St Ayles skiff Ulla launched!

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

ullapool, ulla, chris perkins, scottish coastal rowing topher dawson, adrian morgan, iain oughtred, scotland, rowing boat, rowing skiff, racing boat, rowing race

ullapool, ulla, chris perkins, scottish coastal rowing topher dawson, adrian morgan, iain oughtred, scotland, rowing boat, rowing skiff, racing boat, rowing race ullapool, ulla, chris perkins, scottish coastal rowing topher dawson, adrian morgan, iain oughtred, scotland, rowing boat, rowing skiff, racing boat, rowing race

Chris Perkins has written to say that the St Ayles skiff Ulla is launched and that a good selection of photos of the big day can be seen at the Ullapool Coastal Rowing website. Apparently the Viking steerboard works well.

He’ll be at the splash of another St Ayles skiff, Coigach Lass, today so hopefully we’ll have still more lovely photos soon.

Many thanks Chris! For more posts about the Iain Oughtred-designed St Ayles skiff and the Scottish Coastal Rowing Project, click here.

Follow this link to start receiving the weekly intheboatshed.net newsletter.

At last – construction drawings for the sailing version of the Ella skiff


Ella skiff model drawing

The sailing version of the Ella skiff. Click on the image for a zip file including the plans to build this little boat

I’ve really had to scrabble to find time to get this together – but here is the much awaited sailing version of the 12ft Ella skiff. There’s a lot of design work in sailing boat!

If you use these plans, all I ask in return are some photos, and reports on how the building works and on how she works in the water. However I must emphasise that I’m an amateur with no qualifications and accept no liability for any loss injury or accident that occurs as a result of anyone using or building this boat.

I should add that this is not a boat for big seas, strong winds and currents or for use with an outboard of over one or two hp. It’s a small, narrow flattie with all the limitations that go with this kind of boat. That said, in the right gentle weather conditions I think it will be great fun anywhere one can find flat sheltered water.

Download Ella skiff sailing plans version 1.2

This boat is designed to be built using the stitch and glue technique – if you haven’t done this before you might be interested in my book Ultrasimple Boat Building: 17 Plywood Boats Anyone Can Build or one of the other books on this topic available from Amazon.

PS See a model Ella sailing skiff here.



Alec Jordan’s beautiful model of Iain Oughtred’s new Scottish rowing skiff

[ad name=”intheboatshed-post”]

DSC_3340

DSC_3338 DSC_3339 DSC_3333

DSC_3329

Alec Jordan’s model of Iain Oughtred’s new design, the St Ayles skiff. Note the liberal use of clothes pegs – Alec’s using pretty well the same building method he would in the real thing!

Jordan Boats proprieter Alec Jordan has built this model of Iain Oughtred’s St Ayles skiff, the boat at the heart of a project to bring competitive coastal rowing back to Scotland.

See an earlier intheboatshed.net post on the Scottish Coastal Rowing Project.

Jordan Boats is to supply cut-out ply kits for the project and like a good boatbuilder, Alec’s first step has been to make a model. Here’s what he says about it:

‘Hi Gavin

‘Attached are some pictures of the skiff model.

‘With the model having gone together successfully, I have now started on the
construction of the real thing in the past couple of days – I’m doing the donkey
work of laminating stems and frames at the moment. I will hopefully have
the moulds up on Saturday and start the planking next week.

‘The boat, I think, is absolutely sublime – I just hope that it rows as well
as it looks!

‘Best regards

‘Alec J

‘BTW, My Dad made the model of the Cutty Sark in the background, not me!’

Thanks for the pictures Alec – Iain’s design looks super and great good luck to all of you involved in this project.

Don’t miss something good. Start receiving the weekly intheboatshed.net email newsletter now!