Racing shows that what you know is what you know. It doesn't matter if the boat is less than perfect. So where is it best to put in the effort to improve results. Boat setup, knowing how to adjust for different wind conditions, practicing skills until they become automatic, sailing as much as possible ... and teaching others.

The post Q&A How to Race a Dinghy Successfully the Low Stress Way. appeared first on Storer Boat Plans in Wood and Plywood.

Torture boards are used for the highest grade of smoothing for visual smoothness of the whole structure. Fairing a strip planked hull.
Fairing a join between adjacent plywood sheets in a hull or deck.
Fairing a composite structure
Fairing deck substructure. Deckframes and deck stringers ready to take plywood.

The post FAQ – Getting a hull smooth – Torture Boards for strip planking and decks appeared first on Storer Boat Plans in Wood and Plywood.

pointless, timewasting activities in boat repair and maintenance

The post I hate silicone sealant on boats – Silicone contamination a world of pain. appeared first on Storer Boat Plans in Wood and Plywood.

OK ... I decided to keep the old racing dinghy and fix it up. How do I put my effort in the right places to get the maximum results? A grab bag of methods for joining plywood, working out sizes, making centreboards and rudders and more.

The post Repair of old and antique plywood class sailboats for Racing or Cruising appeared first on Storer Boat Plans in Wood and Plywood.

All the best material on boat repairs. From restoring old sailing dinghies for racing, fixing holes in canoe, replacing whole hull panels or the neatest and easiest way of doing a really nice texture of nonskid using sugar. And the non skid can be done in paint or varnish

The post Fixing up old Plywood Boats – Fix leaks and holes, replace bottom in 24 hours, low cost nonskid that works. appeared first on Storer Boat Plans in Wood and Plywood.

Golfballs go further because of those dimples on the surface. Would it make sense to have those dimples on a boat hull?

It is not quite that simple as this little article attempts to explain.

The post Will golfball dimples make my boat hull, surfboard or sailboard go faster appeared first on Storer Boat Plans in Wood and Plywood.

One of the most important things as a designer or sailor is to keep an open mind, but also to be able to analyze things in light of real experience and prior knowledge. These are online and paper resources that force thinking in different ways.

This article, after a bit of a spiel, goes on to give some great resources that "opened my eyes" at different times in my life.

They focus on areas of structural design, sailing, sail aerodynamics and touch on a bit more.

The post The Canon – Tools for thinking about sailing and boat design – Books and Articles appeared first on Storer Boat Plans in Wood and Plywood.

Bobwes has been using his Goat Island Skiff over the last weeks.

It is brightly coloured and looks pretty great.

The post Goat Launching 1 – BobWes in Sacramento appeared first on Storer Boat Plans in Wood and Plywood.

Melanie in the UK wrote to me. She has just bought an old Mirror dinghy and started sailing for the first time.

Problem is that the boat leaks and she doesn't want to stop using the boat until the end of the season.

I have a philosophy of keeping older boats on the water and not pulling them off for months on end until you have the time to do the job.

So the article here is useful to see what can be done with an old leaky plywood sailing dinghy to keep it going.

It is perfect sailing weather at the moment in the UK and it is better she is out there learning but with the worst of the leaks gone.

With a disciplined approach she should be able to get all of this done in a week or so. The general leaks fixed permanently and the rotted area reinforced so that the boat won't break.

The post Minimal repairs to keep an old Mirror plywood sailing dinghy going appeared first on Storer Boat Plans in Wood and Plywood.

We have moved much of our activity to the Facebook Groups. See the links in the Menu above. But there are so many great questions asked and discussed on the Oz Woodwork Forums..

The post Table of Contents for Michael Storer Wooden Boats Forum. appeared first on Storer Boat Plans in Wood and Plywood.