Boat Blind Plans | Didi Mini Mk3 Kit from CKD Boats

Boat Blind Plans

I would have to dig deep in my files to find when CKD Boats first started cutting kits to our plywood designs. Owned by Roy McBride, this Cape Town company has the longest history of cutting our kits and has shipped kits for our plywood boats to many countries around the world. They also have the most experience with packaging large or small kits securely enough to arrive at their destination without damage or loss.

The most remote was a Didi 38 kit sent to Johnston Atoll in the North Pacific. It was a very comprehensive kit that included all plywood, complete rig, keel, engine, sterngear, galley equipment, deck hardware, pulpits, sails and even pre-cut window panels and all the cushions pre-upholstered. This was all packed into a standard 20ft container and had to be shipped via New Zealand and Hawaii, all expertly managed by Roy, his staff and his subcontractors.

CKD Boats has just completed cutting a kit for the Didi Mini Mk3 for a customer in France. It will be packed next week for shipping.

Didi Mini Mk3 sheet fresh from the CNC router.

The plywood components are held in place in the sheets by thin tabs that are left between the full-depth cuts. They are released from the sheets by cutting through the tabs with a box-cutter or jigsaw. This system keeps the plywood as full 8x4 sheets for easy packaging and protection of the components from loss or damage.

Didi Mini Mk3 hull skin panels with jigsaw joints.

The Didi Mini Mk3 is one of the first boats that I converted to jigsaw joints instead of the stepped scarph joints that we used previously. This results in easier assembly and is easier to cut, with less machine time involved. These two panels both show a narrow cut on one side and a wide cut on the other. The wide cut is at the junction between flat and radiused panels, so it has a half-depth rebate pre-cut full length of the panel for the structural joint of the radius panel to the flat sheet.

When this kit is out of the shop, the next will start cutting. This is for a Didi Sport 15 to fill an order from a South African builder.

To see these designs and others in our very broad range, please visit http://dixdesign.com/.

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Plywood Boat Plans Australia | Cape Henry 21 Launched in Croatia

Plywood Boat Plans Australia

Dean Ivancic lives in Porec, Croatia. He bought plans from us a few years ago for the Cape Henry 21. He has been working steadily on his boat and reported to me today that he launched her in April. He has sent me some rather nice photos of her under sail. She is still incomplete down below but has all that is needed to sail.

She is named "Scintilla", Italian for "spark", also the meaning of "Iskra", the Croatian name of Deans youngest daughter.

We wish Dean and his family lots of fun and adventures in their Cape Henry 21.

"Scintilla" on one of her first outings.

Pretty from any angle.

Dean has done a nice job of building "Scintilla".

The Cape Henry 21 is surprisingly quick and has delightful manners. These boats prove that a boat doesnt have to be ugly to be fast.

For more on this design and others in our range, go to http://dixdesign.com/.

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Boat Plans Bartender | Capsizing Big Sailboats

Boat Plans Bartender

The article about our January capsize in the Cape to Rio Race is now in print in Professional Boatbuilder magazine. It is also available in digital form to print subscribers. This publication is free but is only available to members of the boating industry. Click to see the contents of the current issue.

Graphic from Professional Boatbuilder magazine of the start of the capsize.

In retrospect, the thing that amazes me most about this event is this. I was upright, walking through the boat at the time, heading for the cockpit. I was unaware that we were being capsized until the cabin roof hit the water at the bottom of the wave, with the boat well rotated toward upside-down. It happened very fast, with the boat moving through an arc that must have applied large centrifugal forces, enough for me to be well past horizontal and still walking on the cabin sole. Everything else in the boat stayed in place through that process as well, only becoming dislodged when we impacted the bottom of the wave.

Those who dont have access to the magazine can read about our capsize in my January posts on this blog.

Visit our website at http://dixdesign.com/.

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Boat Plans Bartender | Didi Mini for Sale

Boat Plans Bartender

The Didi Mini "Livesey" is being offered for sale. She was professionally built in Russia and is currently berthed in Turkey. She is being offered for 20,000 Euro, which is way below her replacement price with equipment.

