A Reasonable way to get plans developed for Russ's "Sjogin"
Every once in a while, a photo of a particular boat is posted on the Forum and without fail, scores of forumites declare how appealing they find this special little craft... I think its about time someone drew up some plans for this wonderful anonymous Scandinavian work boat.
I'm betting that most here would agree that many folks on the WB forum have fallen in love Russ Manheimer's Scandinavian work boat "Sjogin". http://www.sjogin.com/?page_id=17
... and Russ seems to have had little success in finding info on who designed his boat. ... what plans it came from... etc...
The following comments from Russ's website:
Sjoginis a small traditional Scandinavian workboat (I assume that she’s a koster type) that we sail in the north end of Barnegat Bay in New Jersey. We keep her in an old fashioned boat yard, David Beaton and Sons in West Mantoloking, near our home.
She seems to be modeled on a typical clinker (lapstrake) Swedish inshore fishing boat and not one of the more refined carvel types. Sis 22’ LOA, 8’ Beam and draws about 2’9’’. She has a long shallow keel. Also she’s never had an engine. I carry a sweep to scull when needed but otherwise use whatever wind’s available to get in and out of her slip. ...
... As far as we know, Sjogin was built in Southern NJ in 1961 by a gentlemen named Gullen (sp?). We have no further details of her builder or designer. While she has workboat roots, her proportions and details suggest she was drawn by a well practiced eye. If any of you can help identify the designer I’d be most grateful. I thought she might be designed by Murray Peterson but his son Bill thought not.
I don’t sail very far from the boat yard, mostly content to sail near the local marshes and heave to and read. Sjoginhas a great ability to heave to. When on the wind you can remove the tiller, leaving the jib sheet set, and she will come about and settle on the opposite tack for as long as you wish. Or until you run out of Bay!
Anyway, I wanted to attach some images for review and get some input on developing plans for such a craft ... perhaps as part of an NA's stock plan library. Alternatively, certainly there would be enough interested parties to chip in for such an endeavor.
The photos attached show a lovely balanced craft with tons of visual grace. I usually don't become so enamoured with a boat design, but this design really has great appeal. I was also thinking she would be even more lovely with a gaff main... and as a gaff/yawl even better. Certainly "Sjogin" does not afford a lot of room below decks... but she is a beauty queen and I bet plenty capable. Additionally, a larger version around 27-30 feet would be quite interesting IMHO... because you would gain the room in the interior but still have a capable and beautiful craft.
I recently emailed John Welsford about considering developing plans for "Sjogin" and his remarks are interesting... although he initially recommend I look at "Grey Seal", Ian Oughtred's design.
Of course, John is quite buried in work for the next couple of years... but his comments are of interest here. I was already familiar with Ian Oughtreds "Grey Seal"... and I think "Sjogin" is a bit more appealing."Converting" the inspiration of an older classic into a boat built in more modern construction is a somewhat fraught task, in that the boat will be markedly lighter, and just adding more ballast can upset the handling characteristics. Grey Seal for example would not weigh in at much more than half of the classic at the same length, which means that in order to get adequate accommodation she will have more freeboard and coachhouse so spoiling the "look".
I'l love to have a go at your task, and the way that I do it is to try and slightly accentuate the key visual factors that make the original so distinctive and appealing rather than to completely replicate the original in new materials.
In making the case for a designer to spend some time in developing a set of plans for an obviously superlative design, I would say the following.
I realize that most designers want to design their own unique designs, but staying close to "masterpiece" designs... can certainly result in a much more appealing design... IMHO.
When designers work on designs of a general "type", perhaps staying closer to extremely successful designs while incorporating modern building techniques would make for more demand of said design. Many classic designs have tremendous appeal, although to build such craft, the would be builder has to contend with getting the design converted to modern epoxy composite building methods... and perhaps deal with some other compromises in space below decks etc. Sometimes,when designs are re-done, much of the aesthetic appeal is lost.
When you consider that with Alden Yachts still selling their older classic designs for up to $100/foot of length... there must be demand for classic designs from the past.
Look at the Morris 36, by Morris Yachts... a modern example of traditional type craft from Sparkman snd Stephens... that is just as beautiful as any of the boats from the past. http://www.morrisyachts.com/The-Morris-M36
Anyway, I was hoping to spark an idea... see if at minimum some plans for Russ's Sjogin could be developed or perhaps someone may read this and realize they know the origin of the plans. Russ is certainly willing to attempt to take off the lines...
On weight distribution...Sjogin seems to be quite bare inside and I wasn't thinking all that heavy. If you build her glued ply lap, couldn't you add some weight back with making her absolutely encapsulated, maintenance free and sealed very well... heavier scantlings in framing, etc.....plus add some cabinets etc that would get her back to a weight of the original? I had read that boats like Sjogin were not all that heavy with cedar strakes...? I figured some real bright members here would have some good input... and I know Russ would be all for getting some basic plans developed for "Sjogin".
Russ gives us some size scale here...
Continued ...
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Originally Posted by RodB
