What makes a good sailing canoe?

[RobFM]

With summer ending I am starting to ponder the next project. I have been pulling a trailer around with a sailing skiff and carrying a plastic kayak on the roof rack.

Now I am thinking that what I really want is the 50/50 style sail and paddle canoe. I bought Todd Bradshaw's book and have been looking at sailing canoes on the internet. It seems that people have put sails on just about any kind of hull, but I have to think that some hulls are better suited than others.

I basically want a light boat that is easy to car-top, paddles OK and can handle a small sail for use on lakes and ponds. I am thinking probably 12 to 14 feet is a reasonable length, but there are a lot of other variables including weight, beam, rocker and so on.

Can anyone suggest some general gudelines?

Thanks,

Rob

[John A. Campbell]

I am in the process of building "Piccolo" sailing canoe using 5 mm glued lap Okoume and following Tom Hill's method of lining off and planking using ribbands to control plank shapes. I'm also following Norm Messinger's suggestion of notching the molds for the ribbands to allow the planks to more accurately follow the hull curvature. I'll be cutting the notches with a router mounted on a homemade jig, adjustable to the ribband angle which must be determined before any cutting takes place. I'm using glued lap mainly because of the heat and extremes of humidity and dryness which we experience here in Texas.

I chose "Piccolo" mainly because I thought she was the prettiest of all the sailing canoes I have seen and also because Bruce Taylor had built one and seemed to be satisfied with her.

[John A. Campbell]

Oh, yes, I forgot another reason to build "Piccolo",,,,,,she is of a size that will ride nicely in the bed (6' 5") of my old Ford Supercab if you slide her in there diagonally. And if I buy the new one I'm thinking about, it will have an 8'0" bed which will allow up to a 15' boat if carried diagonally (Texas law allows 4'0" extended past a load bearing surface and a tailgate let down is considered part of the load bearing surface.). I don't want anything that requires a trailer....takes all the spontaniety out of the sport. I have Tom Hill's 11'6" "Charlotte" canoe and getting ready to go to the lake with her is like getting ready to go to the store.

[Todd Bradshaw]

If I set out to design something in that size range out of the blue, I think I'd make decking a priority if I really wanted general-purpose use out of it. It also makes low sides possible for easier paddling and allows for flotation/dry storage compartments, bulkheads, etc. People's levels of what kind of beam a small canoe requires for stability vary a lot, but there is no reason to go to extremes in either direction. For a 50/50 boat, I might start somewhere in the 30"-32" range for it's waterline beam. Going a little wider would be better for sailing, but too much will make it a pig to paddle.

There isn't much to be gained (and there may be a considerable amount of performance to lose) by trying to design a sailing canoe that tracks like it's on rails, so rocker is generally a good thing. I've had canoes that were straight up-forward and rockered aft, rockered forward and straight aft, rockered in accelerating curves at both ends and a couple that had fairly high amounts of rocker which seemed to be very uniform in straight lines from the center to each end. They all seemed to work, though the last bunch seemed, in general, to be faster for paddling. I don't know enough about design to say why, but there are folks here who probably do.

I'd most likely rig the boat with a mid-sized, single sail. If it's going to need to be stowed while underway, probably some sort of gunter or bat-wing derivative with a two-piece mast and a fairly short boom. A reef would be nice, but I think the key is not going too big on sail area to start with. The more you add, the more your boat becomes a "fair-weather-only sailor".

Something closer to the 14'-long end of your spectrum would probably be a better and more secure 50/50 boat than one nearer the 12' end. Weight should be pretty reasonable either way, but will depend greatly upon construction method, materials and scantlings.

