Category: Designs and designers, boat plans,books of plans

Plans for boats, sailing yachts, motor yachts, rowing boats, sailing boats, dinghies, dories, canoes, skiffs, oars, sails – may be free or paid-for

Lars Herfeldt builds a gentleman’s runabout at the Boatbuilding Academy

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16ft gentleman’s runabout Lola, built to a design by C G Petterson, and photographed at the Boatbuilding Academy’s student launch day in December

Lars Herfeldt built this very pretty motorboat during his Boatbuilding Academy course at Lyme using plans by the Swedish designer CG Pettersson.

Academy principle Yvonne Green reports that Lola, which is named after one of Lars’ grandchildren, is a 16ft cold moulded motorboat made from two layers of 3mm plywood with a final layer of mahogany veneer laid fore and aft to simulate a more traditional carvel planking construction.

While on the course Lars wrote a weblog that includes the boat build but also of his life while living at the Academy on the course – it’s in German but includes many excellent photos including a series showing one of the famous Beer luggers going about. He also played Father Christmas at the Academy Christmas dinner, at which Yvonne says he managed to look as if he’d stepped out of a Norman Rockwell illustration.

For more photos from the student launch, check out Edward Pearson’s Picasa photo set of the event.

Intheboatshed.net readers may be interested to know that Lars is returning to the Academy in September to instruct a residential course on building West Greenland kayaks in September, at which up to eight students will build a traditional kayak over ten days – course members will stay at nearby Trill Farm and build the boats in the farm’s  magnificent old barn.

Many thanks for the story Yvonne – and don’t forget to tell us more about the kayak course, as I think there will be some interest from readers!

Stirling and Son build a traditional 17ft Tamar salmon boat for the Scobles

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Tamar salmon boat Gloria Marcella. Click on the thumbnails for bigger images

Stirling and Son are currently building some smaller boats after having had to relocate to a garage while they organise themselves some new premises – for some years they were based at Morwelham Quay, which is sadly now in administration.

To prevent misunderstanding, I should explain that the garage is a temporary arrangement and that the outfit will be moving to new premises to begin a new 44ft project by the end of this month. Meanwhile, however, Will and his colleagues have been hard at work, as he reports, and have sent in these very nice shots of a Tamar salmon boat in build:

‘Two recent new builds in the garage have been a 17ft salmon boat for the river Tamar and an 11ft pilot’s punt for a pilot cutter.

‘One of the elder salmon fisherman, Alec Scoble, who has net fished the Tamar in wooden boats since the 1950s has ordered a new boat in preparation for the renewal of the fishing licences, which have been suspended since 2004.

‘In order to increase the viability of the boat, Alec’s son Colin Scoble will net fish with tourists in the traditional manner, tagging and releasing the fish for the National Rivers Authority. Also as a continuation of the family tradition Alec’s grandson, Sam Scoble, helped build the boat.

‘There were no plans for Tamar salmon boats; it seems most likely that none have ever existed, so in order to record the shape for the future, I created a draught of the shape based on dimensions given by Alec. Before planking small alterations were made to the forward moulds following an inspection by Alec and his friend Frankie, who had both fished the river since War War II. The draught was altered accordingly and is now held by the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich.

‘The boat is named in memory of Alec’s wife Gloria Marcella, and  has an oak backbone and framing with spruce planking; all fastenings are copper and bronze.’

‘Best wishes, Will’

Will does seem to have the knack of finding some great projects!

Stirling and Son are offering plans for a traditional general purpose 9ft clinker-built dinghy and an 11ft pilot punt of 1900. For more on these, see this earlier post.

A beautiful model of a ring-netter

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Jay Cresswell’s model of Ribhinn Donn I, and (bottom right) Antonia & Ruaraidh

This stunning model of a ring netter has been made by Jay Cresswell, an ex-trawler skipper, long-standing Old Gaffers Association member and authority on marine history who has for many years lived near Aberdeen.

He writes:

‘You might like to see the attached. I’ve nearly completed a 3/4in to 1ft model of the 54ft Alex Noble & Sons-built ring netter Ribhinn Donn I. (Her sister is Silver Quest, which is currently sitting in the mud at Penryn down by Falmouth.)

‘I still have to complete rigging details, wheelhouse interior and other bits and pieces such as semi-balancing edge to rudder. The bottom is quite literally anti-fouled. The model is built from original yard drawings for these two boats.

‘This is the second ringer I’ve tackled, the other being a Weatherhead & Blackie 56-footer to same scale named Antonia & Ruaraidh after my two oldest children. (See above.) The original boat in this case is the Catherine Anne, which was chopped up a few years ago in one of the UK fishing vessel decommissioning rounds.

‘I hope you like the images. It’s been a year’s worth of spare time. There are no metal fastenings in the hull, with all planking dowelled to the frames.

‘Regards, Jay Cresswell, Aberdeen’

I certainly do like them Jay – you’ve created a couple of meticulous models that rival or better many of those seen in museums. I particularly like the way every detail seems to be properly to scale. Many thanks for sending them over.