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
Bay Raider
I think Swallow Boats new Bay Raider could be just that – and a serious successor to the Devon Yawl and some other boats too, perhaps, possibly even the Wayfarer.
Working together with a group of Drascombe Lugger fans, Swallow Boats has developed a new large sailing dinghy for open boat cruising. The result is very interesting: Continue reading “Bay Raider – serious competition for the Drascombe?”
Phoenix III
Ross Lillistone has built and designed some nice little boats, and one of the nicest is this little spritsail open cruiser designed to be sailed and rowed, and to use an outboard when necessary. Phoenix III was one of those designs that evolves over years, which probably means that all the little compromises that get made in designing a boat have been given even more thorough thought than usual.
The result of all this deliberation is an epoxy ply 15ft 1 1/2in by 4ft 9in beam by 6in draft dinghy that weighs 132lbs and carryies 104sqft of sail on a sloop rig with a spritsail main. The beam is narrow for rowing and with that in mind the 104sqft rig might seem a lot for a cruiser meant to be sailed off beaches and on the sea; however, because the Continue reading “Ross Lillistone’s perfect beach cruiser”
Flying 25
Uffa Fox fans – and there are still quite a few here in the UK – may be interested to know that someone’s building a Flying 25 down in Australia – click here to see a page featuring the project. They seem to be working in modern materials and from the small drawing above the rig is to have a few modern additions, but it makes you think, doesn’t it?
Apparently, there’s a legend that the first of these boats to be built went so fast that Continue reading “Uffa Fox’s Flying 25”