[garland reese]

The West Systems Epoxyworks magazine had a nice article on a couple of 50/50 siling canoes that were done by Meade and another fella. These were, I think, a Bell Starfire of carbon/kevlar construction. This boat is 15'long and 34" abeam. They decked them over after cutting down the sheerline to allow easier paddling with a double paddle, but enough freeboard to maintain bouyancy. The ends were kept as high as would still allow a nice and fair sheerline. Decks were strip built. these boats are very nice.
Selway Fisher has a nice hull of 15' and 35" beam. It is in Stitch and glue construction, and is called the 50/50 canoe. Ample decking is shown.
http://www.selway-fisher.com/5050d1.GIF

[dld]

Hugh Horton was the other guy
web page (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Fishwick/horton1.htm)

[skuthorp]

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~fassitt/canoe_mirror/canoe_sailing.html

Try this site, lots of info here. I sail,row and paddle a 16' decked Macgreggor, by Ian Oughtred. Prettty satisfactory all round and will sail in about 3" of water. More stable than it looks. In retrospect I'd lengthen the cockpit aft about 18" and use the 2 mast rig. I think the deck is essential for any kind of open water, you can let it dip a rail without worry and it keeps a lot af water out. Plenty of watertight space for gear and flotation too. laid on it's side rigged it takes very little water as the cockpit floats just clear of the surface. :D :D

[RobFM]

Thanks to all for your inputs and suggestions.

John, I agree that "Piccolo" is one of the nicest looking sailing canoes and also the right size for hauling around. I expect you will have a good time with both the building and the sailing.

But, with 2 young kids and a fixer-upper house, the traditional construction described in the book "10 Wooden Boats..." looks like more of a project than I want to take on right now. At this point I am leaning more towards the Selway-Fisher 50/50 S&G design.

Todd, Thanks for your input. It's great when you can get suggestions from the man who really did "write the book" on this topic.

Regards,

Rob

[Meerkat]

Bill Serjeant, who commissioned the 50/50 Sailing Canoe does not appear to be a big guy and he seems to be happy with his Caleb's rowing performance. He's just done a multi-day tour in the UK. He's published a story, with pics, at http://www.btinternet.com/~w.serjeant/canoe/canoe_files/s_west.htm

There are also a lot of pics and information on construction of a "50/50" at his website: http://www.smallsailboats.co.uk/ (and click on "50/50 Sailing and Paddling Canoes"). He says it took him 231 hours to build his boat.

Mr. Serjeant seems like quite a nice guy. I've exchanged a few emails with him about his boats (Caleb is the second he's built) and his micro-sailboat philosophy.

[ 09-25-2003, 03:34 PM: Message edited by: Meerkat ]

[Aramas]

What makes a good sailing canoe? Light winds and calm waters ;)

[Eric Sea Frog]

http://www.caillou-boats.com/pictures/Lake_Beach_med.JPG

Never tried one, but they turned my head.
Aramas is right about the weather conditions for sailing canoes and kayaks.
Some of them that have akas and amas can be comfy at sea, but then you need a contraption like a board or deck plates to sit out of the coaming when it heaves too much.

Caillou Boats (http://www.caillou-boats.com/)

[ 09-28-2003, 06:44 AM: Message edited by: Eric Sea Frog ]

[Steve Clark]

One thing to think about, the tumblehome usually seen in canoes is there for a good reason. To maximize WL beam and still make it easy to put the paddles in the water. This makes paddling canoes pretty wet when they start being driven by sails into a seaway. So one thing that makes a good sailing canoe is flare and reserve bouyancy forward. C class canoes, even with big foredecks can turn into submarines if you drive them hard, they throw so much spray around that even big suction bailers can't keep up.
Otherwise the more easily driven the paddling canoe, the more easily it will slip along under sail. You have to figure out the compromise on tracking vs manuvering though. Paddlers like their boats to track, sailors like their boats to tack. Usually the ACA guys used to spread the gunwales slightly to induce a bit more rocker but still keep the ends in the water. They used to start with Sawyer TW specials, and Mohawk Ranger models and build them up from there. I guess any 17' "fast cruiser" would do. The design I did stole the underwater shape from the Ranger and put flared topsides and wide gunwales on it. Pretty much turned it into a sailboat. If I had to cover any distance, I would have preferred to row it.

