what boat to build?

[Gennaro]

I am a skilled furniture maker but only an amatuer boat builder. I live near a lake in montana and have access to some very nice cedar and long lenghts of doug fir. I would like to build a powerboat in the 18-20 ft range, preferably using traditional methods. Does anybody have any recomendations?

[mcdenny]

Chris Craft like speedboat? Maine strip built fishing skiff?

What does 'power' mean to you? 6 hp diesel? 40 hp outboard? 300 hp V-8 inboard?

Weston Farmer's "From My Old Boat Shop" is another good reference - lots of cool old boats and great stories from Farmer's lifelong work as a writer and NA.

[Gennaro]

I love the Chris Craft like speedboats, but am not fixated on them. It's more for crusing around. The beauty of the thing, and the experience, is more important. I visualized a small inboard V-6

[Thorne]

For fully trad designs check out Atkins, but remember that there were not a lot of plank on frame designs for engines that large and powerful - by the time they had engines that big many designs had gone cold molded or ply on frame.

[mcdenny]

Our host sells a couple of plans drawn by Nelson Zimmer for speed boats that a V6 would be good for. They are pretty challenging builds, though. Lots of parts.

You might consider something more likely to get finished for a first boat - using outboard power would greatly simplify the project. It's your boat, though.

[JayInOz]

Might be something suitable in the Glen L stable. Kits, plans and nice people. They have plans for well over a hundred inboards alone! http://www.glen-l.com/ JayInOz

[Clinton B Chase]

Goat Island Skiff.

I think the admin's should create an automatic response for all thread titles like this one: the answer is always Goat Island Skiff. Yawl version, 'course.

[boat fan]

I visualized a small inboard V-6

Goat Island Skiff.

I think the admin's should create an automatic response for all thread titles like this one: the answer is always Goat Island Skiff. Yawl version, 'course.

Goat Island Skiff ???

[boat fan]

The English style Slipper Launches are quite nice , but you would definitely not need a V6 in those boats.
More likely a small Yanmar diesel.LOA 20’ Beam 6’ Draught 1’ 6”

Selway fisher has some slipper launch plans. How fast do you want to go ?

[David G]

Goat Island Skiff.

I think the admin's should create an automatic response for all thread titles like this one: the answer is always Goat Island Skiff. Yawl version, 'course.

Goat Island Skiff ???

It was a joke. Well... I thought it was funny anyway <G>

[Thorne]

Oooh, I'd like to see a GIS with an inboard V6! You'd have to look fast, however...(grin)

Baaack on the topic, our kind hosts here at Wooden Boat sell a number of books on building small powerboats, many of them in the 'runabout' category which is what I think the OP has in mind. Well worth checking out!


http://www.woodenboatstore.com/Runabouts/products/39/

[David G]

Here's what happens when you overpower a GIS - or any boat with a lot of rocker. Headed into the wind, I thought I might just pull off a full backflip. Weight forward (an inboard, for instance) would help. As I understand it, though, that hull shape would still be best suited for displacement speeds --



That's part of why I thought Clint's post was funny.


But - back to the topic. I thought the Atkin suggestion was particularly apt, given what little we know so far about the OP's requirements.

http://www.boat-links.com/Atkinco/Utilities/index.html

Gennarro - can you fill us in a bit about how you'll use this boat? What waters. Distances traveled. Envisioned percentages of time at various uses (eg. waterskiing, fishing, slow cruising, running to an island for a daylong shoreside picnic, visiting friends, cruising in company, overnight cruises, week-long excusions, etc. etc.). This might narrow down the wide range of suggestions you're receiving. Anything in the Atkin catalog pique your interest?

[Chris Freeman]

Have any of these posting help u to pick a boat u may want to build~!?

[keyhavenpotterer]

This Petterson design. This one's called Lola





C. G. Pettersson's website/ association/ library of many photo's and a design list:

http://www.trabatsakuten.nu/cgpsida/...on_English.htm

http://www.nykroppa.se/nbk/ritningar/index_2.htm

Many to choose from, but I think she's this one:-

http://www.nykroppa.se/nbk/ritningar...tsbyran/28.jpg

This ones like Lola but with a tapered stern. Very nice....

http://www.nykroppa.se/nbk/ritningar...tsbyran/29.jpg

There are others with more protected props if thats essesntial.

[boat fan]

WoW Keyhaven ..........that`s just TOO nice !

I like the way the centrel windscreen section slides forward with the hatch.

