Flat Pack Composite Kits

Flat pack plywood small boat kits; all pieces CNC cut and shipped to you in a nice long box (or two) have been around since the mid 1990's. The local firm, Chesapeake Light Craft is a world leader in this type of kit, offering a wide array of plywood small boats in kit form; built stitch and glue with epoxy fillets. Back in 2014, Aussie Mark Hughes took the flat pack kit concept one step further and developed a composite carbon/foam flat pack kit for super-techy ultra-lightweight construction. In the photos below the flat pack kit makes a Bunyip scow Moth. Todd Oldfield, posted on Facebook on his build, which I have lifted and re-posted here.

The jig is CNC cut from MDF and is an intricate web of slotted panels designed to hold the frames.

Frames, topsides, and chine panels are cut from prefabricated vacuum-bagged carbon skinned foam. The Perverted Moth blog has the layup schedule for the Bunyip panels.

Jig assembled.

CNC cut frames in place on jig.

Topside and chine panels taped in place.

Fitting the bottom foam panel. The bottom foam panel is not glassed on the outside.This may be because the entire outside of the hull is covered in a wet/layup carbon layer to stick everything together.

Carbon ready to wet out.

Outside of the hull complete on jig.

Hull off jig. I would think there would need to be more gluing area along the gunwhales and maybe along the frames

Fitting the foam deck and foredeck. Note the cuts to help the foam bend around the curves for the nose block. A heat gun is also helpful for this.

Below: the first 2014 carbon/foam Bunyip M-scow with cut-out frames and mast support box. From Longy Oi:

"There are different versions, designs. both composite inspired by the ply Bunyip design. First build was the Mark Hughes M-Scow designed composite flat pack was built as Brian Sherrings 'Carbonara'. Possibly the strongest yet light scow built. Todd's build is to another (?bunyip) digitised design. I don't know the point of having the two designs, but, yes, some differences, there was some Wet lay-up on the latter build, maybe not on the MScow?"

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It may be that a scow with it's shallow curves is more suited to this style of flat pack kit-building. Composite panels, being stiffer than plywood panels cannot be expected to twist up as plywood panels can. (Reference Todd Oldfield's comments below.) I could see someone also trying this method on the simple, Benoit Duflos Classic Moth Moth-Pop design.

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Todd Oldfield answers some questions about his build:

"in answer to your question I didn't put carbon on both sides of the deck and hull under vac bagging as if i did that I would not have been able to get the desired shape in the panel if i did it on both sides. I went back after the panel was glued done and put a layer of carbon over that panel and relevant join on the chines. All the chines are covered ibn carbon both sides to. It was a good fun build that was quicker to do than expected and wasn't as hard as expected either by using a male jig to form the boat on."

Make a Hole; Plug a Hole

My wife, in her pithy wisdom, has observed that all I seem to do with my Classic Moths is to cut a hole and then fill it up. And she's right in a way. My current Classic Moth project, a Savannah Wedge, is undergoing a side deck modification which entails cutting out holes and then filling them back up. And I want to lower the transom which means cutting more holes, and then filling them up.

I picked up the Savannah Wedge back in 2015 and like many of my projects, the Wedge sat neglected, aging in place, getting dirty, while I figured out what I wanted to do. With Covid-19 I'm back again making holes, plugging holes on the Wedge. When a Savannah Wedge has been raced, back around 2010, she performed miserably. It suffers from too much wetted surface, the bane of slow Classic Moths. Yet I persist. The original idea was the Wedge would be an ideal Moth to take the grandkids out; she does have a grand big cockpit. We shall see; for there are more holes to cut, and more holes to fill.

My boatbuilding philosophy.

Sailing Dinghy Restorations during the Pandemic

It seems the Covid Pandemic has driven the older dinghy guys into the shop, particularly the Antipodeans who have been busy restoring 60 year old scow Moths and Australian 14-footers.

And this old skiff as well.

