Howard Chappelle 23ft 8in Tabloid cruising boat from the book Boat Building

These photos are of an example of the 23ft 8in Tabloid cruiser designed by Howard Irving Chappelle and included in his classic Boat Building: A Complete Handbook of Wooden Boat Construction.

They were sent over by Ronald Glen, who with his brother Peter built the boat at Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, in 2004 . He reports that the Sydney Museum has shown interest in her, as well as an American museum looking for Chappelle-designed boats for a planned centenary exhibition.

If you’ve read Chappelle’s book, you’ll know this design, which I would think owes something to New England lobster boats and Hampton boats of the past.

Thanks for the photos Ronald!

To see an earlier post of photographs sent by Randal Cooper of Goolwa Masts, Australia, of another boat built to these plans, click here.

Are any examples of these boats to be found in the USA? Or of the intriguing ketch Southwind?

A 13ft stick-up sharpie afloat and sailing

Stick-up sharpie

This is one for everyone who has spent time reading Howard Irving Chappelle’s American Small Sailing Craft or Ruel Parker’s The Sharpie Book.

Perhaps particularly if you’re accustomed to British sailing boat types, you will have wondered about the funny little sharpies with strange added masts at a funny angle.

Finally I’m glad to say I’ve found photos of one online, and a sailing report – and the news seems to be that while it all looks very odd, the little boat performs as you’d expect a 13ft sharpie to do. We live and learn – that spar that’s not quite a bowsprit and not quite a mast really is no joke and the boat works. See photos here and here.

Well done the builder (a chap known only as ‘Timsboats’) for having faith and choosing to build a boat that’s outside of the ordinary…