Tag: Rowing boat

A Light Dinghy under construction

I’m delighted to be able to report that the first example of my Light Dinghy design is under construction.

It’s a two sheet dinghy I drew at about the same time as I drew my Light Trow design, and it also has easy lines and the the same five-panel principle, with a flat bottom and two strakes on each side.

The plans for both boats are available as free downloads.

Naturally, I’m very much looking forward to a report of its performance on the water. The builder is a man of some experience, so I don’t imagine he’ll be anything but honest about it!

She’s afloat!

Here’s what builder Lee Boell has to say:

‘I really love the look of what you have drawn here.  And it’s a delight to row.

‘There was a strong tide running – we’d just had a record spring tide for Auckland – which is why I was not going straight! 

‘Anyway, thanks again for this little boat.  I love it.’

You can see clips of some of the other boats Lee has built over the years on his YouTube account – with that much experience, I’m inclined to think he knows what he’s talking about.

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Crowd-funded John Welsford Joansa launched at Faversham

Alan Thorne’s crowd-funded project to give as many local people as possible an experience of boat building culminated in the launch of a John Welsford-designed Joansa rowing skiff a couple of weeks ago.

Quite a crowd turned out, I’m glad to say! The name Bridget refers to the local plan to build a new lifting bridge over Faversham Creek, which would allow barges, smacks and other traditional boats to be moored at the top end of the creek once more.

Julie skiffs at Faversham

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The skiffs built by schoolchildren at Faversham got launched this weekend! (Click here to read about their building.)

The workshop builder explained about safety, the boats went in the water, the youngsters took turns to get to grips with using the oars, the designer got a turn in one of the, and his brother and wife Julie (after whom the design is named) had a go too.

I should explain that the plans for these boats are free and available from Intheboatshed.net. Well – that was all very good then!

By the way, the little boats are light and easy to handle out of the water and perform just as expected, with little wake and good directional stability – I’d say a little too much and will be arguing that a diagonal cut to the skeg near the stern might be a good idea.