Boat Plans Bolger | 2014 Calendar of Our Designs

Boat Plans Bolger

Our 2014 calendar is now at the printers and we will have the first stocks ready for shipping in a couple of weeks. Get your orders in and we will ship as soon as they come in, well in time for you to use as Christmas gifts or to hang on your wall come January 1st. Order here.

We have a nice selection of photos again this year. Here are the cover photo and a few months as samples of what it contains.

Cover of our 2014 Calendar

January

May

July

September

Thank you to all who have allowed us to use your photos. For other builders who are not featured, we have already started to collect photos for our 2015 calender. This is a good opportunity to show off what you have achieved, so please send them to me by email.

We have changed suppliers this year, in the interests of keeping the price reasonable. The supplier that we used in the past has hiked their prices way up and would have necessitated a considerable increase. With the new supplier we can hold the price at the same level as the past two years.

To see our range of boat designs, please go to http://dixdesign.com/ .

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Boat Plans And Kits | New rig for Didi 29 Retro

Boat Plans And Kits

The Didi 29 Retro was commissioned by a client in Cape Town, to build for himself for competition in the classic yacht races in the Caribbean. He wanted a boat with modern underbody and appendages but with a large gaff rig of classic configuration, to race in the modern classic division.

Underbody of Didi 29 Retro

Last year I was asked to draw a more conservative cruising gaff rig for the design, to better suit those who have no aspirations to race with a big crew or simply want to cruise. That resulted in the cruising gaff rig with about 20% less sail area on the same foretriangle height.

Didi 29 Retro racing gaff rig at left, cruising rig at right

This year I was asked to draw a more modern rig for it, which developed into the squaretop Marconi rig. This one will better suit most sailors, being easier to handle and easier to understand for those who dont know gaff rigs. On sail area, it fits between the two gaff rigs and it will be interesting to see how the three compare on the water.

Didi 29 Retro with squaretop Marconi rig

The squaretop Marconi rig suits the aesthetics of this hull rather well. It would be my choice if I were building this boat for myself. Should be an exciting boat to sail too, able to take advantage of the power of modern stable sail fabrics.

To see more of this and our other designs, go to http://dixdesign.com/

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Boat Plans Stitch And Glue | Wooden Boat Festival 2015

Boat Plans Stitch And Glue

The 2015 edition of the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, Washington, happens 11-13 September. Organised by the Northwest Maritime Center, it is their premier event of the year, attracting hundreds of wooden boats of all description, a wide array of exhibits and with 120 speaker sessions on boating subjects.

Some of the boats at the 2014 Festival, Didi Cruise-Mini in right foreground.

I will be taking part in three sessions, one on each day of the Festival.

Friday 11th - 2:45pm - Yacht Designers Panel Q&A - six designers to field your questions about boats and designing them. A session like this highlights the variety of opinions held by different designers on boating issues.

Saturday 12th - 2:30pm - Plywood Boatbuilding Methods - PowerPoint presentation showing information and details of the methods for which I design, illustrated with drawings and photos of my own projects and those of amateurs who have built these designs.

Sunday 13th - 1:15pm - Plywood Kits for Larger Boats - PowerPoint presentation about constructing kit boats that are larger than open dinghies and kayaks. This will cover boats from a 21ft lapstrake plywood trailer-sailer through to a 55ft radius chine plywood cruising catamaran.

Paper Jet "Water Rocket" at the 2014 Festival

The Didi Cruise-Mini "Segue" of David Blessing will be there among the on-the-water boats but I dont know yet what other of my boats will be there.

When not involved with other things, I am happy to meet with builders or anyone interested in my designs. If you cant find me then visit the Didi Cruise-Mini. Whoever is in attandance at the boat should know where I am and how to contact me.

If you are in the Pacific Northwest, or able to get there, this is an event worthwhile visiting.

To see our designs, visit our main website or our mobile website.



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Kayak Boat Plans | Scrapping being cheap or Eco friendly

Kayak Boat Plans

Building our place over here in the Bahamas can be very expensive if you cannot do all the work yourself. We have done 98% of the work here with only short term day help with a concrete pour or when plastering. The most fun thing for me is collecting drift wood from along the shore line as we go about exploring . This wood is all in pretty good shape. What we do is flip the board over to use its old hidden side and give it a new life. The bonus is most boards come with their own nails !

All this costs us is some labor a little gas and some imagination to where it will all go.

A $30.00 new board or the same thing with a little history behind it for free? What would you do?

Our dinghy can hold up to 1,500 lbs easily. So its just a matter of stacking and the sea state getting back home.

Ok ... Now we need some to go here and over there.

This walk way all  from the shore line.

We collected all the rocks to cover the outside of our house. The dark rocks are from the Azores to the Cape Verde islands from their beaches.