"Livesey", a Didi Mini outfitted for cruising.

"Livesey" is rigged out as a fast little cruiser, built with 9mm hull skin instead of the standard 6mm and with large double forward berth and quarter berths to comfortably sleep four. Unfortunately I dont have any interior photos.

"Livesey" out of the water. Fast planing underbody.

She is well-equipped, with racing and cruising mainsails, gennaker, asymmetrical, code 0, jib, storm jib and storm trysail. Other equipment includes Icom radio, Raymarine autopilot, instruments and GPS, solar battery charger, 6hp Mercury outboard, 4-man liferaft and an inflatable kayak.

"Livesey" deck view.

"Livesey" view from the masthead.

"Livesey" side view.

"Livesey" is the Mk1 version of the Didi Mini design, with the step-down aft deck. She is well-found and suitable for long distance cruising for those who want a compact little boat that will give fast passages. An owner cruising a similar boat in the North Atlantic reports that he can sail as fast as the bigger boats cruising the same route that are motoring because there is not enough wind for them to sail effectively.

If she interests you, please contact me by email, then I will put you in contact with the seller.

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

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Boat Designs And Plans | Rudder and Steering

Boat Designs And Plans

The rudder on my trawler is a rather large device. The approximate dimensions are 2.5 wide by almost 5 tall. Having installed the rudder a few times Im going to guess its weight at 200+ lbs. The rudder looks more like a wing and is constructed in such a way as to have two skins wrapped around the wing shaped frames. It is very sleek looking and more reminds me of a sailboat rudder vs a rudder you would see on a work boat. Compared to the rudders I see on house boats around my home port, this rudder has a tremendous amount of square footage to aid the steering of the boat. By looking at the rudder alone, I would guess this boat will be very responsive to the steering wheel. Becuase of the way the rudder is fabricated it is impossible to paint the inside to protect the steel. Because of this type of rudder construction I air tested the rudder to 10 psi to insure that no oxygen gets inside of the rudder and speeds up rust corrosion.

The rudder is connected to the boat via a large skeg or shoe that is an integral part of the keel. The rudder has 2" stainless stock welded to itself that is flanged on both the top and bottom of the stock. The bottom flange bolts to another flanged piece of 2" stock that sits in a bearing in the skeg. The top flange bolts to piece of 2" flanged stock that passes through a bearing that goes up into the lazzarette of the boat ( rear room) and connects to the steering gear. The flanges for the rudder system I fabricated out of 3/4" stainless stock and bored them to accept 5/8 bolts to hold them together. Ill have to design some sort of locking ring to retain the nuts or use a castle type nut with a key to hold the nuts fast. The bearings for the rudder in the skeg and where the rudder stock enters the boat @ the lower end of the rudder log ( rudder tube) are made from a material called Vesconite. Vesconite is designed just for this application and is claimed to be top of the line material for what Im trying to do with it. I will not have any galvanic worries with this type of rudder bearings.The rudder tube terminates inside of the boat about 8" above the water line. I added another bearing at this point of termination for a total of three rudder bearings. With the rudder installed Im able to move it with just a little pressure from my finger tips. Im totally happy with the bearings and the rudder alignment. Because of the mix of a stainless steel rudder shaft and mild steel boat I will add a zinc or magnesium annode to the rudder to slow down any galvanic corrosion.

The actuall steering system on the trawler will be what most would consider a power steering system. My main engine has a port on it to accept a pump that will power the steering helms that in turn will power the hydraulic rams connected to the rudder shaft. I will have two helms on my boat; one helm in the wheel house, and another helm on the roof as a fly bridge. In case of a catastrophic failure of the steering system, I have an emergency tiller device in place to steer with ( see my earlier post " emergency tiller"). The hydraulic rams are more a heavy duty set up I purchased from Hydro Slave Co. The steering gear consists of a heavy cast bronze quadrant, two hydraulic rams, and an integral arm to limit travel of the rams. If you look at the first picture posted you will notice my attempt at rudder stops welded to the hull. I know they look a bit odd, but at least I made some attempt at aero dynamics and they also wont increase any corrosion issues. The quadrant connects to the rudder shaft via a heavy clamp and a 1/2" stainless key way and key. I went with this type of dual ram set up becuase it causes zero side load on the rudder shaft. I am totally pleased with this piece of equipment, and while it was pricey, I feel it was money well spent. Ill be adding to this blog once the steering system is fully connected and operational with the helm pumps in place along with the hydraulic lines.

