A Deblois Street Dory

to The Compass Project in Portland, Me is building a DSD with a group of kids and they are doing a great job.

The boat is built like dories have always been built, using the bottom to erect stem, frames, and transom, then turning over the boat upside down on a strongback. Everything is plumbed and braced then planking begins.

Here the garboard has been installed and the sheer clamp is being fit. This is the only departure from traditional dory construction, the incorporating of the clamp helps tie together the frames into plumb and lock in the ends of the boat. It is a bit of a 3D puzzle!

Read More..

How to Sail the Lug Yawl: REPOSTED

My friend and fellow boatbuilder in the Northwest, James McMullen, created a very useful set of drawings to help people learn how to use our favorite sailing rig, the Lug-Yawl. For sail & oar boats you cannot have a more versatile and fun rig for your boat. Clint draws these rigs into most of his designs, such as the Calendar Islands Yawl or the Goat Island Skiff with a mizzen. Please look at these drawings and imagine how this rig could fit into your own sailing.

Now that you have seen these diagrams you can also see how useful the mizzen would be for switching from sailing to rowing and vice versa. While the mizzen is hauled in, the boat will keep herself pointing into the wind so the sail can be raised and lowered without filling and causing the boat to fall off one way or the other. I have found the mizzen useful for stopping and taking a break or for restowing gear or for dealing with safety matters. In these cases, it is best to learn to "heave-to" so that your boat doesn't lose too much ground. That is one drawback of lying head-to-wind under mizzen: you need to have plenty of leeway...no boats, rocks or land to get blown down upon. The advantage of heaving-to is that you don't lose too much ground at all. We make light, strong Birdsmouth masts and spars and have intimate knowledge of the Lug-Yawl.

Read More..

Morbihan 2011

This video was made by Voiles et Voiliers in 2010 after my visit there to meet and sail with my friend Francois Vivier. 
We sailed from Pornichet to the Gulf of Morbihan in his 25' gaff-sloop called Pen Hir  
and for 3 days sailed in company with thousands of boats during Semaine du Gulfe Morbihan. It
is an experience I will never forget and I cannot wait to return. 

Enjoy! You will see me at about 4:00. I don't remember what I said; if you speak French you can remind me!

You will notice all the Vivier boats sailing everywhere. That was not staged...there were simply so many Vivier 

boats that we were able to see the entire design catalog sailing and rowing, from 12' dinghies to 50' traditional

yachts! 

I have had a few complaints that the video did not load, but it seems to work. Give it time or check your connection.

Voiles et Voiliers 

La voile-aviron expliqu�e par Fran�ois Vivier by voilesetvoiliers

Read More..