Remember ! All this wood was once floating in the ocean so you better have a strong boat.

Will be looking for you out there scrapping.

 

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Boat Plans And Patterns | Cape Henry 21 Professional Build in Ireland

Boat Plans And Patterns

Tiernan Roe is a professional boatbuilder in County Cork, Ireland. His company, Roeboats, specialises in building quality wooden boats. Mostly of classic styling, they build for sail, power or rowing. Roeboats recently launched a Cape Henry 21 that they built for a customer from France.Tiernan sent me these photos, which show some interesting details brought into one of our most popular small cruisers.

Cape Henry 21 ready to get wet.

Launched in a pretty setting.

First sail of the new boat.

The mainsail has still to be fully set up in these photos.

Compact sink & cooker unit, neatly executed.

Other side of the galley. Nice detailing.

Looking aft from the double forward berth.

You can follow the construction of this boat on the Roeboats news blog, from start through to launch.

After launch, Tiernan Roe sent me these comments. "She sails very nicely and I found her easy to single hand from the get go. The interior is pretty snazzy with frame and panel oak fronted drawers and a gas stove with tank fed sink.  Also the centreboard was a lot easier to operate than I thought. Its an awkward shape out of the boat to try and move alone."

To see our full range of designs, please visit http://dixdesign.com/

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Wood Boat Plans And Kits | Kits for our Plywood Boats

Wood Boat Plans And Kits

Kits for our plywood boats have been available in USA for more than 10 years. This has had mixed success, depending on who was cutting the kits. Following on the sale of the company that had the rights to cut our kits, the quality of service deteriorated to a level that was no longer tolerable, so I rescinded the cutting rights. That brought us to the current arrangement of marketing the kits ourselves and sub-contracting the cutting to Chesapeake Light Craft in Annapolis.

This has worked out very well. The quality of the kits supplied to date has been excellent and the shipping has been both economically priced and efficient. They have cut numerous dinghy kits, including the Dixi Dinghy  and the Paper Jet.

Plywood Dixi Dinghy, fun little 3:1 dinghy to row/motor/sail.

The are currently preparing to cut a large kit, comprising 61 sheets of plywood, for a Didi 950 that will be shipped to a builder in Ohio. This is a radius chine plywood boat with topside chine that is designed to the Class 950 Rule and makes a very nice fast cruiser, in addition to its primary racing purpose.

3D image of radius chine plywood Didi 950

We have also sent them an order for a smaller but nevertheless substantial kit. This is for a Didi 29 Retro that will be shipped to a builder in North Carolina.This is also a radius chine plywood boat but without the topside chine. It is a development, in classic image, from our popular Didi 26 trailer-sailer design and will be rigged with the cruising rig option of the two gaff rigs that we supply with the design.

3D image of radius chine plywood Didi 29 Retro

I have reworked the panel files for these large kits so that all parts that are larger than a sheet of plywood are jointed with jigsaw joints. These joints are easy to assemble and produce very accurate panels.  Click to read about jigsaw joints.

The range of plywood kits that we can offer in USA is expanding fast. Click to see the full list. If there is a plywood design for which you want a kit, please email Dudley and ask for a price. It may take a week or two to rework the panel files to suit the Chesapeake Light Craft format then get a price for the kit but we will get that info to you as speedily as we can.

If you are outside of the USA, you can still order one of our kits from our suppliers in other countries .

To see our full range of boat designs, please visit http://dixdesign.com/

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Boat Plans Aluminium Australia | Update on Didi Sport 15 and Didi 950

Boat Plans Aluminium Australia

I have recently added two new radius chine plywood designs to our range and wrote about them on this blog. Here are updates on both boats.

Yesterday I visited the prototype of the Didi Sport 15 (DS15) that is being built by Hunter Gall in Virginia Beach. I hadnt seen it in the flesh for a few weeks and wanted to see how the deck is looking as it comes together. Hunter is doing a really nice job of his project, working slowly but meticulously.

His boat, "Scallywag", is looking very pretty. He stained the hull surfaces blue and the deck surfaces red before doing the epoxy coatings and these colours will be highlighted by areas of clear-finished timber. It all entailed a tremendous amount of extra work to get it right than if he had painted it in the normal way. The final result is very attractive and she will be an eye-catcher when complete. Hunter can be pleased with the overall results.

The deck configuration that I designed is unusual, with a raised mast deck and wave-breaker above a flat foredeck and the open self-draining cockpit. It gives a decidedly retro image to the deck, over the thoroughly modern hull. It reminds me somewhat of the Lightweight Australian Sharpies that my Dad sailed in South Africa when I was a child. That makes it  somehow fitting that Hunter Gall is Australian, I am South African and we have ended up working together on this project in USA.

