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My own lugger (EN)

This spring I launched my own boat. I always liked Joel White's Shellback dinghy, so I looked at the lines, enlarged it till 5,4 m and gave it a 1,6 m beam. The bow was made almost plumb above the first strake and then Klaas Bes, naval architect, got it all on his drawing board or computer. He faired the lines and did the necessary calculations. Moreover, he printed the halfstations on paper, so transferring them to moulds was easy. I built the boat over more then a years spare time in my garage, using 8 mm occoume plywood, for the bottom and 6 mm ply for the 3 strakes. The transom was made out of a piece of birch plywood of 12 mm. I made the transom slightly hollow where the first strake landed and since I was not sure how much would look better I gave starboard more hollow than the other. That is the nice thing when you build your own boat: You can do what you like.

I glued the strakes in our living room in winter, using the template I made directly on the moulds. It made laying out the ply easier.

I took the hull of the moulds and...

...and after some time I had a boat. The mast was a polyester flagpole, the sail was the same as a Ness Yawls main, balanced lug, as I hope to compare the boat with them. The rest of the birch went into a daggerboard and case.

She sails as I wished she would and than a bit better. Fingertip controll, turns so fast that I win most tacking duels. The rudder is cannibalised from a deceased OK Dinghy, which may explain the odd helm. And she is a fine rowing boat.

And we also use her till I got the St. Ayels Skiff finished.