Conall

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Boat Plans For A Chesapeake Deadrise | Didi Cruise Mini available in UK

Boat Plans For A Chesapeake Deadrise

The Sail 4 Cancer charity in UK has a Didi Cruise-Mini that has been donated to their cause and is available for sale. This is a cruising version of the Didi Mini Mk2, with a lifting keel and reduced rig, as well as more headroom. It is a small performance cruiser in the image of the Mini 650 trans-Atlantic racers.

Didi Cruise-Mini, a sleek little performance cruiser.

I sailed one of these boats recently on Puget Sound when I was there for the Wooden Boat Festival. She proved to be a speedy little cruiser with delightful manners. She handled beautifully, carries her rig very well and has comfortable accommodation for weekending or short holidays afloat. We sailed past everything under sail that we saw on the water, sailing higher and faster. This was despite towing a clinker dinghy that was almost as long as she was. We had no desire to tow the dinghy but it was also destined for the Wooden Boat Festival and dragging along behind us was the simplest way to get there.

Twin rudders and lifting keel give access to shallow anchorages.

This boat that is available is in the Hamble yard of Boatshed, in the charge of Peter Delbridge. Anyone interested in it can contact Peter at the email address (peter at boatshedhamble dot com). It was built as a rehabilitation project by a man who was recovering from a serious illness. He completed the boat, sailed it once then donated it to Sail 4 Cancer when he moved abroad and could not take the boat with him.

Lifting bulb keel, excellent stability with shallow draught.

It is a complete boat, with all hardware and sails, ready for coastal cruising. The lifting bulb keel and twin rudders will get her into shallow anchorages that are inaccessible to larger or deeper-draught boats.

Swept spreader rig for easy handling, less complication than a Mini 650 rig.

100% of the selling price will be donated to Sail 4 Cancer (less yard fees etc), a UK charity that provides water based respite services for families affected by cancer. This is an excellent opportunity to buy a boat at a very affordable price and benefit a worthwhile charity at the same time.

Efficient cockpit with cuddy for shelter when on watch.

She is priced to sell, at £6,000 and well worth a look to see if she may suit you.

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

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Boat Plans Building | Argie 15 A Boat with Multiple Personalities

Boat Plans Building

The Argie 15 is our most popular design, with about 50 plans sold to builders worldwide every year. I designed it in 1988 for the Argus newspaper group in South Africa, for publication of the full plans in their newspapers around the country. The prototype was built by journalist David Biggs, who wrote their weekly DIY supplement, in which the drawings were first published. It has also been published in magazines in Australia and USA, with amateurs able to build from the articles. We can only record plan sales and have no idea how many have been built from those publications.

Newly launched Argie 15 prototype, Dudley at helm.

The Argie 15 started life as a large 3:1 dinghy, able to be rowed, sailed or motored. The design brief was for as large a dinghy as could be built from 6 sheets of plywood. To that I added the ability to be used for camp-cruising, so I laid out the cockpit to give enough length and width for two adults to sleep on air mattresses in the cockpit, under a boom tent.

Over the years that followed, many builders added side seats to make it more comfortable to sail than was possible with the thwart-type seating of the original design. Eventually I added information to the drawings for building with full-length side seats, which added another two sheets of plywood. These also increase safety for sailing in rougher water by reducing splash water entering the cockpit and adding flotation. For camp-cruising, the seats add watertight stowage compartments for clothing and food.

The Argie 15 has proven to be a very versatile boat, well beyond the scope of the original design. It was intended as a large open boat for family fun but has proven capable of so much more.

This photo of Nick Fairleys boat shows the capacity of the Argie 15 pretty well.

