This is a very simple and rugged steel sailboat. Like her 38′ cousin, she was planned out to be a safe cruising home for folks who want to cruise the higher latitudes. Personally, I’d want a Troller Yacht type for that stuff but there are many people who like the idea of a sailing boat, and are willing to put up with sitting in a cockpit! Just joking; I like sailboats too!

She has a very comfortable interior for a couple. There’s a real bathroom (seems to big to call a “head”), a real galley, a separate bedroom, and an “office nook”desk. She has a dinette that will seat 4 and converts to a double bed. Across from it is a large couch. It could be built so its backrest swings up to make “bunk” beds if you want.

The Lines Plan shows a simple hull, with moderate beam and dead rise. Her “raised sheer” house gives the maximum room inside and is also straight forward to build. I know she’d look more graceful if the stems were curved some but part of this boat’s concept was simplicity, and straight stems make her easier to plate.

70′ 8″ WUNDERBURG (a “kayak” yacht!)

With all the emphasis I put on my designs as comfortable live-a-boards, I’m frequently asked why don’t I live aboard. I don’t; I live in the country on a couple acres. The thing is I’ve gone about all this (as usual) backwards. I had my first boat that I lived on when I was 19. I built one at 22 and spent several years cruising. I built another and lived on it 4 years. I never had a house or property before. I guess I’ve always been a grasshopper; there was never TIME to get serious, you see. But in my design business I meet people very likely like you; as My Boy Bill would say, people who “played by the rules.” People who have been responsible, raised families, had careers. And today many of them are thinking; “OK, I’ve done that. I’ve been responsible, I’ve raised a family. I have some financial security. By Goddess I want to get me a big boat and live on it.” And a lot of them do, either with my designs, or somebody else’s. Of course I prefer seeing them do it with MY designs, but, I enjoy seeing people doing what they want to, regardless. Happy people are good company, you see, and frankly, I don’t have time anymore to deal with folks who are so beat down they don’t dream…..

Anyway, we built a very comfortable small house on one edge of the property. The property is divided down the middle by NW “jungle” so Gail can’t see my end, which is where all the interesting stuff is. Her half is landscaped beautifully; she has her “white garden,” her herb garden, her vegetable and rose gardens. There’s a small “orchard” (3 trees and some blueberry plants that I fight the crows over who gets to harvest it) and even a fragrance garden, if you can believe it. It is very very comfortable. In our house we have my mother’s piano, Gail’s grandmother’s dinning room set and china. Teddy the Love Sponge has his own couch and there’s Persian rugs on the waxed Douglas fir floor. I tell you, there’s time when I think I’m living in a NW version of a Don Blanding poem (go to the library and find him…) Best yet it is paid for, and when the novelty wears off, if we do decide to go cruising again we can do it.

The way I want to do it now is own a large boat, but live on it part time. It has to be simple, not overly expensive to build or maintain, and most important, rugged enough to leave in some fishing port for half or more of the year. Of course any of my designs could do that, but the concept of WUNDERBURG (the name of the supposedly mythical Swedish town where the Wild Women live) is my current, (this week, to be honest) fantasy…..

The idea was a super comfortable and highly fuel efficient craft that was simple and inexpensive to build that a couple or two could travel around in and be comfortable for extended periods. I took the 71′ ELLEMAID’s hull, made a few small changes to theLines, and removed all the superstructure, making an uncluttered and low profile deck plan that will have next to no windage.

The inspiration, believe it or not, was an old Chris Craft SeaSkiff I had until recently. 12 gallons an hour in a 24′ boat finally beat me down, but she was sure fun. The folding canvas top and side curtains keep the weather out, and I comfortably used the boat in all sorts of weather. Look at the stuff the average cruising sailboat owner puts up with, sitting outside steering with a stick. If it got uncomfortable in this boat’s cockpit you’d just hook in the autopilot, set a two mile alarm on the radar, and stay down below.

This boat would be great in warm climates. Imagine the decks covered with wind surfers and kayaks and swim suit clad people. Imagine traveling between the Islands (and to them, for that matter) at 10 knots burning several gallons an hour in a ship this size. The long narrow shape wouldn’t be slowed down by much. My neighbor Fred has a 72′ x 12′ old boat that cruises at 10 knots pretty much regardless of what he’s going into; the boat just slips along.

