15 1/2 ft Rowboat Easy Build in Plywood

The Storer Rowboat is a pretty and fairly fast plywood rowboat plan that is easy to build. The shape is derived from the famous Goat Island Skiff sailboat plan which rows fast without much effort. This rowboat will be fast and responsive under oars.

Buy Rowboat Plans Here $75

Basic Dimensions of MSD Plywood Rowboat Plan

Storer Row Boat Plan. Plywood DIY Elegant. storerboatplans.com

Length 15 ft 6 inches x 4ft beam
Estimated weight 90lbs
Plans $75 including detailed instructions

  • Payload – one person – second person or a couple of children and picnic things are OK too.
  • A swift rowing boat for one person – with the capability of carrying an extra person (or two if they are not toooo heavy) for fishing or picnics.
  • Easy construction – but an easily driven shape that is rewarding to row.
  • Large enclosed buoyancy for safety – 8ft oars no outriggers

PDF Plans by email – $75. See list of agents top left on this page or click here.

There is a report about one being built here on the OZ woodwork forums..
And now another one
And another one

General Comments about the Storer Rowboat.

This design has had a very long gestation – over two years. My normal well-documented plans were around half way finished and I just couldn’t continue with this boat for oars – a sure sign there was something I wasn’t quite happy with. I scrapped the whole thing and started again a few weeks ago.

Generally I don’t design boats to order. In this case two emails from old boatbuilding friends prompted the development of this boat for oars. Initially I headed in the direction of something much more racey. But then realised that Peter and Richard wanted speed but with more flexibility.

The racey version was finally rejected when Peter asked me about where he was going to cut the bait!

So it evolved in a more sensible direction.

Rowboat based on the Goat Island Skiff: storerboatplans.com

The front and back seats take up a lot of the boat length for a safety factor. But also to push the passengers toward the middle of the boat so the stern and bow do not drag. The middle seat is very wide so there can be two sets of rowlock sockets – front one for when there is a passenger in the back. It can be used for storage or batteries if using a electric trolling outboard.

The Never Ending Dory

For some time I had thought of using the Goat Island Skiff (GIS) design as the basis for a plywood rowboat – more slender, lighter, lower. Thus catching the wind less.

Here were the models of the GIS with the Rowboat plan prototype. Not to same scale. they are the same length.

Rowboat based on the Goat Island Skiff: storerboatplans.com

Stability under oars

It also is a response to the number of lightweight plywood dory designs that are around these days. Old dories weighed hundreds of pounds and were around 20ft long overall and are reputed to need a good load of fish to make them into stable platforms under oars. Consequently shrink them and lighten them and the stability drops off very rapidly.  This plywood Rowboat has ample.

Tom really wanted to show this to me under oars when I met him north of Newcastle for the photos.

Storer rowboat version of Goat island skiff. Narrow waterline for travel but good stability

Why we didn’t use a dory as a base for the Rowboat plan.

First of all … there are too many dory designs. Many of them nondescript.

Of the modern, shorter, lightweight dorys, the better ones of the modern kind paddle very easily but are tender until you have a load aboard and their speed under oars is limited by the short waterline. The worse ones are so twitchy as to be almost useless.

Some try to fudge a dory shape by having curved clinker sides. But then you lose the simplicity. This rowboat is not really suited to wavey oceans, though one who uses his off the coast of Maine enjoys it. Most will be used in estuaries are rivers where there is a chop.

Tom under oars.

MSD rowboat. Plywood home built. storerboatplans.com

Talking with the Row Boat Designer: The Emails from Peter

Peter wrote:

On thinking about the rowing boat brief…. no, dash it all NO passengers, if she wants to come we’ll go in Gruff (ie the Goat Island Skiff) or the canoe!

Sooo… two sheets of ply long, needs to be a bit more utilitarian than a shell, so that one can cast a line or pick up a crab pot. But really it’s a boat for the sheer pleasure of going for a row.

I don’t know too much about rowing properly, but a sliding seat option may be ok??