The late Colin Farlam, a larger-than-life character around the yacht clubs of Cape Town, liked to tell the story of his first sail in an Argie 15. He was visiting a friend at Zeekoevlei, the lake where I grew up and did most of my small boat sailing. The Zeekoevlei Yacht Club fleet was on the water, racing in quite strong conditions. There was an Argie 15 on the lawn and the friend said "Come, lets go race the Fireballs". Colins response was "We cant race them in that". They did "race them in that" and Colin was shocked. He told me that they could hold the Fireballs on all headings except that they sailed a fraction lower to windward. Not bad for a 3:1 family dinghy. But this 3:1 family dinghy can pick up its skirts and fly like no 3:1 family dinghy is supposed to do. Colin immediately bought one for himself and later declared to me that the Argie 15 was the best dinghy that he had ever sailed.

The Argie 15 has classic styling, with a springy sheer and good freeboard. That makes it a dry boat in lumpy water and well-suited to fishing in moderate coastal conditions. This was the plan of Pete Frielinnghaus when he fitted a centre console and 30hp outboard to his Argie 15. He reports that it can do more than 20 knots. Pretty good for a 3:1 family dinghy.

Pete Frielinghaus in his Argie 15 centre console fishing boat.

 After the 2004 tsunami, I was approached by a church organisation from California, asking if I had a design that could be used to help replace the decimated subsistence fishing fleets. I donated the Argie 15 design for as many boats as they needed to build. They cut plywood component kits and supplied the kits plus all other materials needed, as well as training, to allow fishermen to build the boats on the beach in India. I have no idea how many were built this way.

The Argie 15 would be a great boat for raid-type adventure sailing events. It has the load capacity to carry the crew plus stores, camping gear etc. It is fast enough to get there ahead of most of the competition. It is light enough to be portaged over short distances or trailed on a dolly for longer overland legs.

I have been promising myself for years that I will build an Argie 15 for myself. Somehow there has always been some other project or adventure in the way, so it hasnt happened. This would be a good boat to take to the Wooden Boat Show at Mystic Seaport. I must pull finger and build one to take to the show in the next year or two.

Construction is the most basic of basic boatbuilding methods, stitch-&-glue plywood. It uses 6mm plywood that is jointed mostly with fibreglass tape and resin. This method sometimes produces rather boxy shapes but the Argie 15 manages to be quite elegant. It can be built from plans only, with components drawn full-size from dimensioned diagrams on the drawings. An optional extra is to order full-size patterns that save the measuring work by supplying printed patterns of the components, for the builder to transfer onto the plywood.

Pre-cut kits of all plywood components are also available from suppliers in a few countries. Our USA kits are cut and shipped by Chesapeake Light Craft in Annapolis but must be ordered from us direct. For suppliers in other countries go to our kits page.

There are many sailing videos on-line of the Argie 15. A new one by Justin Philips of Nick Fairleys new Argie 15 sailing in about 12 knots of breeze, shows how responsive and quick it is, tacking on a tickey and accelerating very quickly out of turns. http://youtu.be/gNFx8FHGiww

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

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Boat Trailer Plans Australia | Didi Cruise Mini Across the Atlantic

Boat Trailer Plans Australia

Tony Hussey built himself a radius chine plywood Didi Cruise-Mini in the UK. We have exchanged communications recently, while he has been en-route from UK to the Caribbean in his little boat. This is a cruising version of the little Didi Mini trans-Atlantic raceboat, so it is in its proper element with a cruise like this.

Tony has said that he is very happy with his little cruiser. He sailed her from UK to Spain and back in 2014. Then last year he sailed UK to the Azores and has now continued to Antigua.

From the Azores Tony wrote "Im not pushing the boat as Im cruising and cant afford any breakages. I also slow down at night to 5 kts to help sleep. My autopilot doesnt handle the spinnakers very well so cant make good use of the higher speeds but the light wind performance with the big spinnakers is amazing for a small boat. On a beam reach in 6/8 knots apparent Im up to 6 kts boat speed keeping up with the bigger cruisers motoring with not enough wind. Top speed so far is 12.9 but around 12 I chicken out as I cant trust my autopilot to control the boat when I take down the spinnaker."