Since this boat should move so easily and has so little windage there wasn’t need for much power and a 110 HP diesel is drawn in. That sounds pretty small for a boat this size but the “numbers” say it will be plenty. Of course, There’s no reason not to use a bigger one, and she should hit 11 knots with 120 HP, in calm conditions. I think I’d be perfectly happy cruising at 9 1/2 knots at about 2 gallon an hour instead. that extra 1.5 knots takes another 83 HP and about 5 gallons an hour more which doesn’t seem worth it to me….Of course that’s pretty low fuel use fora boat this size. It’s the principal though.

The original version of this boat was sketched out in The Troller Yacht Book but the plans were never completed. You see she looks a little different here than the version in the book; this one has a small deckhouse which allows the main cabin sole to be higher and wider, increasing the interior options.

I gave her a very low ketch rig because it seemed to fit. I call it a 70/30 motor  sailor because it is far more MOTOR than sail emphasis. This is plenty of sail to really dampen the roll as well as more than enough to get home in case you loose power. The mizzen would be used even if there was no mast because it serves as a good riding sail as well as a place to put the radar.

The fwd. Junk mast version was put on for fun. Yes, it will give a bit of pull in a breeze. But coupled with this boat’s unusual appearance it will really make her standout and will totally confuse folks who see her go by. Note I puta hard top over half the cockpit. I like the folding canvas idea but there’s a lot to be said about a true enclosed steering station. I can imagine conversations in the yacht club bar about that”strange boat”…..!

Above shows here as a fairly decent sail motor sailor. I call it a 40/60 MOTOR emphasis to sail. This would sail OK inmost directions yet is still a moderate enough sail area that a couple, or even a single hander, could deal with it.

I haven’t finished the interior yet but will soon and will post it then. Keep in mind if you build a boat you can build in whatever interior you want! The study plans include a sheet that show her top and side views with nothing in her.You can draw in your own ideas and see how they fit.

Here’s her construction view

Particulars:

LOD: 70′ 8″ …. LWL: 66′ 10″ …. Beam: 14’2″ …. Draft: 5′ 6″ …. Displ.: 72,000 lbs.

“We wanted to share with you how superb the Alca i performed this summer (2017), during its research cruises in the Gulf of Maine.”

I was very flattered to be asked to work with the owners in designing this boat, because large wood boats like her are rarely built today and even less rarely are they built from a new design.

The boat will be used both for pleasure as well as research. Walter & Karen are a pair of those “renaissance” folks you read about; he’s a research scientist interested in marine things like reefs and “growths.” She among other things produces documentaries about everything. In their “spare”time they run an 80 acre oak tree and organic farm on the shores of Virginia; the experience of meeting them and seeing their place still makes me tired when I think about it and I couldn’t help but think about Jefferson, also of that state. Where do these sort of folks get the energy? But maybe I’ve been on theWest coast to long; here we are notorious worldwide for taking things easy. Except in LA of course, but THAT is a world of its own…..

The idea was a big solid fairly traditional motor sailor that could go wherever you wanted. It would comfortably house the owners, have adequate accommodations for a couple guests, and have a small research lab in the stern for work.

She’s rigged as a 3 masted marconi schooner because she looks good that way and is big enough where the idea is actually “practical.” Everything except the jib is self tending and there are many reef rows so she should always be able to be kept manageable. A guy who knew his stuff could single hand her OK but with two people she’ll be easy to handle. Her rig has enough area to pull her along OK in moderate winds which is all that we want; short tacking up channels isn’t an issue for this kind of boat!She has a 6 cylinder diesel and carries 1,066 gallons of fuel which should give her a calm condition range of over 4,000 miles at 7 knots; considerably more when off wind motor sailing.

Her hull is a well proven type; sort of “life boaty,” double ended with moderate draft and beam, symmetrical ends, and a round bilge moderate dead rise mid-section.

She is quite stoutly built of solid white oak; laminated oak keel and stems, double sawed oak frames, and 2 3/8″ x 2 1/2″strip oak planking. The exception are the decks, which are 2 1/2″ fir plywood. The entire structure will be coated with epoxy.

Walter claims to be about 70 but looks 50. He’s been busily felling his own oaks, dragging them out of the woods and milling them, and building the boat. Just a few months after the Lines were drawn he had the keel set up. All this while working his job and doing research on the side….

I like the boat a lot. And so, while it almost seems like heresy,I’m doing a single chine steel version too, something us more “normal” mortals can conceive of building.

