Her rig is really that of a twin masted schooner but unusually both main and foremasts and sails are the same size making the rig easier and cheaper to manufacture - she is beautifully balanced under sail. 

 She has 8 planks per side which are simply stitched together edge to edge and finished with epoxy and tape. She may be fitted out in many different ways but the standard drawings show her with a steel centreboard which is below the sole level and with plenty of seat/storage spaces.

 Apart from the outboard well the drawings give details of a boom tent and cuddy - and an alternative twin sprit rig.

The hull has a typical Mediterranean hull shape with a hard bilge and fairly fine ends making a stable and sea-kindly hull form.

Jose Grisell's example planked.

The Bittern design started life when our client bought an old and rotting daysailer which he intended to restore - however, he realised that starting from scratch would be easier and give him a brand new boat which, with modern strip plank construction, would have low maintenance for many years to come. At the same time we increased her length and depth.

She has lifting bilge plates with cases which form the seat/locker fronts and which make her easy to trail and leave an uncluttered cockpit space suitable for sleeping in. An optional cuddy is shown which could be permanent or detachable and she could take a full cabin. A versatile little daysailer for coastal cruising with the family. An outboard can be mounted on the transom or in a well.

The beam is slightly less than that of the Bungay design amidships but we have given her a wider quarter deck again, following another line of Broads dayboats.

Construction is again Cedar strip planking over computer faired moulds/jig. The mast is stepped in a tabernacle for easy raising/lowering and she can take 4-6 adults comfortably. Storage is under the fore deck either side of the mast.

The keel consists of lead ballast bolted to a central steel plate (which has a flange at the top thro’ bolted to the inner keel) - the plate is sheathed in wood/epoxy to a foil shape.

There is no reason why the Bungay rigs cannot be used on the Ant and vice versa.

The Ant by the way, is a river on the Norfolk Broads.

We have the computer faired mould, inner stem and transom shape for an open boat based upon a 16’ x 6’ Lightship’s Lifeboat—a sturdy little seaboat which could take 12 men and carry a simple lug rig—they were clinker built but could be strip planked.

The standard plan uses a aerofoil sectioned daggerboard for maximum efficiency but she could take a hinged centreboard. There is plenty of room for buoyancy and dry storage.

This large daysailer may be built in 2 versions—a fixed keel motorboat with either an inboard engine or outboard in a well, or a sailing version with fixed or lifting keel. Construction is for clinker/ply over computer generated moulds which could also be used for a strip plank version. There is plenty of stowage space and she could take a cuddy and/or boom tent.

LOD 19’8” (5.99m); Beam 6’8” (2.03m); Draft—long keel version 2’ (0.61m),  centreplate version 1’4”/3’11” (0.4/1.18m); Approx. wht. 1488lbs (675kg); Ballast 331 lbs (150kg); Sail Area 214 sq.ft (19.93 sq.m).

Based on the Dark Harbor 12 designed by B.B. Crowninshield in the early part of the 20th Century, this design has an updated underwater shape and construction method.

She is very much a mini J class. With a 12’ waterline and overall length of over 20’ she has elegantly long overhangs which hark back to a bygone era of sailing. Construction is for modern strip planking using Western Red Cedar over computer faired moulds.

LOA 20’3” (6.18m); LWL 12’3” (3.74m); Beam 5’8” (1.73m); Draft 3’2” (0.96m); Displ. To WL 2117lbs (960kg); Ballast 970lbs (440kg); Sail Area 216 sq.ft. (20.11sq.m)  

 Based on our Safe Harbour design which was based on the Dark Harbor 12 designed by B.B. Crowninshield in the early part of the 20th Century, this design has been made beamier so that she can carry less ballast and use a steel centreplate.

  She retains the elegantly long overhangs on a 12’ waterline length but has a draft with the plate up of just 1’7” (0.48m) which allows her up tight creeks and back waters.

  Construction is for modern strip planking using Western Red Cedar over computer faired moulds.

Snipa’s (pronounced Sneepa) are traditional clinker Nordic Fishing boats with a reputation for excellent sea keeping qualities and stability. Construction is fairly traditional but uses ply for the clinker planking over laminated frames. Below the waterline some of the more extreme concavity in the sectional shape has been removed to make planking more simple and to make her easier to strip plank if that is the hull construction method chosen rather than the clinker method shown on the drawings.

Many traditional boats have been converted with an inboard engine—the installation of a Farymann 7.5 hp engine is detailed as an option. Ballast used to be stone and this can still be used although a ballast keel is also detailed. She is built over frames which may be traditional solid or laminated and which are computer faired.

The Port Pegasus is a clinker boat which may be used as a pure rowing boat or fitted with a small diesel (ie Farymann 7.5) as a small motor launch with classic appearance.

As a general purpose launch, she could be fitted out in a variety of different ways—ie. With a small cuddy, centre console arrangement or even with an appropriate sail/keel plan. The drawings give the computer faired mould shapes and building jig details for modern clinker construction—framing incorporates the plywood bulkheads etc. Mid hull depth is 1’9” (0.53m).

