I have a set of plans that I bought many years ago (2000) for Apple Pie a 7' yacht tender designed by Chuck Merrell. His website is gone and his email bounces back. Is anyone familiar with him and/or have contact info?
What I would like to do is stretch and widen his plans slightly to get the boat to 8' long and roughly 4' wide. I'm also wanting the ability to use a small 2.5 to 5 hp outboard. The boat will be used as a tender for a larger boat. It will mostly be rowed. I like the boat because it is very light only using a little over 1.5 sheets of 1/4 inch ply and a few small boards for seats and supports. If I build the hull to plans and build seats my way, the boat would weigh around 45-50lbs. If I could build the boat to 8' by 4' I believe the boat would weigh around 60-65lbs. Would it be possible to respace the offsets a fraction of an inch to get to, or close to, 8'? I know this will have to happen along the bottom and the sides. Is there anything else to consider besides the transoms dimensions? I think the designed freeboard will be fine with the addition displacement of the larger size.