Worthington Whittredge: Three Boats

In the history of recreational small boats the written record before 1870 is almost nonexistent. Before the U.S. Civil War (1860-1865), one is forced to look at art to get a feeling what was going on with recreational boating. The above sketch was done by Worthington Whittredge. Worthington Whittredge was a painter famous for his beach scenes around the Rhode Island coast. This pencil and watercolor sketch was done in 1856 and shows recreational small boats, presumably parked on a beach. The center boat shows a flat-bottom, pram bow boat with three rowing stations. The right boat, drawn with bow only, seems to be the same type as the middle one. I'm not sure this boat type has been documented, at least there is no match when I thumb through my copy of the Mystic Seaport small boat collection. It seems a combination flat-iron skiff with punt/scow bow features and flared topsides of the dory thrown in as well.

The left boat is definitely home-built. I'm guessing the design brief called for getting one person out in what was rough water (hence the high freeboard) to go fishing . The boat had to fit the lumber available which meant it had to be short (maybe 8 feet max?). It comes equipped with a paddle but I imagine the high freeboard and flat bottom did not help it track straight at all!

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It occurred to me after I posted this that these row boats of 1856 shared some of the design lineage with my Kid Simple idea, which took the hull shape from the St. Michael's scow.

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Update 8/17. John Watkins commented, "Looks a little bit like the chalk barge in Architectura Navalis Mercatoria, a book which has been reprinted about once a generation since the 1760s." With that hint, off I went to the Internet and found this image: 

There are some similarities though the sheer line on the American model has a higher stern and lower bow. As I was thinking about it, even though the American rowboat has three rowing stations, this craft most likely had only two rowers, the forward rower had a choice of station depending on sea-state.

The image was culled from this Finnish website where the designer, Pieni Ekstack, has made a nifty 2.3 meter plywood rowboat, a shorter dink, very roughly based on this 1760's design.

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John Watkins writes to tell me I didn't find the correct image for the Chalk Barge online. Here is the correct image he sent me. Much heavier displacement which makes sense if it was designed to carry cargo. If I'm reading the hull lines correctly it seems to have an enormous skeg. And the leeboard doesn't extend far enough below the hull. Very odd.

Australian Sailfish: Building Photo Documentation

Greg Barwick of the Australian Sailfish Association emailed me to point out they have now added a marvelous photo essay on building the Australian Sailfish to their website. (Look in the top Menu for "Building - a Visual Guide".) A must see for anyone interested in building plywood dinghies. Even experienced boatbuilders can pick up an idea or two in going through the photos. To make it easier I've listed the various chapters of "Building - A Visual Guide" with their links below.

• Materials
• Frames
• Nose Frame and Keel
• Stringers and Sides
• Fitting Ply
• Prep for Fittings and Deck
• Fitting the Deck
• Noseblock
• Gunwhales
• Fitting out the Mast
• Alternative Construction
• Final Fitout
• Of Dollies and Cradles

To order plans for the Australian Sailfish.

Brian Carrol's photos of his build of an Australian Sailfish

Australian Sailfish: updated plans

News from Down Under. The Australian Sailfish class has updated their plans. From Greg Barwick:

"After many, many months of hard work, writing, editing; reviewing (repeat until you can’t sleep :-)), a new set of Building Instructions, complete with CAD drawn frame diagrams is now available. This has been an enormous task led by our own Chris Cleary, who built a boat as he went along just so he could adjust the Instructions and take photographs There was also a lot of input from Ian Urban (our CAD specialist), Ian Milton and others to get us to this point.

"When we kicked off the website and made the plans available three years ago, we had no idea how popular that would be, so plans have been sent out for the last three years without an allocated number. To mark this relaunch of the Plan Sets we are also starting numbering the plans once again.

"The highest number issued up to now was 3500, so we have decided that we will start the numbering of the new Plan Sets from 3501. I even have the original Plan Sales book to record it in!