Hunter Galls DS15 project nearing completion

Other news on the DS15 is that work will start in the next few weeks on moulds to build a composite version in Europe. I will release more information about it after I return from the Cape to Rio Race, by which time the builder may be ready to start receiving enquiries.

The other boat was the Didi 950, for which the prototype kit has been cut and will be delivered to the builder in the next week or two. It appears that this is going to be a popular design because we have sold plan packages for another three boats since announcing the design.

Didi 950, bigger sister to the DS15

 One of those boats will result in a variation on the design, with a lifting keel. A lifting keel was part of the original concept for the builder of the prototype but he decided in the end on the simplicity of a fixed keel. The lifting keel proved to be a very viable option, using the same basic keel support arrangement as the fixed keel with no structural redesign. The major difference will be moving the motor aft to a position under the companionway, driving a saildrive rather than a shaft. This is to make room for the lifting keel to rise through the galley central locker unit.

The prototype of this design is to be built in Ohio, USA. The others that have been ordered will be built in Australia, Latvia and Greece. There is interest from other countries as well.

To see our full range of designs, please visit http://dixdesign.com/.

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Boat Designs And Plans | Some typical Fittings for sailing model

Boat Designs And Plans

photos courtesy of "Larry Ludwig" at www.LudwigRCYachts.com, Ludwig Mfg.

==

A simple and light weight plywood strut made from scrap 1/32 or 1/16 ply.



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Pontoon Boat Plans | Presto ! And Hogfish Maximus

Pontoon Boat Plans

The yacht designer Rodger Martin and his wife Patty have stopped by our place in the Bahamas a couple of times on their way south and going north. They trailer the Presto down from New Port RI and  launch her in Florida were they start their winter cruise .The Presto is a magnificent sailing machine. She sails like a dream and is very comfortable to be on. I thought she would be very jumpy because of the light weight of her concept. She does move about for her weight but is still very pleasent to be on at anchor. Under sail she is fast and fun. 

This boat is perfect for short term cruising with minimal stuff aboard. By this I mean a few months and to not bring your hard back book collection , and every tool for every occasion with you. Add weight ,loose speed. To make this boat go as fast as she does she has to be built very strong and light. To do this Rodger has engineered a very high tech light weight hull and spars. This boat is not cheap to build.

$185,000.00 and upwards are what they go for. To build in strip plank with aluminum spars and a simpler interior going lower tech will still cost to build by an amature at around $80,000.00 plus at best for materials. I was asked to build 2 similar boats and did the cost analysis  .

The wood boats will not be as fast as the cored boats with the god awfull expensive carbon masts.

I would love to race a Presto in the Carribean regattas for a season with a bunch of heavy mates for rail meat. This boat would kick butt.

Here we are rafted together behind our place.

 

Notice the size of Prestos spars, very small. Aluminum ones would be twice a big around. Also look at the freeboard of both boats. Hogfish Maximuses cabin top- deck is almost as low as Prestos. The spars and booms built by Hall Spars cost as much as what I built the HFM for originally.

The front dinghy is the one we carry on deck and use as our life boat and all around truckster. It weighs 130 lbs. 

Rodger and Patty Martin at our house.

Sailing south... See you you guys out there!

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Boat Plans Australia | S45 Construction a cradle for the hull of wooden Star 45

Boat Plans Australia

From Star45 Yahoo Group - Message:
New use for Johns Lasercut Frames-"Cradle Making":

Phil Geren needed a cradle for the hull of my woodie Star 45 under construction, to hold the hull while he fair the gunnels to the frames in preparation for installation of the deck and while designing and installing the controls (keel is not on yet).

Well, the easiest way to make a perfect cradle is by using the holes (which are left in the John Fisher lasercut frame sheets after removal of the lasercut frames, to trace the exact shapes of the outsides of frames 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 onto 3/8 thick plywood. Allow for the thickness of planking and carpeting by drawing a second trace for each frame so that the hole for the hull is 3/8 bigger everywhere than the frame.

Then cut out each second trace as the inside of a frame for a cradle. Mount the cradle frames on a 2X4 piece of particle board, using the spacing of the balsa template included in the frames kit, and using a try square to get them vertical, and making sure that they are all on the same longitudinal center and all parallel.

Then hot glue 1 wide strips of carpeting to the insides of the cradle frames. Voila! A perfect hull cradle.

Best,
Phil Geren"



















Star45 : Message: The Perfect Cradle: "

Here are the hull cradle fotos I promised you.

Your shadow invention is so useful. The holes left in the plywood sheets after punching out the frames were used as templates to draw perfect frames for a cradle to hold the hull for completion of the construction (before keel installation).

Thanks so much!
Best regards,
Phil Geren"

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