Below is a nice example ready for fit-out by Peter Hawker

Most East Coast Cobles were of clinker (lapstrake) construction but a few were carvel and the 27’ Northumbrian Coble emulates one of these by using modern strip planked construction. I have not attempted to ‘modernize’ the concept too much and so have gone for the traditional deep forefoot, well angled rudder and twin ‘drafts’ (skegs) to help keep her to windward under sail and ‘grip’ the water. She is essentially a large open working boat with moveable seating set up mainly for rowing but with and an optional outboard well and a traditional standing lug rig.

Although not shown at present, we can produce the moulds and jig details for a clinker version, if that is preferred.

 The traditional Punter is a small Dutch work boat with a simple single chine and flat bottomed hull and an upper strake which is shaped to give tumblehome. Her sprit rig is very practical allowing the sail to be brailed up against the mast when not in use rather than having to be dropped into the boat. Brailing up also allows power to be taken off the rig quickly.

  Construction is ply over frame with softwood frames and ply girders erected upside down on a strongback, chine stringers fitted and the ply planking put on oversize and trimmed back. This method is used rather than stitch and tape because of the shape of the bow although S&T could be used if all the planking was fitted in 2 thin layers. She uses 7 sheets of 4mm ply and 10 sheets of 9mm ply.

 This is a curvaceous and neat example of the traditional American catboat. She has been designed to give maximum usability and space in a 16' long package. There is plenty of room for storage and to fit the batteries for an electric drive pod. The drawings show a half-decked open boat but she could take a simple wood or canvas cuddy, boom tent and has room to sleep on.

 The hull has plenty of form stability in her sections and ends in the lovely tumblehome bow of the traditional cape Cod catboats.

 Construction is for Cedar strip planking over computer faired moulds. The first Lapwing is being built by Tavy Wooden Boats (Devon).

 Based on the traditional Cornish Pilot Gig this updated version has had it's beam increased from the usual 5' (1.525m) to 6'9" (2.05m) to accommodate an inboard diesel engine and a bigger rig. These gigs were used for general service, salvage and piloting and sometimes, for fishing. With it's engine, rig and centreplate she will be a very useful multi-purpose craft still able to move well under oar.

She can be built without the engine or the centreplate if you want to use her for other purposes. She is half decked but could be built completely open or even take a small cabin.

Construction is modern Cedar strip overlaid with Khaya veneer with several of the moulds being used as permanent frames and bulkheads.

 Fred Rebell (1886-1968) was a lone sailor and adventurer - he fled from Latvia to Germany to avoid conscription, stowed away on a Sydney-bound ship and after marrying/divorcing and working in Australia, tried to emigrate to the US but was refused a visa. He eventually bought an 18' open boat, named her Elaine after a girl who spurned his attentions and then undertook the first recorded single handed west-east passage across the Pacific to San Pedro harbour in California, arriving in January 1933. Without legal papers he was deported to Latvia but eventually ended his days as a carpenter and lay-preacher. You can read of his adventures at sea, using a home-made sextant in his book 'Escape to the Sea'.

 No drawings of Elaine survive - only a few grainy black and white photos. I was asked to use the photos as best I could to draw up a dayboat to match the original Elaine as close as possible, and this design is the result. She had quite a flat sheer line, relatively hard bilges and a large open cockpit so, very much like some of the old regatta boats. As a half-decker with a good freeboard she will be a dry boat that you sit-in rather than on and which has generous amounts of stowage.

 Construction uses the modern clinker ply method but plans could be drawn up for a strip plank version and she could take a small cuddy or even a cabin.

 She uses a steel centreplate and an outboard can be hung on the transom or mounted in a well.

 The Sandolo is a traditional flat bottomed rowing boat used in Venice and the Venetian Lagoon and unlike the Gondola is, like most craft, symmetrical about it's centerline. In fact it is of a simple flat bottomed, single chine shape with flared topsides and long overhangs. Like the Gondola it has a pointed and decorated metal nose (ferro) but does not usually have any seats or benches. Passengers tend to sit on cushions on the floor boards or on low seats.

 Despite it's 25' length, these boats normally only carry 2 passengers plus the oarsman although you can get 2 more passengers sitting towards the bows.

 Construction in the traditional boats is very simple using solid wood boards for the bottom and sides often without a chine log (stringer) and a large number of simple frames. We have been asked to update the construction a little for longevity but in such a way that the interior looks traditional. So, we have gone for plywood hull panels using the stitch and epoxy method of construction. The builder can use just 5 frames or, add others to make the interior look authentic.

 The Sandolo family is quite wide with some used for fishing, others for racing and even the police had their own variant - most are now used for pleasure. Each variant has different proportions and so the plans show two variants (Mark 1 and Mark 2) - the first with an overall beam of 4'3" (1.30m) and 1' 6 1/4" (0.46m) mid hull depth and quite a lot of rocker to the hull shape and a displacement volume of around 1100lbs (500kg) and the second with an overall beam of 4' 9 1/2" (1.46m), 1' 7 3/4" (500mm) mid hull depth and less rocker to the bottom which increases the displacement volume to 1450 lbs (660kg) and therefore more carrying capacity.

 Normally Sandolos are rowed standing up and facing forward and details of the Forcola sculpted rowlocks and oars are given on the plans along with the shape of a typical Ferro (bow ornament).