Particulars:

LOD: 63′   LWL: 59′ 6″   Beam: 16′ 6″   Draft: 6′   Displacement: 94,443 pounds   Outside ballast: 29.94 ft.3; about 11,000 pounds   Sail Area: 1328 sq ft   Power; 6 cyl. diesel Fuel: 1066 gallons   Water: 100 gallons plus water maker

The interior is spacious for a group to sit around in, but still comfortable for the owners.

Construction is heavy but simple, thanks to extensive lamination.

This is a serious construction project. A single chine version is also available. It too is a big project but simpler, but can be plywood or steel. Here’s how those Lines ended up. It looks fine to me and would be a hell of a lot simpler to build.

Continue on for more photos including under sail

The hull, originally designed in the 1600s(!) has a really lovely sheer. The original Cowhorns were between the low 20s and the high 30s foot long, and were usually rigged as two masted unstayed cat ketch. This Marconi cutter is much simpler….

Americans look to European designs like the Scanahoovian rescue boats when thinking of “traditional”boats, which is unfortunate. Here in the States (and Canada) some excellent types evolved which are more suited for our conditions and more refined in general. Our Pacific trollers and Halibut schooners are a prime example. There’s never been better off-shore boats.

The Block Island boat is another pure American type that even though possibly designed over 300 years ago (supposedly by Trustrum Dodge, in 1661) is still worth looking at today.
They were known as excellent sea boats, and only one from the fleet was ever recorded as “gone missing.”

The boat was designed to be worked by a man and a boy, in open water, in all weather. The originals were open boats. The maritime historian Chapelle said it (Cowhorn) is a boat that “the crews could take it as easy as possible in a small, open boat in a winter gale.” Hmmm.

For some reason no fiberglass company ever picked up the design as a production boat. However, many many of them have been built as cruising yachts. There’s a beautiful big one at a local marina named SKAGARACK. It was built 60 odd years ago in L.A. to sail to Australia for White Shark fishing. However, whatever vitamin was made from shark liver was synthesized the year it was launched, killing the fishery, and SKAGARACK ended up as a yacht.

The hull shape is good for ice, since it would lift rather than be crushed, and one was built in California for attacking theNorthwest passage. Unfortunately, it was sold in a divorce fight before it could make the trip. Another one owned by a successful importer made a series of business trips between Seattle and Mexico in the 1960’s and ’70’s. The hulls are entirely ballasted inside, which saved this boat one night when coming in towards a Mexican beach in the dark. It came down hard on a rock but got off. Back in Seattle when the boat was hauled, the owner found the planking had been crushed, but the cement in the bilge had kept the water out.

By today’s ideas this hull is totally obsolete.It’s to beamy and symmetric, it has way to much wetted area, to deep of a forefoot, and so on. That may be (and I don’t see these points as flaws…) but these are really great boats!

These boats are about the easiest displacement round bottom hulls to build. The curves are very easy, the keel and stems are straight lines, and all ballast is inside. It’s also a good hull form fore poxy strip building, using “bead & cove,” or cold molding, for that matter. They aren’t fast in light weather, but they are very comfortable aboard and one of the safest boats you can get for off-shore use. They handle so well that the importer’s boat once sailed for a week before he noticed that the self-steering wind vane wasn’t hooked up.

Her construction is simple and very rugged. My chine hulls are simpler to build but this is about as simple as a soft bilge hull can be and in return has a grace that no chine hull can match. When hauled out. In the water of course a low profile chine hull looks great too!

A number of boat designers, including myself, have taken the old Cowhorn and drawn yacht versions of it. The maritime historian Chapelle makes it clear that he doesn’t approve of the Marconi rig on these boats, but, so it goes.
So, there you have it. To many builders, and especially designers, forget to look at our country’s wealth of traditional boats when thinking about building a new boat. The Block Island Cowhorn is just one of many old designs that really are timeless. It evolved over a period of years, proved its worth in a time before coastguard rescues, radios, engines, and whatnot, and is well worth looking at if you want a safe and comfortable off-shore sailboat today.

Here’s how I’d probably lay out the interior. It’s a good cruising layout.

PARTICULARS

LOD:36′ 1″ … LWL: 31′ … Beam: 12′ 3″ …Draft: 5′ … Sail Area (working) 679 sq. ft.

HERA is identical to JUNO, but blown up 15%. I originally designed her for myself, because JUNO worked out so well that I thought a larger version would really be nice.

