Shell Boats

[awhitecat]

Has anybody here built a boat to the Shell Boat plans? I have seen their advertisements in Wooden Boat for years and am interested in their Swifty 13 and 15 designs. Thankyou.

[awhitecat]

90 views and no replies!!!!!!!!!! Doesn't anybody know anything about Shell Boats?
Thank you for your help.

[rbgarr]

I don't think it's a record, and it's not uncommon for very specific questions like yours to result in little or nothing in the way of helpful responses.

I opened the thread thinking it could be about rowing shells, for example. You might want to be more specific on your topic line to attract a reader who's built from a Shell Boats plan. There's plenty of space to be specific about your query (and I'd put your thread in the Building/Repair or Misc. Boat Related forum since more people may look at those ones)

I'd try this:

"Info on Shell Boats' Swifty 13 and 15 designs wanted"

The reader hardly has to open it to know what you want and if they can help you. Good luck.

[Farmer Diddley]

I actually live in the same, small town as Fred Shell (proprietor of Shell Boats), but I've never spoken to the man, and don't know much about him or his designs. My wife, however, used to work with his daughter....

Now that I've gotten that completely useless information out of the way :) .... I did a search for "Shell Boats" on the Designs/ Plans forum and found a few references... I recommend you do the same... Here's a link to one that has some info:

http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=53704&highlight=shell+boats

[awhitecat]

I'm only new on the forum and welcome your suggestions on how to get the best response and how to find previous posts. I'll let you know how far I get!

[Tomcat]

I've talked to him, got his video many moons ago. I really like the two multihulls he has come up with, and his CrabClaw is a pretty clever little boat. He will spend time on the phone, but just doesn't have time for email, at least for tire kickers, I don't know what he does about suport. What did you want to know about the two boats you mention? I don't know much, but I could check the tape, if I can find it.

[awhitecat]

ok. i'm a tyre kicker! i'm looking for a design to build. i live in the middle of england, 100 odd miles from the sea. I want a small, trailerable cruiser. I am only interested in his mono-hull designs, not his multi-hulls. One of the attractions of his designs is their weight - he quotes 190 lbs for his Swifty 13 design and 325lbs for his Swifty 15. I presume these are just empty hull weights. I want a design as light as possible. Launching by yourself makes lightness an asset - I will be pottering about by myself as my wife is not interested. In England petrol is about 4 times as expensive as the USA, so a light hull makes for more economical trailering. How seaworthy are these designs? How practical are they as mini cruising boats in estuaries and coast-wise - in terms of how practical any boat this size can be? How difficult are they to build. Thanks for your help.

[awhitecat]

In his photographs, the boats look nice, but one is taken on the grass and the other on a mill-pond. What are these boats like in any sort of chop? What are these sail-plans like to operate? Thanks again.

[erimille]

Has anybody here built a boat to the Shell Boat plans? I have seen their advertisements in Wooden Boat for years and am interested in their Swifty 13 and 15 designs. Thankyou.
I have a shell swifty 14 (http://potlach.org/2006/04/swifty/) and like it very much. I think the lines are very attractive and the construction / repair is pretty straight forward. For the Shell boats, I'd recommend the extra "home made" DVD (I found it a very good investment and helpful). For the Swifty in particular, I found Steve's (http://www.hevanet.com/kg7pv/Swifty12.html) site / pictures to also be extreamly helpful.

I use a volkswagon passat station wagon to tow this boat; with trailer this boat weighs approx 500 lbs / 225 kg. I launch this boat solo (but enjoy this quite frequently with my wife and son). I'm afraid I can't share any experience as to how seaworthy this boat might be as we mostly sail this on large lakes / reservoirs. I do hope to sail this on some of the calmer parts of Lake Erie (which can quickly become quite "sea-like") next season so I'd be interested in any additional experiences folks might be able to share.

--e