Kit Boats

Some of the boats that I've looked up were semi-traditional designs you can build out of modern thin plywood using the stitch and glue method. One of them was a rowboat with a daggerboard well/slot, and a mast mount and a rudder. This means you can sail when there's wind, or row when there isn't. Its a 2000 year old design that was popular in the British Isles, which means England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Isle of Man, and the various Scottish islands like the Hebrides and Orkneys. It has also been used in Norway and Sweden, and has crossed the North Sea, though I find myself wondering about the sanity of people doing that. The North Sea is shallow and gets really terrible storms and huge waves.

This is a 2000 year old design. You have to admire the simplicity and ruggedness. It is probably quite slow, however. Hard to tell, and its not like the guys selling the plans/kits will say.

Assembling the hull

Racing version, with a sloop sail rig

Finished hull. Note the beautiful exposed wood interior. Isn't that pretty?
I think I would want to put in some seats along either side, however. 

Of course, I can buy a Sunfish, and a trailer to tow it, for less than a grand, used. And I can build a taller mast and sail for it to make it faster, as well as install a railing around the boat to keep the water off, and a longer dagger board to deal with the higher energy of the taller sail. I've seen examples of Laser and Sunfish with modified rudder and winged/lifting keel which will allow the boat to "fly" above the water at a certain speed. I am not actually very interested in that, but such things are possible. This boat is a day sailer, rather than a board sailer, so you don't necessarily get wet while running it, and the taller mast and larger sail area will make it faster than the 2000 year old design and primitive sail setup. They say you row while you sail, adding to the speed. 

Either kind of sail. The more triangular one is faster. 

There is also the Nor'Easter Dory, which is merely 150 year old design rather than 2000 years. This is a modification of the longboat used by Grand Banks Fishermen and Whalers. It can carry 800 pounds. I think if you add up all the things I own, which aren't my car, it comes to around 1200 pounds. So I would need a second boat. Ahem. Anyway, it is also light weight at only 100 pounds for the hull. And claims to be fast in light air, which we get at the local lake. I could see it, though its 17 feet long and will need a trailer to move around to other lakes, I'm pretty sure. All of these would work on the various lakes in this area of the Sierras, as well as Lake Tahoe, which will happily take ships and regularly handles powerboats and steam boats. And it would carry several passengers or lots of camping gear, if I wanted to. 

This is an interesting topic. We'll see about sailing on a Sunfish next spring, after the rains refill the lake and I join the yacht club. It looks like it will be good times.