John Goodman who recently spent 5 days semi racing a Goat Island Skiff in the Texas200 event got back to me with some observations and even some pictures of aspects of the boat and the sailing.

I have responded with suggestions to make some further improvements. Between John and me there are some useful tips about setting up a boat for more speed.

However the standard setup of the Goat is fine for most – it is still pretty quick in standard form.

There is advice for both lug and sprit traditional rigs here.

This talk is the first hour of my exposition on boat building and design. There are two more parts to come. This covers some of the background and design issues. The second is more on the building side and the last is a bit more about why the Australian (and New Zealand) wooden boat tradition is different from the Northern Hemisphere.

You can stream the talks over your internet connection or download them as a podcast.

From Clinton Chase’s blog clintchaseboatbuilder.blogspot.com

On November 1st I was pleased and honored to introduce Michael Storer, an Australian Boat Designer reputed for his simple, elegant, and approachable boats, to a group of 21 members from the wooden boat community in Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Some knew of Storer’s work, others have built his boats, and many knew him as an important name and wanted to learn more about the man and his message.

This Finn is owned by OZ wooden Boatbuilder and Designer Ross Lillistone. The boat was built for the 1956 Olympics and has been restored by Ross. The photoset of the restored wooden Finn Dinghy are here This is what Ross says They are of my wooden 1956 Oympic Finn which I took out for a [...]

While in Port Vincent for the Wooden Boat Festival (great little show!!!) someone pulled out this 505 class dinghy. It is in REALLY bad condition – but the exciting thing is that it has all the original gear and fittings. So it is a time capsule from around 1959. “State of the Art” down to [...]

Here is a video of a Lateen Rig on a large yacht going like a rocket. It was filmed in Dubai, so I suspect that it probably doesn’t qualify as a low cost rig – but it is still traditional including in aspect ratio. It blasts along very seriously for some time until a large [...]

Duckflat have started work on Kirribilli for a consortium of owners. Keel is off – boat is upside down – hull is half stripped and half splined – starboard side. I’m assisting with the technical side. If the end result is as nice as the work Duck Flat and I did on our last keelboat [...]

The International Star has turned into one of the best, most competitive and rewarding classes to sail in the world, but as with most modern boats it has become more and more expensive. But the Star was designed in the ’20s (pic right)as the sort of boat a handyman could knock together out of a [...]