"As well as a comprehensive set of Building Instructions, (76 pages) there are two A0 sheets of frame diagrams that will give full size Frame templates, one A0 Centreboard Plan & Section sheet and one A1 Rudder Sheet in each Plan Set.
We have also launched a new section on the website, 'Building . . . a Visual Guide', to be used in conjunction with the Building Instructions, so check that out as well.

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Click here to order a set of Australian Sailfish plans.

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Also a very earnest Earwigoagin TOH to the hard-working folks reviving this great little Australian dinghy.

James Island Boy Scout Moth

I've written before about the group small boat building craze in the 1960's. That post featured an article from a 1964 issue of the American magazine, One-Design and Offshore Yachting (OD-OY). I recently came across a similar article in the February 1970 issue of OD-OY, this time featuring a group build of Mothboats. The group was from James Island, just outside of Charleston South Carolina, and the Mothboats became James Island One-Designs.



George A, over at Mid-Atlantic Musings blog, has done a more extensive post on the Boy Scout Moth. It is ironic that two American Mothboat designs, the Skimmer Moth and the Monadnock Moth (or Boy Scout Moth), are probably responsible for more home builds than any other Moth design, even though they never featured in the racing circuit.

The Group Boat Building Phenonema of the 1960's and the We-sort

Michael Storer mentioned in his history of the Oz Goose box boat that the ongoing group building effort in the Philippines became a key contributor to getting a good size fleet of Oz Goose's going in an area not known to be a yachting center. This reminded me how community group building in the 1960's (particularly in the U.S.A) played a huge role in the emerging popularity of the small sailing dinghy. All sorts of local chined plywood classes, Dusters, Rhode Bantams, El Toros ... were built over the winter, by groups of mostly Dad's, led by one or two experienced woodworkers, the rest following along. Usually ten or so dinghies with all the sailing bits and pieces were banged out, the hulls chosen by lot to be taken home to be painted and fitted out. This was before stitch and glue construction so most construction required a mold, which would be taken out of storage the next winter for a different group. Several winters of building would give a large and active fleet for summer training and racing.

Below is an article by Ed Perry from a 1964 issue of One-Design and Offshore Yachtsman about a community group build of the Blue Jay, the 13 foot Sparkman and Stephens junior trainer. Use the pop-out icon in the top-right to put the article in another tab on the browser for easier reading.

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The 12' We-sort, a jaunty, flat-bottom, plywood skiff with sloop rig, was our local 1960's class. The We-sort was group built in the various communities that border the Severn River, just above Annapolis. It came out of the Indian Landing Boat Club that sat at the headwaters of the Severn River.

"Will Jacobs, caretaker of the Indian Landing Boat Club property for many years had several rowboats he rented out to locals. His boats rowed easily and were simple to build. The form had been worked up by Willie’s ancestors, Algonquin Indians, who were also responsible for the name of the area. The Indian tribe referred to themselves as We-Sorts and everyone else as They-Sorts. It seemed fitting to name the sailing/rowing skiff the We-Sort. Led by William Sands, who drew up the plans and added the sailing bits, the sailboats were built by club members in basements, garages, and in some cases living rooms. The We-Sort was a perfect fit for youngsters. It was very stable, which made the young sailors comfortable to be out on the water. By 1961, thirteen of he We-Sorts had been built."

The one-page informational blurb on the We-sort:



Tom Price, artist, learned to sail in a We-sort and drew this pencil sketch of a racing group going upwind.

Tom Price, pencil

Alan Dove has put up a couple of posts about the We-sort and I have pulled the following photos from his site.

Dennis Buckley

Dennis Buckley

From the One-Design and Offshore Yachtsman, January, 1967 class review guide:

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CBMM, Chesapeake Maritime Museum over at St. Michaels, did a group build of We-sort's. They used the fleet for a summer training program for a couple of years but I think they now only have plastic boats for sail training.

Addendum: Pete Lesher, chief curator, fills us in on the history of the We-sorts at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. (Pulled from the comments.)

"Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum's fleet of 6 We-Sorts was constructed in the late 1980s after We-Sort #2, Wee Lass, was donated to the museum. They were used for 15 years or so in the museum's summer sailing camp. At one point, a couple of the hulls were damaged in a fire in off-season storage, and at least two replacement hulls were built. When the We-Sorts were worn out from hard use, the museum considered a replacement fleet, but the sailing instructor at the time led the museum to instead acquire a fleet of plastic JY-15s. Some of the We-Sorts were sold, but one or two still remain, their rigs long gone, as rowing craft in the museum's summer boat livery. The youth sailing camp has been discontinued."

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Wesort dinghy, WeSort skiff.

Michael Storer Fills Us In on the Box Boat Racing League

The previous header photo was an Oz Goose sending it in a big breeze.

Michael Storer, designer of the Oz Goose (as well as a slew of other plywood small boats for the home builder) saw my article on the 2018 MASCF festival and sent along some more information on the history of his mucking about with these shapes and how it lead up to the formation of the Box Boat Racing League. Tip-of-the-hat to Michael for bringing us up to date on the interesting development of, what is essentially, a high-freeboard scow that Michael is positioning as a low-cost avenue to bring people into the sport. As always, use the top right [arrow in box] icon to open the PDF in another tab for printing.



And a video of the 2017 Oz Goose Philippine Nationals.

Classic Moth Design and Builds; Winter 2019

What's happening in the Classic Moth world in the winter of 2019?

Frenchman Bertrand Warion has designed and has in the molds, a cruising Moth designed for hopping around the rivers in France. The Bertrand Cruising Moth is overbuilt compared to a racing Moth (as would be expected). Bertrand envisions encountering lots of debris; logs, trees, cows, couches coming down the swollen rivers, given the increased rainfall. Global warming has blessed some parts of the world with rain and more rain.

His plans show a simple low-Vee design with a keel strake protecting the forward third of the hull. A nice rear seat completes this laid back design.

Substantial stringers and keelson show this Moth is designed to take some serious abuse.

Brit John Butler was a serious designer playing the narrow waterline International Moth design game in the 1970's and 1980's. Now that John is in his 60's (age) he has designed a stitch and glue Moth he says will;

• Fit the U.S.A Classic Moth rule (non-wing).
• Fit his somewhat increased girth since his young International Moth racing days.

Pics from Facebook.

Here is John's 1.5mm mock-up of his stitch and glue design. Note the flat bottom and intermediate chine in the aft third of the hull.

The German Tiger Moth was a modification on the Swiss Dunand Moth. Pics of the plans showed up on Facebook. Compared to the Dunand, the German Tiger Moth has narrowed the front sections and rounded the aft sections. There is also some very slight hollows near the chine. (I wonder how they build this?)

Finally the Dragùr "Disco Volante" Moth. A very simple scow design from 1958. Not a race winner but  would be a very simple build and still fun to sail.

And finally, Mark Hughes put these very credible Classic Moth hull lines out there.

Pegasus in the Shop: Sort of?

In 1963, a New Jersey teenager, Bill Schill, won the Moth Worlds at Larchmont YC sailing a Fletcher-Cates design named Pegasus. The following two photos are of Bill and Pegasus during the glory years.

Yachting Magazine Cover

Seidelman Sails Ad

After Bill died, George A. over at the Mid-Atlantic Musings blog inherited a very dilpidated Pegasus which further malingered in his back yard for a few years. This winter, Bill Boyle, with the help of George, decided to take on the restoration of this piece of U.S.A. Mothboat history - a major, major undertaking after Pegasus oozed out of the back of Bill's truck. Ouch!

Once Pegasus was ensconced in Bill's shop, it was discovered there wasn't much worth saving. Bill's woeful analysis:

"So, here we are. This is what's left. We have a keel, a DB case and the stem. Well, most of the stem. George and I spent about two hours removing the rest of the bow section. We were hoping to get the panels off intact but that didn't happen. We're starting from scratch."