[dadadata]

The Phil Bolger "Peero" shareware design is a great little 12 x 24" sailing canoe ... well, nano sailing sharpie since it does have a transom stern; you could continue to a pointy stern if you want without adding much to the design. It's on my Cheap Pages.

It paddles reasonably well; it's mainly for sailing; I've had it out in 10kt winds and would be inclined to leave it at no more than that.

It is probably the fastest, cheapest and most functional design you'll see.

As an aside, I'd suggest obtaining a castoff Optimist Pram sail if you're inclined to "just experiment" on an existing 12-14ft canoe. It is 33sf -- a good size. You can rig the sail as a lug or Opti-style sprit, seems to make little difference. Probably could make a tiny gaffer out of it if extra strings tweak your fancy.

In fact there are two Bolger peeros locally and one is gaff and the other lug, rigged.

[RobFM]

Thanks again for the suggestions. Looks like there are fair number of options.

Rob

[kbowen]

imho, a straight keel paddles well, a rockered keel turns (tacks) better. You get to make a choice between the two qualities. Notice that a lot of sailing canoes have a split rig so you can trim your way around to the other tack.

[James McMullen]

Two masted yawl rig is superior for a couple of reasons: one is the substantial safety and comfort that a mizzen sheeted in tight holding the boat hove to head to windward provides when reefing or handling sails in a tiny little boat, and the other is that the balance of the mizzen aft lets you get that fores'l forward and out of your face when tacking and gybing. You've got enough problems in a narrow little boat without having to duck a boom and worry about getting yourself tangled up in the sheet too.

[chrisk]

You may want to checkout Selway Fisher's site he has a lot of different types of canoes and most have a sailing option as well as dedicated sailing canoes.

http://www.selway-fisher.com/Sailcanoe.htm

[johngsandusky]

Guys, this thread is seven years old.

[bamamick]

A pile of carbon fibre?

:)

Actually, we now have a 3-boat IC fleet at my yacht club, which has to have one of the most eclectic collections of boats of any small club in the southern US. Two Dragons, a Bluenose, five Fish class sloops, about 10-12 Finns, and an IC fleet? For a club with only about 100 boats that's not too bad, I don't think.

Canoes with sails are very, VERY, dangerous! ;)

Mickey Lake

[kbowen]

Guys, this thread is seven years old.


Yes, I think it might be my fault that this got drugged up from the dead. I was looking at the other thread about sails on a Rangeley Boat and it struck me as a totally related issue, and I did a search for sails on canoes, and then stupidly started replying to the old thread. I suppose it's a testament to something or another that many of us still think the issue has not been laid to rest...... Sorry.....

K

[James McMullen]

A timeless topic apparently.

[Geoff C]

To me, a sailing canoe should have:
1. a deck, to help keep the water out, and to provide a place to put buoyancy bags or compartments. It can also provide a place to sit on the windward side when needed.
2. sufficient rocker to allow it to tack reliably, because they are long and light and easily stopped in stays.
3. sufficient depth of lee/ daggerboard because of above.
4. sufficient beam to stand up to the sail rig chosen.
5. the ability to be paddled when you can't sail. This can be very important when fighting both wind and tide in a shallow river. If it can work as a double paddle canoe, it is a plus.


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2764/4073117191_37027ee2e8_o.jpg

6. light weight (40ish pounds w/o rig) so that one person can put it on the roof rack and go. I've sailed in Maine, Lake Huron, Cedar Key, FL, and points in between, probably wouldn't have made all those trips if the boat was on a trailer.
7. an easily handled rig that can be dropped quickly if the need arises. I agree with James that the lug yawl is a good choice for a sailing canoe.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/3049275134_b9952ff3b8_b.jpg

8. room for two, because you'll want to take someone along, some of the time.
9. efficient foil design for low drag.

