Plans for Herreschoff Carpenter

[Mike in Atlanta]

I ran across a copy of Woodenboat at a friend's house from last fall featuring two boats based on the Herreschoff designed Carpenter called the Jenny and Big Jenny. The Jenny appears to be the perfect boat for me to attempt next year's WaterTribe Evergades Challenge (a 300 mile race from St. Pete to Key Largo) so I'm looking for plans of this or another 18' rowing/sailing boat. So, does anyone here know where I can find the plans?

[Ben Fuller]

That would be L. Francis Herreshoff. Carpenter is his design #41. In Sensible Cruising Designs. Real plans are at Mystic Seaport. She is designed to be planked in 3/8" cedar, lapstrake. Sea Pearls are based on them. Plans show an undersailed boat.

Lots of other designs out there of this type. Tony Dias's Harrier, Ian Oughtred's Ness Yole, some Gartside boats etc. For the challenge rowing performance is important: keep the basic boat weight at 250 or less.

Have fun.

[Mike in Atlanta]

Another boat I found is the Swallowboats Osprey http://www.swallowboats.com/osprey.htm It is advertised at 85 lbs which if true would make it a dream to row. On the other hand that 85 lb number may be a dream itself. I'm also not too sure about it in heavier seas. Any opinions?

[Ben Fuller]

If you are looking to do the Challenge 2 up then you'll do better with the bigger boats. As a single hander something that it much smaller 15-16 feet is better, not necessarily sailing but far better under oars.

[Steve Paskey]

Mike: If you're going to do the challenge solo, you might consider WALKABOUT, a sailing and rowing cruiser I commissioned from John Welsford.

Walkabout (http://www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz/plans/walkabout/index.htm)

WALKABOUT was designed for good performance under both sail and oars. Her shape is based on the old Chamberlain dory skiffs, with a flat bottom and lapstrake sides. She's 16-2 long, weighs about 200 lbs., and has good built-in bouyancy and storage. She was designed for one person to sleep aboard on the sole (rather than a raised platform), with a tent over the cockpit. She hasn't been built yet (several are under construction), but with John's experience and record, I've no doubt that she'll perform well.

I'd be tickled to death to see someone try her in the Watertribe Challenge.

[ 04-09-2004, 05:10 PM: Message edited by: Steve Paskey ]

[Mike in Atlanta]

Steve - the Walkabout seems to be an intersing little vessel. I'm still trying to decide what I want. This year I paddled my Chespeake 17 kayak in the shorter event (67 miles) and found it pretty uncomfortable after the first day. I figure a sailing/rowing boat would be much more comfortable. I also need to decide whether it will be myself alone or with a partner (already have a volunteer). I liked the Swallowboat Osprey mostly due to its advertised weight - half of the Walkabout. This year's race encountered 6 foot seas and I'd like to know whatever boat I'm can handle it, so that will be a factor as well. I'll keep researching and hopefully decide in time to build and practice in it before the race.

[Steve Paskey]

Mike: Please keep us posted whatever you decide. Lots of us without the experience or gumption to try that sort of thing (myself included) enjoy hearing about it.

Incidentally, Walkabout might work well for two depending on their size and how much gear they bring (more room than Osprey), as long as you don't mind that both people can't sleep aboard.

About those 6-foot seas: John has done a lot of cruising in small boats (both sailing and rowing). I'm sure he's been out in that kind of weather and can give you an informed opinion about how the boat would do.

My own uninformed amateur armchair opinion is that she'd probably do as well as or better than any boat her size and weight: a proven hull shape with good secondary stability, lots of built in buoyancy, and if necessary, she should be relatively easy for even one person to right in a capsize.

John's a congenial guy and I know he'd be glad to answer any questions you have. You could e-mail him directly from his web site, or drop by the Welsford builder's forum on yahoo!, where he's a frequent visitor.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jwbuilders/

[ 04-09-2004, 08:49 PM: Message edited by: Steve Paskey ]