Rowing/sailing skiff

[Pox]

G'day Ladies and Gents,

I am after some advice/suggestions in choosing a design for a boat. This will be the first boat I build myself (helped Dad build a 14' ply on frame runabout when I was a teenager), so I thought I would start with something relatively simple. I have reasonable wood working skills, mostly from making furniture (and a cubby house).

I have been thinking of something along the lines of a flat bottomed skiff, around 15-ish feet, able to be rowed or sailed. Plywood construction would likely be the easiest for a first attempt at boat building, either stitch and glue or over sawn frames.

I would like the sailing rig to be easy to rig and easy to sail. Maybe an unstayed balanced lug would fit the bill. I'm not after record breaking performance, just a gentle introduction to sailing for me and the family (my sailing experience so far is limited to a couple of trips as self loading ballast on other people's trailer sailers).

I realize that a wide beam is not conducive to good rowing performance so I expect to be looking at something around 4 to 5 feet for this length. I have two young children, a 7yo girl, and a very active 3yo boy. When rowing I think beam in this range would be okay considering my 12' polyethylene dinghy is fine with the kids and that has a beam around 4'6". My concern comes when sailing. The last thing I would want to do is capsize the boat if caught by an unexpected gust and give the kids an impromptu dunking. This would likely turn them off the idea for good. I have thought about adding outriggers for sailing (ie removable outriggers - on for sailing, off for rowing). Thoughts? The outriggers would likely remove any chance of rowing, but I have an electric outboard which I could use to motor away from shore until I could get the sail up.

John Atkin's 'George' is a nice looking boat, and as a row boat I think would be quite suitable for my needs. Would this boat be suitable to add a sailing rig? I think the addition of a dagger board would be preferable to a pivoting centreboard (smaller casing, take it out and leave it at home if no sailing planned). I have also seen an outrigger setup (on a kayak from memory) which had a centreboard mounted on one of the iakos. Any thoughts on whether this would work on a dinghy?

Any thoughts/opinions/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks in advance.

Pox

[BrianY]

check out these:

Sailing Skiff 15 (a sail boat that you can row) http://www.cmdboats.com/sailingskiff15.htm?cart_id=bbfb10ab7002565864601e5 414f81e9e

Bay Skiff 15 (more of a row boat that sails) http://www.cmdboats.com/bayskiff15.htm?cart_id=bbfb10ab7002565864601e5414f 81e9e

I have the plans for the the Sailing Skiff 15 and it is a pretty simple build. It's "glue and screw" construction - ply panels on solid wood frames. The Bay Skiff 15 is even simpler, being a stitch and glue boat.

Then there's Steve Redmond's Bluegill which is a multi-purpose row/sail/motor skiff http://www.sredmond.com/index_boat.htm I hav ethe plans for this one too and it looks to be a very striaghtforward, simple build.

Then there's Jim Michalak - his boats a a bit of an acquired taste in my opinion, but they seem partiularly well suited to first timers. See his designs at http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/jim/michalak.htm - perhaps the "Mayfly 14" ?

Many folks think highly of Michael Storer's Goat Island Skiff: http://www.storerboatplans.com/Boatplans.html

There are more out there, but these should give you something to think about.

[peterAustralia]

hi

nice criteria. Seems you know what you are talking about. beam of 4.5 to 5 feet is a good compromise between narrowness for rowing and beam for sailing. Think 4ft to be a fraction narrow

here is one
http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/06/designs/phoenix/index.htm

the other boats listed seemed good as well

[peterAustralia]

hi

same boat but better link
http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/lillistone/phoenix/index.htm

[mike hanyi]

I think you own choice is a good one, good looks and for you a local design is important as consulting the designer is a good thing.

this thread can take you around the world and back as there are so many choices of interesting smallcraft to fit your description.

the longer you wait to choose the better your choice will be.

some things to ask yourself

what will you use the boat for- daysailing only of camp/cruising.
will she live on a trailer or in the water.
what is your average wind condition - sail area is normally drawn to the enviroment of the designer, and should be adjusted to your enviroment.

IE English designs are usually undercanvased for lets say the Chesapeake bay, Finland, the Med.and vice versa.

A chined boat is a good choice if you want an easy first, If you want a more of challange then a epoxy lapstrake is good choice.

my choice would be LE SEIL -
http://www.vivierboats.com/html/stock_sail_and_oar.html

she is bigger then you desire but it wont be long before you want a bigger boat! she can sleep 4 adults!
....and I was aboard her in 2004 in sail caledonia.

mike

[DGentry]

Outriggers are certainly an option, as sailing dinghies do capsize. "...give the kids an impromptu dunking. This would likely turn them off the idea for good" Well, it could easily be worse than that. Without a doubt, I absolutely wouldn't want to be managing a capsized boat and a 3 year old at the same time! Depending on the conditions, I'm not sure that I could, and I've capsized hundreds of times. Sounds like a recipe for an extremely sad story (one which might include death, divorce, litigation and prison).
Maybe someone else can point you in the outrigger direction.

That aside, Mike is right - you're going to get a ton of suggestions. For boats, mine is this: If you want to build something simple and effective, without a huge investment of time or money, then you should check out Jim Michalak's or H.H. Payson's offerings for the homebuilder.

Michalak's book "Boatbuilding for Beginners (and Beyond)" http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Pz41fjUgL._AA240_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/1891369296/sr=8-1/qid=1178116918/ref=dp_image_0/102-0415680-6724963?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books&qid=1178116918&sr=8-1)has complete plans for several boats, and takes you step by step through the dead simple construction of a boat exactly like you desire (sans outriggers). He also has a number of other plans, and a very informative website. The book is currently from $15.32 at Amazon, or free through interlibrary loan.

Plans: http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/jim/michalak.htm Look at his "Mayfly 14," which is the boat described in his book.
Website: http://homepages.apci.net/~michalak/

H.H. Payson offers a simple construcion process, and a large number of easily built designs by the great Phil Bolger. His books seem a bit dated by now, but (imo) if you substitute epoxy for polyester resins it's all good. Here's a couple of his books:
http://www.instantboats.com/images/ib60.jpg http://www.instantboats.com/images/btnib60.jpg

And his website: http://www.instantboats.com/

To simply get out on the water in a boat you have built yourself, then quick and basic is the way to go. You shouldn't have to loft, build strongbacks or molds, spile, etc. Do all that on your second or third or fourth boat! The larger and more complex your boat, the longer it's going to take to finish, and the less time this summer you'll have to enjoy it.

Have fun, be safe - D