I'm also glad that experienced canoe sailers like Hugh Horton, Todd Bradshaw, and Michael Storer have been available to share their knowledge.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2640/4070489592_76af311066_b.jpg

[Fitz]

Ah hell, throw a mast and some leeboards on and go sailing!!

http://inlinethumb28.webshots.com/35163/2007433520054321892S600x600Q85.jpg

:arg

[Thorne]

http://www.luckhardt.com/big-lagoon-06/images/DSCN7500.jpg

http://www.luckhardt.com/big-lagoon-06/images/DSCN7494.jpg

http://www.luckhardt.com/big-lagoon-06/images/DSCN7522.jpghttp://www.luckhardt.com/big-lagoon-06/images/DSCN7522.jpg

http://www.luckhardt.com/biglagoon9-06/biglagoon9-06-Images/22.jpg

[SJKaplan]

How about Iain Oughtred's MacGregor sailing canoe. planked, decked. can be built at 13.5' or 15.5' if you desire seating for two. I made one and it was a terrific project. sails nicely. here are a few links.
http://www.grapeviewpointboatworks.com/macgregor.html
http://www.phys.uwosh.edu/rioux/boats/macgregor.html

[Marvout]

13' Cruising Canoe from John Gardner's Book. Original 1883 (hull) design was for Lapstrake. Gardner redrew it for cold moulding and I built it lapstrake to Tom Hill's method. Very handy, fun, very manageable. If I built again, I think I would go bigger, but I would still miss this little boat. I had it open for a season or two. Decking it made a real big difference to how capable the boat felt.


http://lh5.ggpht.com/_wH5oqBO4yNI/TIrDbSLF_NI/AAAAAAAAAWo/ynOVO4iQJlM/s400/IMG_1817.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_wH5oqBO4yNI/TIrDaV0RLVI/AAAAAAAAAWk/XGRjyq21RpE/s400/IMG_1803.JPG

The rig is inspired by the old boats, but the 1/2 wishbone is completely Horton.


http://lh5.ggpht.com/_wH5oqBO4yNI/TIrC6R-lgqI/AAAAAAAAAWY/BtumuTZvY_0/s400/IMG_5521.JPG
I can convert from sailing to this, while on the water!

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_wH5oqBO4yNI/TIrDMl2TbdI/AAAAAAAAAWc/SKg_rzp_Nms/s400/IMG_3745.JPG
...and now with carbon masts!

Marvin

[keyhavenpotterer]

Marvin, your sailing canoe looks great.

My own sailing canoe experiences are that I find sailing canoes with as much form stability as possible and totally sorted controls work best for me.

I found an open decked 13' MacGregor too lively for me downwind. They have a lot of sail area, did have one reef in, the throw over leeboard was hopeless. The leeboard adds a lot of stability when sailing, so if it's not working properly it adds too much to the excitment.

In the UK Solway Dory are the leading suppliers. They have gone wider, 40", higher sided and decked over to make superb sailing canoes. I have owned two of their boats, my current one is their Shearwater design - a superb sailing canoe and completely resolved. Leeboard works, tiller control works, sail reefing works and the boat is a joy to sail.

Here I am sailing her for the very first time, so you can judge how easy she is to sail. The outriggers are popular in the UK for sea sailing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy816d_-Fi8&feature=related

http://www.solwaydory.co.uk/

and lots of tips and advice at the UK Open Canoe Sailing Group

http://homepages.rya-online.net/ocsguk/OCSG_entry_homepage.htm

So, in summary, for me sailing canoes work best with good form stability, at least 36" wide with firm bilges and 40" is even better.

They are superb sailing machines. Sort of less is more.

Brian

[wtarzia]

First, affirmative on the yawl rig; it makes so much sense, and I love mine in all its variations. Second, read the last several issues of Small Craft Advisor with the multi-part interview with Howard Rice (wooden sailing canoe, big adventures, and not in calm flat waters!). Third, add an outrigger and go really fast as well as gaining its other advantages (and a few disadvantages, as ever any design decision). -- Wade

[Marvout]

I wish that Rice article was available on the web. I only found it at part 6 or 7. I was very sorry I missed so much of it.

I agree on the beam, more is better, but my boat's 30" beam, is about max for paddling. I wouldn't want my midsection any taller or wider.