Has to be pretty, which is why I’m keen for you to look at it! The Goat Island Skiff with a foot out of the beam??

My response:
Was to say, yes, yes, yes – but Richard had slightly different criteria as far as payload.

And from Richard, the other client.

Richard wrote:

For efficient rowing on the river (Murray) – so against current, some chop, wake from power boats, but not open ocean or rough water. Come to think of it, the wake thrown up by your average yahoo driven ski boat probably qualifies for ‘rough water’. Especially as I’ll often have my little daughter in the ‘boss’s seat’.

Will be used for fishing (I sit when I fish in a boat) and exploring. Cheap to build without sacrificing usability.

Light – although this boat will be carried on a trailer, it will be launched and recovered from river banks, not boat ramps. Light enough to car top or for one person to carry would be nice but not essential. I’m after a tough, light, utility boat, not an ultra-light weapon.

Enough floatation for safety if swamped – I’m not some panic merchant who expects it to float on its water line when full of water – just high enough to get back into.

My Response:
Again – Yes. A move toward general use as Richard describes willl also make the plans more interesting to more people.

She will float a little deep with three aboard. But keeping the base of the transom narrow and shallow any bad effects will be minimal. I think she will prefer to carry three lighter individuals or a heavier adult a lighter adult and a child. Truthfully she will be at her best one up.

A Quick Model to give us an idea of the actual shape the rowboat plan was converging on

I drew up shape on the computer and emailed some panel outlines so models could be made by both interested parties – they are both experienced boatbuilders.

Light Ply Rowboat based on the Goat Island Skiff: storerboatplans.com

The photos of the plywood rowboat plan model arrived the next morning! Peter whipped it up overnight and photographed it with the red timber glowing in the morning light. The white boat is the model of the Goat Island Skiff that Peter built years ago. Scale is approximately similar.

Light Ply Rowboat based on the Goat Island Skiff: storerboatplans.com

The version that has been developed since has more side panel flare to give a larger beam for more stability and to carry 8ft oars without outriggers.

Boat Aesthetics

Storer row boat built by Duck Flat. storerboatplans.com

Both Peter and Richard were quite happy with the appearance from the model – as was I.

On double checking the dimensions and found that the bow had crept up too high – almost 500mm above the waterline – it would have caught the wind very badly – so it has been reduced but with a fraction more sheer in the stern. The wireframe drawing reflects the current shape.

Technical thinking about the Plywood Rowboat

It is interesting to compare the shape of the rowboat with the Goat Island Skiff (GIS – below) which was based around an excellent sailing performance.

You can easily see the difference in volume and height from the water.

butt straps or scarf joins for ply boatbulding storerboatplans.com

. Both are simple hullshapes, but rowboats have much less power available.

Wetted Surface

Reduced in the plywood rowboat by narrowing the width of the bottom throughout relative to the GIS particularly in the stern. It was tempting to go toward a canoe stern, but it would sink heavily when a passenger was in the back seat. And stability would be reduced for other uses.

Bottom width

Reduced but the width at the gunwale retained to provide a good base for oars. Oar length is approximately twice the beam so if the beam becomes too small then the oars have to shrink too – for less efficiency.

Prismatic co-efficient (CP)

A measure of how much volume is in the ends of the boat. Light sailing boats like the sail powered GIS can easily average 6 to 8 knots so need extra volume in the stern and bow at speed. The plywood rowboat will only ever get up to around 3.5 to 4 knots so the CP needs to be lower. It was hard to achieve the exact numbers required because of the transom width so we have gone as far as possible. Getting rid of the passenger and having a canoe stern would make it easier to get the right numbers.

It ends up looking quite a delicate little thing.

simple hullform but nice to row. storer row boat being built by clint chase. Rowing version of Goat Island Skiff. Storerboatplans.com
simple hullform but nice to row. storer row boat being built by clint chase. Rowing version of Goat Island Skiff. Storerboatplans.com
storer plywood rowboat. Rowing version of Goat Island Skiff. built by class at the compass project. storerboatplans.com

Naming Rights

The MSD Rowing Skiff is a rowing boat derived from the Goat Island Skiff with less beam and less windage making it nicer as a wooden rowboat.