By adding the extra volume the interior really starts to get big enough where you can have some good living area. The version shown looks very comfortable to me. It has a real galley, lots of storage, a good sized head, a double and a single bunk, and a tight pilot berth. The short wheelhouse looks like it robs room inside, butI like it. I like the deck space. HERA can carry a real skiff, which few boats her size can do. It’s also structurally a good idea. But, go ahead and lengthen it if you want to.

I think the hull form is well suited for ocean work. She has a very easy shape which makes her a bit tender at first, but what  you get in return is a very smooth ride. JUNO, which I lived aboard4 years, is really comfortable in open water, because she roll so smooth. Plus, she handles well, heaves too easily, and sails herself in most directions when the wind is steady. Although the magazine ads don’t mention it, 99% of cruising is OFF the wind, and I think a good cruising boat should be designed for that.Super weatherly qualities rob from all other performance features.HERA has proved to work even better than JUNO because she has more weight; the builder of the boat shown here told me she is more than he even hoped for, which is certainly good to hear!

The sailplan looks a bit busy, and a simpler two headsail rig is available with the plans, as is the ketch version and pilothouse hull with hold which was designed to be a hand troller inAlaska. The hold might be nice for cruising actually although of course it robs from the interior.

No steel version was ever worked up for this boat but she certainly could be built of it. If you want to go steel I’ll send you the construction view of a similar sized boat. I’m sorry, but I can’t redraw this one. It’s “pre-CAD” and my hand doesn’t like to hold drafting tools any more….

Particulars

LOD: ……… 39′ 11″ LWL: ……….34′ 4″ Beam: …………. 11′ 9″ Draft (loaded): …………..6′ Displac: …… 31,000 lbs.

The photos are all by Colin Rogers of his boat, in Australia.

The idea behind this design was to create a safe and comfortable ocean cruising and live-aboard vessel, while staying within guidelines of moderate costs and simple enough construction practices that the yacht could be built, and financed, by any amateur builder who sets his mind to it. I’m quite pleased with the way she came out, and this is one of my favorite designs because I see no way she could be improved. I like everything about her!

The hull is 50 feet long. This length was determined because it’s a size that allows a hull to be trim enough to easily bend material around which greatly simplifies building, yet still gives a good spread out interior and heavy enough displacement for comfortable living aboard. Briefly, it’s easier, and often cheaper, to build a trim long boat than a fat shorter boat of equal interior volume, and the result is a better performer because of the extra waterline length.

The hull is a simple single chine type, and can be built of planked wood, plywood, or steel, with minimal waste and no need for elaborate machinery or great skills. I’ve had a fair amount of experience with this type of hull, and have learned that by giving a chine hull a bit of dead rise, moderate beam, and fairly fine ends, they sail well, track well, don’t pound, and have a very comfortable motion in a seaway. And are easy to build.

Construction is stout. The wood version’s scantlings are based upon normal dimension lumber available in any lumberyard.She has 2.5″ x 5.5″ frames and 1.5″ planking. I’ve built several boats like this, and I like them because I feel safe in them. The steel version is equally stout, using 1/4″plate, heavy frames, and numerous longitudinals. Either the wood or steel version will be capable of sailing right through most things that get in front of them!

The vessel’s 44,000 pound displacement (cruising trim) allows her to be built like this, and her “flaired” sections give her the buoyancy to carry plenty of food, water, fuel, and personal items. Cruising boats built in this manner are nice because they’re very quiet inside even in bad weather, don’t bounce around that much, have the weight to carry through a chop, and practically never suffer structural problems.

The sailplan is a simple traditional cutter rig, which is the strongest and I think most versatile rig fora cruising boat. Using a solid wood mast and 3/8″ galvanized rigging makes it quite inexpensive, and very strong. One local yacht rigged in this fashion had its mast hit by a seaplane. The airplane was destroyed, the sailboat wasn’t damaged.

The interior is comfortable for a couple to spend alot of time aboard. The pilot house version has a second stateroom for guests, although this area in the bow could also be used as a shop or office area which is a more useful thing.The dinette table can convert to a double, or, to avoid long term guests, let company sleep on deck! Both versions have large galley areas, near centerline sinks, large “heads,” and lots and lots of storage area. The pilot house version is the most comfortable inside, and has a separate shower stall.

The plans come as a package showing both canoe and outside rudder sterns, pilot house and short cabin arraignments, wood and steel construction plans, a 3 masted “motorsailor” sailplan, a bow sprit cutter version, and of course my BuildingBook that tells step by step how to build her, and, for those who believe in such things, a long fin and skeg rudder underwater version. A person can switch parts around and build her as they please. Personally, I rather like the short house and outside rudder version because it’s the simplest to build and looks so businesslike, although as I get older I’ll admit to interest in inside steering….