So there it is, a new build with a couple of old parts. Click over here to see Bill Boyle's restoration blog for Pegasus.

Other pertinent articles about Bill Schill and Pegasus from George's Mid-Atlantic Musings blog:

• Bill Schill
• Pegasus inherited in sad shape

Bill Schill, in his senior years, was up for some weird Mothboat projects. He rescued a Duflos hull that had been cut in half, and then hung as decoration in a bar for thirty years. Undeterred, he glommed another side onto her. Here he is in 2009 in this half-in-half project that he got back on the water.

Albaugh Photo

Bill Schill and John Z in 2006.

Here is Jay McKenna in a regular Cates. I think this was Ed Salva's at one point. Not sure where she ended up.

Albaugh Photo

For those in the Northern Hemisphere feeling a little bit shut in by winter, Classic Moth images from Earwigoagin.

Do you know your way to Pondicherry?

This is somewhat old news. I received an email back in May from Filio Shiavina that a group in Pondicherry (south-east corner of India) were building eight Y2K Mistral Classic Moths. We received a photo of the first one being spray painted. Lionel Mallard and son Nat, who own the Ultramarine boatyard are supporting the Moth building effort and I assume the following photo was from their shop. Since then no further news/pics have surfaced.

Update, October 26, 2018: Joe Bousquet, who is on Instagram, came across several photos of the launch of one of the Pondicherry Mistrals, sans rudder. Seems like 15 year old Siam Mallard couldn't wait to build a rudder and launched his Moth with just a paddle for steering. The last photo had him a fair distance from the launching site. Oh, the courage of youth.
 

Filio has been working on a 3D modeling of this mod Mistral. He noted one discrepancy in the offsets given in the post. We await some pretty 3D pictures of his work.

For those who like their geography, here is the Google Map for Pondicherry (officially Puducherry in India).

Don Betts - Providence River Boat - "Pickle"

Don Betts, designer of the the micro Pea Cat, contacted Tweezerman back in March about his latest project, a traditional Providence River Boat. His story:

"The boat was built to display decorated crocks for an art installation. I wouldn’t build anything just for the exhibit, it had to be a usable boat. The design is from a mix of different boats There are two surviving 19th century Providence River Boats. One was too big ("Peggoty" over in Little Compton) and one was too small ("Button Swan" from Narragansett Bay now over in Mystic). Mystic also now has a newer version of "Peggoty", on shore behind a shed. My version of the boat is 14’ , the surviving originals are about 12’ and 18’. The jib helps with reliable tacking and gives the crew something to do. The boat will make most tacks without the jib if the crew moves aft. Chapelle’s American Small Sailing Craft page 243 has a drawing and description of the Providence River Boat, built in Newport Bristol Warren and Providence. After these pictures were taken the aft end of the keel and rudder depth was increased by about 4”.

The Providence River Boat lacks a centerboard or daggerboard and, Tweezerman, being of a mentality that a centerboard is one piece of sailing hardware you do need if you want to go upwind, I asked Don how the Providence River Boat performed upwind. (The micro Pipsqueak is another craft that depended on a full length skeg/keel for lateral resistance.)

"Almost the same as most other centerboard catboats. The full length keel, three inch at the bow sweeping to 16” at the stern does the trick. We keep the boat on a mooring but pick up and discharge on the beach. The boat is round enough that the aft end of the keel and rudder will lift free of the bottom by crew weight forward. Phil Bolger designed a little boat called Lady Slipper, an 8’ round bottom no centerboard with a similar deep aft end skeg-keel. I had sailed one at a boat show about 40 years ago and remembered the uncluttered cockpit feeling and lateral resistance balanced way aft so eventually made the connection between that and the Providence River catboats.

The photos show a roomy daysailor that seems to take to ground well when the tide has gone out.

Plans for the Providence River Boat from the Smithsonian

The Providence River Boat with the original crockery art display.

The jib bowsprit looks to be readily detachable.

Plans for the Providence River Boat available from the Smithsonian.