Edward has inspired me to write about boats that one can
build at home. Here's his email to me:
Joe,
My father-in-law is itching for a new project and
driving 3+ hours each way to Berkeley to work on my
boat isn't the best use of time. We've contemplated
getting a trailer sailer to work on (he has lots of
room) but just recently got to thinking that building
a cool dinghy would be a better use of time.
We have dinghies for the kids so it would really need
to be a singlehanded and easy to sail boat for a
gentleman on the business side of 60. Who is 6'3".
Probably mainsail only and relatively easy to find
plans for. What would you recommend?
Thanks Edward, I'll send you some ideas over the next
few days.
How about a Streaker?
The Streaker dinghy was designed by Jack Holt in 1975 and was first launched in
November of that year. His rationale was to design a 'light weight Solo' as he was
finding it difficult to haul his Solo up the slipway as he got older.
It is a lightweight single handed dinghy designed for both racing or cruising. It has a
single sail that can be easily rigged and controls lead back to the cock pit allow it to
be easily adjusted whilst a float. The hull weight of only 48 kg makes launching and
recovery easy.
The Streaker Class Owners Association (SCOA) was formed in 1976 and since
then the class has grown steadily and there are strong fleets nationwide, with sail
numbers now fast approaching the 1580 mark and SCOA membership totaling
more than 140, spread over at least 70 clubs in the UK.( and 1 in the Philippines.)
The Streaker is an easy boat to handle no matter how inexperienced the helm
might be, it offers extremely lively racing performance in a very broad range of
conditions, belying her relatively modest Portsmouth Yardstick of 1162. A benefit
of the low hull weight means that onshore handling is easy to handle, even allowing
it be popped on the roof on most small family cars without any problem.
More suggestions to follow.
Links: Go Sail | Streaker Class Owners Association
Tags: sailing, dinghy sailing, streaker dinghy, boat building
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