[perldog007]

I am a skilled furniture maker but only an amatuer boat builder. I live near a lake in montana and have access to some very nice cedar and long lenghts of doug fir. I would like to build a powerboat in the 18-20 ft range, preferably using traditional methods. Does anybody have any recomendations?

planing or displacement hull?

[seo]

This is a "Hampton Boat" built by a Richard Pulsifer in Brunswick, Maine. They are pretty boats, and the people who own them seem to love them and use them a lot.
I don't know if Pulsifer sells the plans, but it's a traditional type. Maine and the Canadian maritimes are full of "trap skiffs" like this.
For many uses, they seem like the ideal boat. They're pretty, they don't use fuel so you'd notice, and you can haul them out on a trailer. I also think they're about the ideal size and type for building. The planking is heavy enough so that it's a fairly simple strip planked hull, with steam-bent oak frames. I think that would be a lot more interesting than a plywood hull. The boat is also small enough that it can be built in a garage-no need for a boat shop, and not much crawling around inside or underneath.
http://www.pulsiferhampton.com/index.php

[John Martin]

The English style Slipper Launches are quite nice , but you would definitely not need a V6 in those boats.
More likely a small Yanmar diesel.LOA 20’ Beam 6’ Draught 1’ 6”

Selway fisher has some slipper launch plans. How fast do you want to go ?

What I want to know is where these slipper launch pics came from. I'd like to see the site. I have never run across these pics before anywhere and wondered what plans they were from since they do not look like true Thames Slippers with the short rear deck like that. I still think they look very good though. it is almost like the sacrificed the rear deck a bit for a longer front deck. Hazards of making a normally 25' or 30' boat only 20' long; something has to give.

John

[Thorne]

Just right-click on any photo like the above, then copy the image URL. Paste that into a new browser. Delete the stuff in the URL after the domain name, and you'll usually get the source of the pictures. This of course doesn't work for images moved or copied on the internet.

So the URL for one the above photos is - http://www.stanleyandthomas.co.uk/Ad...13-35/pic1.jpg

Delete the stuff after the domain (.com or .co.uk or whatever) = http://www.stanleyandthomas.co.uk

[keyhavenpotterer]

Windscreen slides forward for engine access..that's yellow cedar on the decks.



Build sequence...she was featured in a recent Watercraft magazine too.
http://www.boatbuildingacademy.com/s...s-herfeldt.htm

Arrive in style...must be a girl magnet too.


I think she's this one: V-Motorbåt 5x1,56m ritn 681 on the association page.

She needed a small engine, but she went really well. Builder said she handled well in waves. I think she did 10-15 knots with a 10-15hp diesel thats all she needs. She was designed a long time a go to be efficient with the small diesels that were available then. She went well and it sounded like a V8. Fuel cost and engine cost would be very low. With a shaft and prop there's no outdrive servicing and anodes either. With high fuel charges, she's as applicable now as when she was first designed, never mind the looks. She just attracted people to stand around and just look at her.

Few more pictures I took at launch in Lyme Regis for anyone interested in it.
http://picasaweb.google.com/milfordv...nchDec5th2009#



Also did this one with a tapered stern...

Halvracermotorbåt 7,3x1,72 ritn 716

[David G]

Gennaro,

Are you there? It's been three days since you posted your initial inquiries, and two days since I asked for some clarification. Meantime, we've gotten a wide range of suggestions. Are we on the right track with any of the boats? Can you provide additional information to get us on track?

[Timo_N62.9_E27.7]

That engine hatch was a common feature in Finland as well. The engines of past NEEDED an easy access

This is a finnish version of the theme, currently for sale btw.

[John Martin]

That engine hatch was a common feature in Finland as well. The engines of past NEEDED an easy access

This is a finnish version of the theme, currently for sale btw.

That has got to be one of the prettiest boats I have ever seen. I figure she is about 8m or so long.

And that Pettersson boat above. WOW!!!. I have looked a lot recently for Pettersson plans but canot find them anywhere. I find nice page scans of boats but no nplans for sale anywhere. If anyone knows where I can find the plans for Pettersson boat I'd appreciate the information. I like the lean, narrow look that is so good with low power engines. I may contact the boatbuilding academy where the LOLA was built and see if they have information on where to buy.

John Martin

[skaraborgcraft]

John, if you want Pettersson plans,you will have to visit the maritime museum in Stockholm,Sweden......unless anyone knows of another source?

[John Martin]

Well that's not good. I have no plans to visit Stockholm anytime soon, but wish I could. I'm certainly not giving up. If I was able to design my own I would and model it after a Pettersson design but alas I have no skill in hull modeling. It is the one thing I wish I knew how to do. I'll keep looking for a plans source.

John