One 'catch' with these double paddle canoes that I haven't quite figured out, is how to stay dry paddling. I have a little nylon half deck I attach. You'd have to have pretty long paddle shaft with a smaller/shorter blade to keep the water 'on' the paddle/off the deck (read: your lap) between strokes.

Marvin

[Daniel Noyes]

good to see this discussion as I'm just drawing up a quickly built sailing canoe for sail and paddle.
she has close to 6" of rocker in her bottom so should tack quite easily. any other thoughts are appreciated especially regading hull width, sail area and mast height relating to stability and sailing characteristics in varried wind strength.

[wtarzia]

I said before and I say again, I wish I saw more "Yakaboos" out and about. How could such a famous sailing canoe have so little a public life now? Was it so special that only Fenger could live with it? Not easily translatable into plywood or S+G method? People can't get over having no rudder? (then put a rudder on it). I recall its dimensions are 17 feet by 39 inches.

Some other sailing canoes in a WB article a couple or few years ago had around 44 inch beam, so this seems to be a good working beam for such canoes? Hugh Horton's and Rice's boat have a lesser beam, though, ca. 35 inches? And is it true that the best compromise with wave-making-drag and skin-drag, and sailing with occasional paddling, generally leads to a hull 14 to 18 feet long? Is this thread about, say, a 70-30 canoe (relative to the oft-heard 50-50 design)?

Dan, looking forward to your sketches. Is 6 inches rocker a lot for a monohull canoe? I mean to say, are you breaking tradition or working well within it? -- Wade

[Todd Bradshaw]

Of course we all know that the thing that actually makes a good sailing canoe isn't rocker or beam or rudder type, sail area, etc. It's a good sailor!

http://webpages.charter.net/tbradshaw/Twin%20Otca.jpg
old Old Town Canoe Co. catalog photo

[Fitz]

And every good sailor, in my educated opinion, should have a good sized bailer tied to the inside of the canoe.

Don't ask me how I know this, but it involved a very long swim with a canoe full of water.

:o:rolleyes::pmad::eek::arg

[Daniel Noyes]

The canoe I'm drawing up is based on the sailing style of the English duck punts, a boat type I am still attempting to get plans for nearly 6 months later...
I have a friend in Kittery Maine who wants to build a small boat, so rather than wait around any longer for Duck punt plans to come through I have drawn up a 15' x 32" three pannel canoe/pirouge

The hull shape takes it's styling cues from Ray Hunt's 110 sailing canoe, the idea of this boat is a small one design type sail boat, car topable, and also useable as a paddleing canoe for the local lake or stream.

The hull was simplicity is self,
the Rig is a different story, I have drawn 5-6 varitions.

considering a small wing type sail, a swing rig with main and jib on a single boom like RC boats, a simple sloop rig based on the 110 sail plan




Dan, looking forward to your sketches. Is 6 inches rocker a lot for a monohull canoe? I mean to say, are you breaking tradition or working well within it? -- Wade

Has any one here ever known me to do a new design of a "traditional" boat?

this could be another thread ,

I generally dont re draw old style boats because I think the guys doing the real boats 100+ yrs. ago sailing hundreds of them comparing performance and sailing characteristics with fellow boatmen have done better than I could...
It is really a basic respect and humility for previous generations of designers and geniuse's
I figure there are enough of their designs around that have been preserved by other lerned men in the field that I can choose a design handed down by them rather than do a new design co-opting their style... the new design will never be as authentic and good a design as the original, the real Mc. Coy,
I know enough about design, the art and science where I can pick out the imposters at 90 yards, they just dont do it for me.

sooo.... what was I saying?

oh yeah, completely breaking tradition, however with 6" rocker the chine line of the new design does closely follow the shape of the bildge of the traditional canoe above from John Gardner, look at the sweep of the turn of the bildge very high fore and aft, with a narrow deep forefoot at the bow and built down skeg at the stern.

[callsign222]

And every good sailor, in my educated opinion, should have a good sized bailer tied to the inside of the canoe.

Don't ask me how I know this, but it involved a very long swim with a canoe full of water.