The photos show the first built, beautifully done by Ruby and Ed Roote, in Oregon. They sailed it to CentralAmerica and back, then sold it in SF. I heard a funny story; apparently the new owner anchored off the Farolan (?) Islands off San Francisco. When they went back to the boat, it was gone! There was a full search by the Coast Guard but nothing. Supposedly A WEEK LATER, sometime very late at night, she came drifting into the military base harbor by Pt. Conception, to the complete surprise of the people when they woke up the next day! Makes ya wonder about this”Homeland Security” stuff all them consultants are making fortunes from…..

OTTER interior drawing (finally) added 11/2014

Here’s what I think is a wonderful cruising/live-aboard interior. But feel free to use your own ideas!
That’s one of the main reasons to build your own boat!

Somebody building OTTER sent me these greatCAD views. I’ve finally posted them and, I apologize to the guy who did them because I simply can’t remember who it was. Wish I knew how to do the program that created these; they’re great!

(5/06) Here’s some shots of an Otter being built in Bellevue, Washington, by Curt Estes. He’s doing a great job of it.

The plan includes ORPHEUS, a stripped down and simpler version. This is a serious gung ho basic cruiser.The example below is steel and very good looking except for that awkward “dodger.” I suppose it’s practical and once you’re aboard the boat you don’t see it.

PARTICULARS

LOD: 50′ … LWL: 41′ … Beam: 13′ 11″ … Draft (loaded): 6′ … Displat DWL: 44,600#

Suggested power: 30 HP and up

Plans come showing both versions, and both wood and steel construction.

This is an older design of mine that I always thought would be a fine budget cruiser for colder areas. There’s a few changes I’d make if I was building the boat for myself.

The engine location is poor. There’s no room around it, and only room for the little Yamar. I think I’d use a vee-drive transmission such as available with Volvo or YAMAR, (or a simple belt drive deal) because that will get the engine further back and out of the way and will allow a bigger engine to fit in.

I don’t like the quarter berths, but then I don’t have kids. These bunks are too tight to get into at all easily, have little room, and screw up the room in the wheelhouse. I’d like to take them out.

A Canadian built her and lengthened the wheelhouse 2′ fwd over the cabin top. That gave him a 2′ dashboard in front of the wheel which was a good idea, plus it looks better too. That’s a good change to make!
She needs a taller mast too, I think.

With these changes I think RUBY would make even a better little boat for messing around with. The wheelhouse robs some of the interior but makes her more fun in colder climates especially, and I think she’d be alot of fun for vacation use. She’s simple to build and not very expensive either. She’s also seaworthy enough to go cruising if you want to.

A rather “jaunty” look, if I do say so….

This was a design for my friend Vern, a man who’s ministry may be in Wyoming but who loves the ocean. Vern heads to the sea on his vacation, and needed a boat that could be trailed behind his pickup from Wyoming to the Gulf of Mexico, yet big enough and seaworthy enough for a couple guys to go away from land.

When we first started talking about the design I thought I could turn it out with little thought. But once I started drawing I became aware that the criteria were not so simple. Any one was easy, but combining them all, especially the need to be seaworthy enough for unprotected water yet still small enough to trailer  hundreds of miles to the launch site, took a lot of thought. My problem, unlike some people in my profession, is that I’m no hero.I’ve been frightened more than once on the ocean, and won’t venture further from shore than I care to swim back in any boat that ain’t pretty stout. As we cautious folk say; “trust in faith, but meanwhile, pass the ammunition.”

Although a small diesel is the ideal power, there’s no reason an outboard couldn’t be mounted off the transom.  Many of the “sailboat” drive ones even have 50 amp alternators on them. Honda makes a beauty but it is rather pricey…..
The rig is a simple cutter, easily handled. The tabernacled mast folds down when the boat is out of the water, and the bowsprit gives her a big enough “fore-triangle” to carry a good sized light weather drifter.

I named the design “Little Big Man” because he’s the biggest boat for its length I’ve ever designed, and knowing the boat was to be built in Cheyenne, Wyoming, I started thinking about Jack Crab, the original Little Big Man, a man small in stature but so large in deeds he was given the name by no less than Chief Old Lodgeskins of the Cheyenne tribe (all this was immortalized in the book, then movie of the same name, starring Dustin Hoffman).

