Goat Island Skiff in Florida moving quick in rough water

Why the Goat Island Skiff is fast.

Why explained. My most popular design is the Goat Island Skiff a light plywood planing sailing dinghy that is devastatingly fast in most conditions – not so surprising when you realise a lot of the development was because of racing dinghy advances but intended to avoid the skyrocketing costs of sailing participation.

Balance Lug Rig Performance compared to conentional bermudan rigs - Lasers and Fireballs

Video of Balance Lug Rig Performance vs Lasers and Fireballs

A video comparing Lug Rig Performance with conventional rigs in a real race. A Goat Island Skiff takes part in a regular club race against Fireballs and Lasers. Where will it end up? Does it actually have a “bad tack” where it can’t compete? The answer might challenge your assumptions about sailing rig performance

Beth sailing canoe going through a wave. Andrew Barclay sailing in mixed fleet. storerboatplans.com

Andrew enjoys strong winds in his BETH sailing canoe

Discussion of handling light sailboats such as sailing canoes and how some hull design features promote good sailing manners at higher speeds. Taking pressure away from the sailor by making the boats light and predictable despite rough conditions.

Viola 14 first sail - a sailing canoe that handles like a good sailing dinghy

Viola 14 Sailing Canoe Plan – plywood sailing dinghy

The simplicity and light weight of a sailing canoe with the hullshape and stability of a good sailing dinghy. Viola is14ft (4.3m) long and 40 inches wide. The hull is rooftopable at 34kg or 75lbs. A few pounds heavier than an RS Aero and much lighter than a Laser. Same as an Opti!

Goat island skiff john goodman in texas 200 mile event - storer boat plans

20 ways to boost Lug rig and lug sail performance! Rigging and Tuning.

All our lug rig information on one page. We have seen the change from the balance lug being almost forgotten to becoming the predominant rig for small self built wooden boat. This was the situation a hundred years ago. We can still use the cheapness and effectiveness of this rig to create boats with very quick and pleasant sailing characteristic.

Goat Island Skiff - Armstrong Family Sailing San Diego - storerboatplans.com

Goat Island Skiff Boat Plan, Beautiful, Fast, LIght

The finally famous Goat Island Skiff is the lightest and simplest 16ft sailing boat I could come up with. Simple to Build with Modern Performance. She will sail well and handle impeccably at all times with 4 adults and is fastest with one or two aboard. Plans are extremely detailed and there is an active community of builders on Facebook.

goat island skiff sneaky shark at English RAID

Club Racing the Goat Island Skiff – PY yardstick handicap racing

So how does a lug rig boat go in club racing? My designs won’t be outclassed in club racing. I’m really keen to find out how the yardstick (handicap) changes as George and crew get used to the realities of course racing making the boat sail faster. We end up with an estimate of PY – Portsmouth Yardstick for the Goat Island Skiff.

lug sails at very competitive prices - reallysimplesails.com

WIKI setup and tuning Lug Rigs, Spar bends and weights, Sail controls and More

The conservative viewpoint is that traditional rigs are not very efficient. However allied to efficient hulls and set up correctly, lug and sprit rigs can be very efficient indeed – not too much slower than “modern” rigs, particularly when the same lessons are applied to trad sails and way cheaper.

This is a WIKI drawn from the group on the Storerboats forum discussions on setting up lug and sprit rigs for best performance building on the information in my webpage.