Now that he is in Antigua and recovering from a back injury he wrote "So far Ive done over 8000 miles singlehanded in the boat and very happy with it, always felt safe but never dry!! Joke. The plan is Panama this summer then out towards Australia through Polynesia."

The Didi Cruise-Mini has the same hull and deck as the Didi Mini but with a bit more headroom, more comfort and a more compact sail plan.

Under sail with big squartop mainsail and Solent jib.

At anchor in the Azores.

"Splinter" - Great name for a small wooden boat.

Seagulls view of a beamy little cruiser.

Hitching a tow from a kayak due to outboard problems.

We wish Tony and "Splinter" happy cruising, looks like they are angling toward a circumnavigation. You can follow their adventures on Tonys blog.

To see more about our designs visit http://dixdesign.com/ or http://dixdesign.com/mobile.

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Boat Plans Nz | Didi Mini Mk3 in Vancouver BC

Boat Plans Nz

Mark Paterson lives in Burnaby, British Columbia, in Canada. In 2010 he was one of the first customers to buy plans for the Didi Mini Mk3. His boat is nearing completion and he expects to launch before the end of this year.

I met Mark in 2011 when I was a speaker at the Metal Boat Festival in Anacortes, WA. He drove down from Canada to meet, a pleasant surprise for me seeing as he was building a plywood boat and I was there to discuss steel and aluminium boats with people who work with cold and hard materials, grinders and sand-blasters.

A few weeks ago, when I was a presenter at the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, WA, Mark came down again. He caught up with me at the Didi Cruise-Mini that was being exhibited by David Blessing. Mark gave me a flash drive loaded with photos of his project, from start through to the present nearly complete stage. I will post photos of his project over the next few weeks.

Marks Didi Mini Mk 3 with hardware going on.

 Mark has done some exquisite work while building his boat, work of which any builder would be rightfully proud. Some of it is above the level of expertise that I would expect from an amateur builder and is to his own detailing, modified from my drawings and made from carbon/epoxy instead of aluminium or stainless steel. The lighter weight of these items will go some way to offset the comfortable interior that he has put into his boat. I can see the influence of a wife in the interior.

Nice galley to cook up a storm in a little boat.

I wont show the early construction photos. The construction method is much like her bigger sister, the Didi 950 that is shown in posts on this blog over the past few months and I dont want to bore you with repeated info. You can access the Didi 950 posts through the archive list at left. Instead I will focus on the more interesting aspects of Marks build. Watch for those posts over the next few weeks.

To see more of this design and others in our portfolio, please visit http://dixdesign.com/


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Boat Plans Skiff | DS15 Didi Sport 15 Build in South Africa

Boat Plans Skiff

Until now I have only shown the DS15 prototype, being built in Virginia Beach, USA, by Aussie Hunter Gall. Hunters project is currently stalled due to circumstances but one of the the other builds is steaming ahead apace. This one is being built by Jim Foot in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. This weekend Jim applied the last coat of epoxy to the outside of his hull and is preparing to paint it.

This series of photos shows the basics of Jims project up to this stage. This is a radius chine plywood design, with hard chine along the topsides. It is the same family of designs as the Didi Mini Mk3 and Didi 950.

Frames set up on building stocks, with stringers going on.

Stringers all done and bottom panels fitted.

Same stage, showing stringers running into forefoot.

Side panels fitted and first layer of radius progressing.

Stitch-&-glue detail of topside chine.

Second layer of radius going over first layer.

Completed radius chine, running smoothly into flat panels.

Glass taping centreline seam. Jigsaw joints of bottom panel can be seen.

Epoxy coatings started.

Nice finish starting to show.

Clean stern and nice finish.

Final coat of epoxy, ready for sanding and painting.

I will show more of Jim Foots project as it progresses toward launch date. I tend to show the projects for which I receive the best photos, so please send me your best pics if you want to see your project on this blog or the Dudley Dix Yacht Design main website.

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