Launch of "Shorebird"

I'm a Simple Polish guy who made its own GIS. I am not a sailor yet, but since I have a boat I'm still learning. This is my Goat.

Krwawy Hegemon

A Water Bike

It looks like he has some kind of flex cable running from his rear wheel to a prop off his front wheel - sort of OK, I guess, because it lets him steer, but I'd always thought 'tractor drives' (props in the front) create a lot of drag.

I suppose a slow-speed application like this the drag really isn't all that important - and the pontoons might be far enough apart to make it work, but still, I'd have gone with a shorter drive shaft directly from the rear wheel (to minimize loss through that big curve) and put the rudder up front.

Andrew Linn

Sailing a Flint

I recently had the opportunity to try sailing a Flint with the gaff-headed sloop rig which I include in the plans as an option. As far as I know, this is the first example to be tested, although there have been a number of other rigs used by people in Australia and the U. S. The sails used were homemade by an absolute first-timer, and were hand sewn at that! I had spent quite a bit of time helping the guy set up the rig, and had gently suggested that he should not expect too much in the way of up-wind performance. Anyway, on the first trial I took the boat out by myself initially, and then with both of us on board. The leech was a bit floppy, but the boat performed way beyond my best expectations, and I came home on a great high.

Sometime ago, a Flint customer from America called Brian Guzas asked me for details to allow the use of a free-standing balance lugsail on Flint instead of the stayed gaff rig. I sent him modified drawings and I recently came across these photos of the finished boat.

Ross Lillistone

Mini-Camper-Cruiser

I have some exciting news for you, the first build of the Mini Camper Cruiser is complete and water tests are underway. As you may remember, this was an idea submitted by Craig Titmus, of Tasmania Australia, during the design contest I had last year. After a few months of almost constant communication between the two of us, the plans were completed and I included them in my plans catalog. Well, the winter months down under slowed Craig's build process quite a bit, but he persevered, and last week I received photos of the finished project. Needless to say, I am thrilled with the results.

Craig has done a marvelous job of making the design come to life. So far he has tested it with a 2 HP motor, and it went quite well, pushing along at hull speed, about 4 MPH. He then upped the test to a 4 HP motor, and got the boat to plane. The estimated water speed is about 10 MPH. Craig is going to try a 6 HP motor after minor strengthening of the transom. He also reports that the boat is stable with 3 people aboard, and acts as any flat bottomed boat would in tight turns, heeling only slightly to the outside. The flat bottom design allows shallow water boating, with a loaded draft of less than 3 inches. The next thing he intends to do is set up the camper aspect of the design. He is constructing an elaborate entry door, with an opening window. This is far more than the plans call for, which is a rolled up canvas door, held in place with velcro.

Craig is a craftsman, and nothing is ever done halfway! I expect photos of the door and interior accommodations in the near future, but for now I am including a variety of pictures of the MCC, as we call it, which should give the readers a very good idea of the real capability this transportable boat exhibits. It fits on a small trailer, or the back of a pick up truck, and is easy to launch, unfolding it just prior to putting in the water. You can see Craig's teen age son, Henry, at the controls in some of the photos. He thinks it is real cool. As you know, this is a larger boat than I usually am involved with, but the concept was so unique that it just had to be drawn. Thanks to Craig and his family for this beautiful creation, and I am sure follow up articles will be forthcoming when all testing is completed, and family outings in the MCC are the norm.

Ken Simpson

PortableBoatPlans.com

Duckskiff

I got this from Valentin this morning - most excellent. It looks like it performs nicely with a load.

"Dear Steven,

My name is Valentin, I am from Romania and I built my first boat upon your plans. I want to thank you for that. I made also some changes: for the bottom I used 12 mm plywood and 10 mm for sides. For the transom I used two pieces of 18 mm stuck together with 300g fiberglass between them. Because there are no plans for the seats, I improvised with 8 mm plywoods. I also used 300g fiberglass for the exterior. In this summer I want to reinforce the bottom with another layer of 300g fiberglass and paint it. And then, in the summer, going fishing in the Danube Delta :-)

In the meantime please check the first test with Steven Lewis 15 duckskiff with an 1983 20hp Mariner on youtube.

Valentin Schiopu"

Plans for the Duckskiff in our Duckworks Store.

Navigator

Well she floats - upright and on an even keel and best of all - NO LEAKS!!! Only a powered dinghy at the moment - no sailing rig done yet. She is very stable and tracks straight under power -very stable at anchor too. My brother John and son Benjie (who took the pics) came with me. We caught lots of fish on her first trip out but unfortunately none that were legal size so Chicken for tea. I do have a couple of issues with the centreboard and trailer but will get these sorted in the near future. After 7 years work ( I can't believe it took me that long) it is just good to see her in the water and everything ok.

The sail rig is my Winter project this year as I definitely want to see her sailing, hopefully next Summer. For now though, I have a few things to work on - centreboard, trailer and padding for the seats. I also need to teach her how to catch LEGAL size fish. I decided to call her "Lady Eliana"

Robbie Powick

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