I haven’t come up with the right name for this boat yet so it remains the MSD Rowing Skiff. It actually fits nicely within my range – some people build the Goat Island Skiff to serve as a rowboat where it is more than adequate when fitted with a skeg. But where less capacity, more speed for the same effort and the ability to cartop (narrower and lighter) is more important the Rowing Skiff will be more suitable. Plans are $75 and the boat will use up 4 sheets of 6mm ply. Agents listed top left of every page.

MSD plywood rowboat plan. Pretty and easy to move around. storerboatplans.com

10 thoughts on “15 1/2 ft Rowboat Easy Build in Plywood”

  1. Hi Michael!

    Sailing is my passion. I love the design of the GIS, but I need something lighter. I would want to use a balanced lug rig. Any suggestions you might have, I would certainly appreciate!

    Fair winds!

    Steve

    Reply
    • Hi Steve,

      The GIS is probably the lightest boat in its class and is significantly lighter than most boats with the same capacity. Often half or a third of the weight of similar boats. Not many 130lb 16ft boats that will take four adults and still sail really well.

      To get less weight you will have to go smaller and with less capacity. That is part of the reason I’ve been drawn to design sailing canoes. People do want lighter and more portable boats. So to cut the width and capacity makes a huge weight savings.

      Of my range there is the Viola canoe for one person sailing. And the Kombi Canoe for two.

      Best Regards
      Michael

      Reply
  2. Hello,
    I’m interested in this rowboat – I fly fish on a small lake, seated in a rowboat, so I prefer low side panels like this one.
    A few questions: 1) is it a stitch and glue construction?
    2) how is it kept water tight? Fiberglassed seams?
    3) can it be built with standard plywood? I’d like to keep costs down.
    Thanks,
    Michael Hamilton, Kanata, ON, CA

    Reply
    • Hi Michael.

      If you decide to go ahead with a stitch and glue version please contact me for a revised bottom panel. The current panel for the framed construction is drawn a little oversized and is trimmed after. With stitch and glue, it needs to be accurate.

      To make the seams with stitch and glue the outside gets glassed with 2″/50mm wide glass tape.

      On the inside, there are several options. Epoxy fillets. Glass tape. Or tiny fillets and glass tape which allows the glass on the inside to take a better radius.

      The side arms on the bulkheads should not be omitted.

      Yes… you can build with standard ply but the weight of the boat will be about 25% more than the gaboon/okoume plywood version. That is OK. The main thing is to make sure the standard ply is reasonable quality. Don’t use Douglas Fir ply as it checks badly – gets surface cracks in the paint after building.

      Best Regards
      Michael

      Reply
  3. Michael,

    Twist my arm a little on the two people in the boat aspect. Let’s assume that folks aren’t overweight, a 165 pound rower and 120 pound guest aft. OK? Any pictures with two people aboard? I’m told I’m to mention that I’m a member of the Coots-

    Dan

    Reply
    • Hi Dan,

      There are some assumptions in the design. Certainly the wide stern compared to many rowing boats will make it somewhat better in terms of the trim not becoming crazy with a passenger in a narrower stern.

      My assumption was, that when there was a passenger the idea would be to relax, chat, sightsee etc. So the compensation mechanism is that very wide rowing thwart. Solo … sit conventionally.

      Cruising – move as far forward as possible on the wide mid seat (alternate rowlock position) to compensate for the person in the stern.

      If wanting to get to places with two aboard then a 10 litre water jug in the bow would pull the bow down … and could only be shipped, filled and emptied when actually needed.

      If building a version, like many rowboats, without buoyancy tanks the seat could move to different locations. Would still need the mid frame, but it could be moved further forward to be out of the way of all the mid seat locations.

      Reply

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