Hoyt Offset Rig: Old is New Again

Garry Hoyt, arguably one of the most creative designers alive today, has patented a new rig that combines the advantages of traditional gaff rigs and modern bermuda rigs. (Note: thumbnail pic widens the sail area; click through to full article for properly sized pictures).

As Gerry explains on his web page:
The fundamental difference of this [...]

Little Dubber Kayaks

Designer Peter Hunt has created a wonderful little stitch and glue kayak well within the capabilities of the first time boat builder. I had a chance to see the Little Dubbers at the 2000 Wooden Boat Show in Mystic CT. Among the wonderful (and wonderfully expensive) stripper kayaks and finastkind wooden yachts, I [...]

Bluejacket 24

In 1999, an article in Boat Builder Magazine caught my eye. A trailerable cruiser, light weight, with spacious accommodations (for a small boat!) and low power requirements. And it got up on a plane with relatively low horsepower.
Previously, all I had seen in this class of boat were heavy displacement style boats … wonderful in [...]

Building a Set of Oars

Building a Simple Pair of 7′ Oars
By Bob Smalser, June 18, 2004
These are for the wedding-gift sailboat to the oldest son, so the family consensus is that store-bought oars or my cruder, painted workboat oars won´t do … I´ll have to bite the bullet and finish something in … ugh … brightwork. The [...]

Scarfing Rubrails

The Weekender is simple to build. In the basic plans, the only essential tools you need are a circular saw, jig saw, power screwdriver and a few miscellaneous hand tools. No difficult, exotic or fancy woodworking skills required. That’s a good thing!
That being said, several builders have found it [...]

Format Pics for our Forums

3 FREE Ways to Format Pics for Our Forums (or email!)
You may have something already …
Some installations of Windows XP have a “Make Thumbnail” option on the “context menu” that pops up when you right click on a picture file. So try that … but if its not there, don’t dispair, we have two [...]

Weekender Plans FAQ

I can’t figure out the dimension for the end of the keel, at station 13.
In Figure 2, the dimensions for the end of the keel can be confusing. At station 13, the top nail is located 3 – 3/8″ above the reference line. The bottom nail is located 1/2″ ABOVE the reference line. Got [...]

Wood and Plywood FAQ

I can’t find douglas fir 1 x 12s. What else can I use?
The Stevensons hail from the west coast, where Douglas Fir is a plentiful and common boat building wood. But in the other parts of the country (and the world!) builders either pay a premium for Douglas Fir, or simply can’t find it at [...]

Registering Your Home-Built Boat

Do I have to register my Weekender?
It varies by state here in the US. Here is the information on Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Lousiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Alabama (Bob Goodman)
In Alabama, all you do is call the local marine police division and they will send a man out to check that [...]

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