I can’t imagine whey anyone would not want to do this!
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Gavin Atkin's weblog for the sort of people who like looking inside boat sheds. It's about old boats, traditional boats, boat building, restoration, the sea and the North Kent Coast
Fabulous video – never knew they could sail as well as that. Am very tempted to build one . But do I have the skill I wonder still must be easier and quicker to build than a Paradox which is another boat with a big ‘wish for pull for me.
Go on – you know you want to!
I can’t imagine whey anyone would not want to do this!…
I can. Looks perilously close to getting wet all over and hypothermic, hanging on to a barely floating inverted punt. Not the thing on your own.
But if it was in the upper 20s C instead of F, the water commensurately warm and there was at least one spare paddle and oars tied on, then maybe…
Cheers
JohnB
Definitely not far from land, likely in a wetsuit or better a dry suit, best in company too and on a nice day. Still, it does look great, great fun. G
They have very little leeway and are far more stable than you think, and because the sheet is held in your hand you can instantly de-power if needed. I built and sail one and it is by far the funnest boat I have ever sailed! Check out my boat building blog at- http://www.rustyknorr.com Build one, you won’t be sorry!!!
Half way through my Duckpunt build . Hope to be sailing by end of June or early July !
Good luck with it Andrew – they look like a great deal of fun.
And I should mention , Gavin that your book ‘ Ultrasimple boatbuilding’ has not been far from my side during my ongoing duckpunt build project. Invaluable it has been too.
That’s good to hear! Thanks for saying so. Gavin
I would love to see some pics or video of the build, Andrew! You are going to love it!
Your build together with Stan Richards’ and Dylan Winter’s have all been an inspiration to me . I havn’t been photographing it as the build progressed although my wife did thake a couple of shots. I’ll give some sort of report and a few pics when the build has progressed further.I’m hoping to be finished in 4 -8 weeks as I can’t wait to see if I can sail it !!!
You will definitely be able to sail it. There is kind of a steep learning curve, and I still learn new things about sailing mine every time I take it out, or scrutinize one of Lurch’s videos. Stay in touch, and let me know how it goes!
That’s normal in any small sailing boat, I’d say. I very early learned to hike or lean out in gusts, and how to luff the sail a little by loosening the sheet or turning up wind.
What no-one told me until later was that when the strong wind suddenly stops, the right thing is to pull that sheet in fast to prevent capsizing to windward…
Gavin