How much fibreglass is really necessary to prevent damage to a plywood boat for most users?

For a long time I’ve been suspicious that both designers and builders are in a never ending spiral of more and more heavier fibreglass.

I argue, with data from the Turner designed Jarcat, that the weights of glass are clearly excessive for most uses and users of small boats.

Jani is a friend of Perttu in Finland.

Jani wanted a boat for rowing and fishing. He built a Quick Canoe and modified it with outriggers and also worked out a scheme where it can carry one or two people simply by changing the bow.

Maybe it is so clever because Jani is an Industrial Designer!

Clint Chase in Maine is about to make a batch of oars that are suitable for Storerboats. They are nicely balanced with the right amount of spring.

He needs to do a batch to make it cost effective, so if you are interested in some handcrafted oars contact him to see which sizes he will be making first.

Tom has built his MSD Rowboat in Brisbane.

I met up with him recently and we drove down to the coast towing the rowboat to the river at Nudgee. A bit of wind and a lot of current because of all the rain.

Tom has trimmed down the skeg to get the boat to balance nicely in all directions. Before the modification the bow used to blow around – now it behaves nicely.

I took quite a few pictures.

I have already put extensive comments on my flickr gallery. http://www.flickr.com/photos/boatmik/sets/72157622510542194/ So let’s introduce the participants and the boats!  They gathered in the afternoon. People as far away as Texas, California and Australia (me).  Not a huge number, this cruise works well with up to around 12 to 15 boats.  A huge thanks to Jim [...]

First we had a computer drawing Then pics of a mock up model Now we have pics from American where one is being built by some young people as part of the Compass Project organisation’s Classes. Often I am quite surprised by the actual appearance of a boat over what I expect. This plywood rowboat [...]

One of the new launchings of the Goat Island Skiff had a problem with a slippery floor… Here is my favourite suggestion. Nice way to deal with it is the same way we did the PDRacers. I couldnt find he pics on the building thread. You varnish the cockpit floor normally. Then mask off the [...]

Furled Sails – They call themselves the “World’s First Sailing Podcast” based in North America. Anyway, last week Christy and Noel called me up chatted to me for a couple of hours. So they have an interview with me on their site followed by a part 2 next week. This looks like the permanent linkhttp://www.furledsails.com/article.php3?article=760 [...]

I was asked by the people at Duck Flat Wooden Boats whether I would be interested in teaching at their Spring School. It is their first one for a few years and has the purpose of “getting people excited about boatbuilding”. I must admit that was pretty well how it went. 12 different projects and [...]