin-on-frame baidarkas used by the Aleutian hunters, sculptor and boatbuilder Rob Macks developed the North Star kayak, a stripped version of the type.

Biscayne Bay 14

Genius on a small scale

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - The Biscayne Bay 14, designed by N.G. Herreshoff, is a delightful, low-cost daysailer that transports easily and is a good performer. Jim Austin built his for exploring Muscongus Bay, Maine, with his wife, Darcy.

Going Down the Road

A guide to trailer safety

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - A proper towing vehicle, a trailer well-matched to the boat and properly maintained, and a good grasp of procedures, are the elements of safe trailering.

KATIE

Harry Bryan’s 20' cruiser

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - Inspired by N.G. Herreshoff’s Buzzards Bay 12 1⁄2-footer and Joel White’s Flatfish, the 20' cruiser KATIE, designed and built by Harry Bryan, cuts a handsome profile underway.

The Ladybug Pram

It’s a wheelbarrow, and it’s a boat

From the 2010 Small Boats Annual - The Ladybug pram, a small dinghy with a wheel permanently fixed in a case in its bow, allows for a nearly seamless transition from the water to a beach, all the while keeping its passengers’ shoes dry. The boat can be built in either a 6' or a 7' model.