Catspaw Dinghy, Sailing and rowing, how good or bad is it?

[Tom Mac]

After building Two 12 1/2 and a flatfish. I still like the carvel planking type of building. So I was thinking about the catspaw dinghy, I was thinking is it a good boat? I like building boats and sailing the flatfish. that is all I do, trying something difference. I do not want to be stuck with a boat nobody wants. So any ideas about the catspaw dinghy will be helpfull Thanks Tom Mac

[DJM]

Yes, someone here built one. There is a whole thread on it.

http://www.woodenboatvb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=8501&highlight=catspaw

[Sailor]

I've heard plenty of good things about it just to set you at ease. I have the book "how to build.... " but dont' count on it to get you through. If you've built 3 boats already though you should be good to go. I'm saving the Catspaw for when I finish my canoe so I have some experience before I jump into carvel planked. I say go for it. Let me know how it goes
and maybe you can help me if I get stuck along the way

[Bruce Hooke]

A rowing boat very similar to the Catspaw has been in my family for something like 50 years. It is not rigged for sail but I have rowed it many times. It is not a "high-performance" rowing boat like Whisp, but it rows nicely and will take a good bit in the way of seas. Three of us, as teenagers, rowed the boat from Castine, Maine to Deer Isle, a distance of about 26 miles by the route we took. We camped one night on the way on an island. So, this boat carried 3 people and camping gear across so fairly open waters. We rowed double with one person resting, which is a good way to cover distance.

The only down side of boats like the Catspaw is that they really need to be kept in the water during the boating season, at least after they have been kept that way long enough for the planks to fully swell up.

[Tom Mac]

One of my sons lives upstate NY, by the finger lakes. In some lakes no gasoline motors. So he need a boat for rowing, sail, or electic motor.He was using a canoe, but it was hard going, his wife was there for the fishing,and the ride. So when he saw that there were 2 rowing stations, he through wow no more rides. So Dad, would you please think about this. OK , I'll try. But I;m not going to tell him that she is riding, not rowing. Thanks Tom Mac

[Mrleft8]

I built a Catspaw.
'Twas my first "traditional" build. The book is next to useless, and can actually cause problems (For instance, drill the hole for the centerboard pivot before installing the trunk...).
It sails like a dream. I have been in informal (I'm not even sure they knew it.) "races" with both a Beetle cat, and a Swampscott dory. Sailed circles around 'em. Rows beautifully too. I got 8' oars instead of the 7'ers called for.In retrospect I should have gotten the 7'ers so they can be stowed under the thwarts.

[Tom Mac]

Mrlef8 Thank you just what i was looking for, a good good boat. Which would be worth working at. It sounds likea allround boat for to relax in it. As for the book on how to build it, it is nothing like the 12 1/2 how to build. That was a very good book. After building three boats from that book, I am OK with just the plans or blueprints if you will. How ever I am surpise that they never update or revise the catspaw book. All I have to do now, is install the rudder and the mast on the 12 1/2 and I am done. Oh, I forgot the oars. Thanks TomMac