18′ Pirate Schooner (or Cutter) MARY READ

LOD: 18′ 3” Beam: 6’2″ Draft: 2′ 6″ Working Sail Area: Schooner: 152sq. ft., Cutter: 128 Sq. ft

And here she is as a Cutter

Back in the 1970s there was an Ole’ Boy who floated around Seattle’s Lake Union in a 14′ 3 masted ship. I never did talk with him but always admired him because he was living his fantasy, and over the years thought about him and his ship once in a while.

Thoughts of him got me motivated enough about 1990 that I designed a 16′ schooner named Happy Camper Of Pogo Pogo, or POGO for short, the name based on a speech that then Vice President Dan Quayle gave in Polynesia. I’ll spare you the whole story here but if you’re interested, you can read about her elsewhere on this site. That little boat grabbed at people’s imaginations and a number of them have been built. One even sailed the Irish Sea across to the big wood boat show in Brest, France.

POGO worked out just great but was just a bit small for many folks and I got many letters asking if she could be stretched a few feet. So, I’ve done a new little schooner, but this time 18′ which makes her a lot better for semi-open water.

MARY READ is a little ship. I gave her a pilot schooner rig with an overlapping gaff foresail but with a Marconi main to make things a little simpler. It’s a very stout rig with plenty of strings to play with! She even has running backstays! If I had had a kid instead of dogs I like to think I’d build a boat like this for it. If she had a small cabin between the masts this boat would be fairly safe on open water, more able than some of the toys that have made passages! I’m not advocating her as a cruising boat though!

Her construction is quite heavy! The hull is two layers of 3/’8″plywood. There’s no reason she can’t be planked although if you’re not keeping her in the water full time, plywood is better. But if you do plank her, use 3/4″ and add intermediate frames between the stations as described in the building book.

She has to weigh 3700 pounds to get to her waterline. I was going to spec outside ballast but decided it would make storing heron a trailer more difficult. So, try her without ballast. You can always add it inside, or even fasten a heavy plate, say 3/8″x 9″ x 10′ or so, on each side of the keel with lag bolts.

The original Mary Read was an English pirate, said to have been especially fierce and bloodthirsty! I’ve always liked strong women and I suspect Ms. Read was quite the deal.
Particulars.

SAM is an inexpensive, simple to build, and handsome little ship that would be a lot of fun for weekend and vacation use. You could certainly use him for cruising too, butI think in this small size a cutter rig is more practical for off-shore use.

However, that’s the point. Just being “practical” is usually pretty boring. If you really want to be “practical,” you’d simply charter a plastic boat once a year. But how boring!

SAM’s hull is sort of a chine version of the Tancook Whaler, a Nova Scotian fishing schooner. It’s very trim and should slip through the water with little fuss at all, although is tender. Although I suggest you use planked wood, he can also be built of plywood.

He has a pilot schooner rig, although I gave him a marconi main just to simplify things. The sailplan, because of the overlapping fore, is very powerful, so much so that it was banned from ocean racing, which doesn’t make sense since big genoas are allowed. The schooner AMERICA, which the America’sCup is named after, was rigged like this.

The interior is set up for a couple. There’s  a nice galley, a small toilet room separated from the living area by a curtain, and a big table that drops down at night to turn into a double bed. If you finished it off in pine or cedar wainscoting and had a couple kerosene lamps hanging on the wall it would really be shippy! There’s a separate engine room, which doubles as a small hold for crab pots, and a big cockpit to lay about in.

I think SAM would be hard to beat for messing around in. He’s distinctive looking, simple and inexpensive. If you own him you can go to all the schooner meets, which to a wood boat crank is the same as being a member of the Beverly HillsCountry Club is to some folks, and although he’ll be one of the smallest, he’ll be right at home, and welcome. There’s one SAM sailing now in D.C., and his builder says that the boat is always drawing attention. I don’t know if that’s good or not, but it’s sort of fun.

Here’s a letter from a guy who built SAM, and here’s some of what he said:

“I spent the Columbus Day weekend on Shaw bay (in Maryland). 5 boats motored over to tell me how “pretty” my boat is. The boat is moored near Annapolis, and every time I’m out everybody who passes exclaims: “Great Boat!”

LOD: 29’…Beam: 7′ 11″ … Draft: 4′ … Displ: 9,000 lbs. … Sail Area (working): 459 sq. ft.