:o:rolleyes::pmad::eek::arg

I have no idea what you're talking about, I've never lost a bailer or swam a boat to shore ever, in my entire life. Nosireebob, not me, not ever. :rolleyes:

Have you guys seen these non-wood, yet capable Japanese sailing canoes? The "Aquamuse."

Around 30sec. for out-of-boat shots on the first one. Lots of wind noise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_ytUgkwwbs

Daggerboard set-up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T4N0i9S2VQ

Kind of rad.

[Daniel Noyes]

Wow! that poor girl in the front of the canoe! she needs the visor hat just to breathe with all that spray...thats cruel,
they need an Alpha dory!

great video of a traditional (Rushton) canoe sailing!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-TNI19FkOg&feature=related

another canoe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ik9RWeOZsM&NR=1

[callsign222]

That first video was great, very pretty boat. The smile of satisfaction was very apparent! A nice job.

I do take beef with him being stingy with the booze, however, Poseidon frowns.

[John Meachen]

The canoe I'm drawing up is based on the sailing style of the English duck punts, a boat type I am still attempting to get plans for nearly 6 months later...
I have a friend in Kittery Maine who wants to build a small boat, so rather than wait around any longer for Duck punt plans to come through I have drawn up a 15' x 32" three pannel canoe/pirouge
.

I am fairly sure John Leather published the lines of a gun punt in one of his books.

[donald branscom]

To me the words sailing and canoe do not go together.
The canoe is too tender for sails. Just my opinion.
The whole purpose of a canoe is to be easy to paddle and slip though the water. Not be stable.

[Fitz]

Ahh, but with leeboards the canoe becomes remarkably stable!

They are fast and fun under sail.

I flipped once in 5 years and that is because I did something stupid. :d

Actually, come to think of it, it is getting to the point where I spend more time Sailing a canoe each year, than Paddling a canoe.....hmmmmmm..

[Paul Helbert]

Man I hate passwords. I was on some other thread where a fellow near Blacksburg, VA asked about a cheap easily built canoe for use on the new River. That thread was two months old but I thought what I had to say was relevant because I knew that stretch of river and could show him my boat since I live only a few hours from him. So I tried to reply and after the hassle of a new password found myself here but not back where I had been. Then I saw my late paddling buddy, Garland Reese, had answered and so read this whole thread. Did I mention that I hate passwords?

Anyhow, now that I'm here: I've been a canoeist for over fifty years, never sailed anything until a few of years ago when I built the OZ Mk II Puddle Duck Racer. From there I went to a drop-in sailing rig in ABS canoes and then to a home-built, narrow plywood canoe with that drop-in rig (all Michael Storer designs). Whenever I get an afternoon free, the canoe rig is so easy to load that I end up using it more often than any other boat. To those who say that a canoe should not be sailed, I say it has a lot in common with riding a bicycle. Sure you might fall a few times learning, but once you get the hang of it you won't be thinking about stability, you just feel it. I did say I hate passwords.

====

Smaller boats, Bigger sails!

[Daniel Noyes]

Is the canoe you mention the one with a small skeg bow and stern? how does it sail? how much sail area?

I'm drawing a plywood canoe for a friend, it will have a sail but no leeboard just use a paddle for lateral resistance.

[Paul Helbert]

Sorry for the laps of a year. The canoe mentioned was that one except I found the skegs to be a hindrance, so cut them off immediately. Left only a 3/4" full length keel. Since than I have built similar canoes and been part of building two exactly to the Storer plans *except we left off the skegs). For sailing, my leeboard is almost a foot wide and three feet in the water. I use one of two rigs, dependent upon conditions. The small one is 21 ft sq and the larger one 38. Both are balanced lug sails.

[sailnstink]

Have the plans and sail and most lumber for this (http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/storer/sail/index.htm) Will be the next project for springtime. Will go in a WW plastic canoe that has so much rocker it is a bit of a chore to paddle on flat water.

