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Thread: Looking for 50's Skimmar

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    2

    Default Looking for 50's Skimmar

    I am looking for an original boat, or plans of a Skimmar. They were small plywood boats manufactured in Greenwich, CT for a couple of decades in the 50's and 60's. They were designed for outboard power, flat bottomed, a bit on the boxy side, but with a rather nice pointy upturned bow and sheerline.
    They were very popular in their day, and I would love to build one.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Dec 2003
    Location
    on-the-cuyahoga
    Posts
    12,115

    Default Re: Looking for 50's Skimmar

    If the boat was commercially made the design may have been proprietary and thus, the plans were never available to the public. If that's the case you'll have to scratch around and find something of similar size and shape.
    Since most of us have never seen a Skimmar it's hard to point you to anything meaningful. Here's a about 150 Glue and Screw boat plans from magazines of that era. Have a look.
    http://www.svensons.com/boat/

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Looking for 50's Skimmar

    Thanks for the info. It turns out I have just spoken (by telephone) with a fellow in Norwalk, CT who remembers the boats and the factory very well. It is long out of business, and he remembers them being built. His best guess is that they were built essentially by eye with patterns. Which is to say, no plans ever existed.
    I found a '60 brochure that shows pics of the boats with overall measurements. I'm going to play with some cardboard modelmaking and see what I can come up with!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2000
    Location
    Guilford Ct
    Posts
    47,247

    Default Re: Looking for 50's Skimmar

    The "Skimmar" I know was/is a small round bottomed sailing/rowing dinghy (Several people put small outboards on them). That said, I'm guessing that "Skimmar" was the manufacturer, and there were several different models available. I seem to remember we called the sailing dinghies "Sea Dog"s. It also sounds like you could be talking about one of the Brockway skiffs, which I believe were made in Old Lyme...
    Never trust a man with a clean workshop.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2005
    Location
    Virginia
    Posts
    5,004

    Default Re: Looking for 50's Skimmar

    Can't help with plans - just wanted to say 'thanks for the memories'... I had a Skimmar when I was a kid living on the Mianus River in Greenwich (Riverside, actually) in the early 60's. Saved my nickels and got a used Seagull for it.
    My first boat - tons of fun....

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 1999
    Location
    West Boothbay Harbor, Maine
    Posts
    20,380

    Default Re: Looking for 50's Skimmar

    I remember the Skimmar outboard skiffs too and I'm not surprised there are no plans for them. As your contact said, probably built over a simple mold with patterned pieces. Kids used to have three hp motors on them. There was one kid who put a ten or so on his and it porpoised all over the place. They eventually made them in fiberglass.

    These designs are essentially the same thing with slightly less rocker. Payson would be able to tell you if one would suit your needs.

    http://www.instantboats.com/skiff12.htm

    http://smallboat.fortunecity.com/skiff/skiff.html
    Last edited by rbgarr; 02-06-2008 at 10:42 AM.
    “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

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