[Hudson3]

Have been pondering the same question. Thanks for the useful information and nice pics.
I have no experience sailing so I shouldn't even be thinking about a sailing canoe (should probably start with something a lot more stable). But what's prettier, or more fun, than a sailing canoe? They also score high points for portability and look like a lot of fun to build (lapstrake). I'm thinking of building Iain Oughtred's Wee Rob -- primarily for paddling, but I'm thinking I could put a wee sail on her and try to sail downwind as a start.
If and when I drink the sailing canoe Kool Aid I think I would go with I.O.'s MacGregor. Also love the Delaware Ducker, not a canoe, but similar (beamy enough to row, not paddle). Todd Bradshaw's book is excellent, full of information and clearly (and beautifully) illustrated.
Anyone have an estimate on the weight of a 15' decked MacGregor canoe?

[David G]

Paul mentioned Michael Storer's designs. He did a nifty 15' sailing canoe, called Beth. Relatively simple build, but - as his caveat suggests - one had best be a good sailor who doesn't mind the occasional dunking if one is to venture into the world of canoes with sails. It's beyond a neophyte sailor like me. --

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/storer/beth/index.htm

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/storer/beth/Beth2.jpg

[johngsandusky]

Plus portability. I can (have) put a sailing canoe atop the car and drive to Florida or Cape Ann and launch her from any beach or waterfront park. Even a dead end street on the water, or the lawn of a waterfront B&B.

[Jamie Orr]

Bill Serjeant, who commissioned the 50/50 Sailing Canoe does not appear to be a big guy and he seems to be happy with his Caleb's rowing performance. He's just done a multi-day tour in the UK. He's published a story, with pics, at http://www.btinternet.com/~w.serjeant/canoe/canoe_files/s_west.htm

There are also a lot of pics and information on construction of a "50/50" at his website: http://www.smallsailboats.co.uk/ (and click on "50/50 Sailing and Paddling Canoes"). He says it took him 231 hours to build his boat.

Mr. Serjeant seems like quite a nice guy. I've exchanged a few emails with him about his boats (Caleb is the second he's built) and his micro-sailboat philosophy.

[ 09-25-2003, 03:34 PM: Message edited by: Meerkat ]
Has anyone heard from or of Bill Serjeant in the last year or three? I visited him in 2004 and he showed me his 50/50 then. His website no longer exists and I lost his email address shortly after my visit. He was elderly then and I'm wondering if he's still with us at all?

Jamie

[keyhavenpotterer]

Bill is blogging still. http://bills-log.blogspot.com/

B (http://bills-log.blogspot.com/)ill built a new boat this year, a ballasted Sharpy sailing canoe

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-28x88PbFses/TiyHWqiwiiI/AAAAAAAAD_8/7XBOyZfKYRo/s1600/hullbridge2.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_G2s2yBIDE80/TJYWKYSGGsI/AAAAAAAACcw/2JPaxA17oBw/s320/plan2.gif

http://bills-log.blogspot.com/2010/09/sharpy.html

[Daniel Noyes]

very interesting boat, I'd like to see her at speed, almost a sail board type waterline, and is that a weighted bulb keel?... just make sure it doesnt pop up after a capsize and sail away from you

here's the canoe I ended up building with a friend, we took the Mersa Duck Punts as a starting point and didnt stray too far, I would have built a punt but obtaining plans proved troublesome.
She will row paddle or sail and is a real blast for messing about, has no centerboard or rudder, and we are working on a set of ice runners for sailing her this winter on some local lakes! A reall "swiss army knife" of a boat

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5310/5892868396_17b20cae40_z.jpg http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5312/5893109214_20beb628e1.jpg http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5075/5894285612_5c56e4ef3f_z.jpg

[wtarzia]

Dan, that was one of the boats that really caught my eye at the Wooden Boat Show, despite all the other beauties sitting around. It had evidently just come back from sailing, as it was shoved off to some corner on shore, still wet. Its utility and simplicity were immediately intriquing. --Wade

[macboats]

I built the macgreggor also <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3qqLfv-AQcI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>