I grew up spending my summers in Falmouth, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. My family has a Joel White–designed Bridges Point 24 sloop; my dad loves to sail and passed his passion down to me. I have been taking sailing lessons since I was eight and I’m now working my fifth summer as a sailing instructor. So, when it came to doing a required “capstone” project for my senior year of high school, sailing was at the forefront of my thinking. I spent months trying to create a project weaving my love for the water with the school assignment. Most students do research and write up a report or try to learn a new skill for their project, but I wanted to do something big.When I talked to my dad about building a boat, he got super-excited and immediately went to a bookshelf, pulling out Eric Dow’s How to Build the Shellback Dinghy. From that point on, I was determined to build a boat and have it on the water by the end of my senior year. The Shellback is well behaved under oars. Neither the plans nor the book Building the Shellback Dinghy indicate a brace for the rower’s feet at the ’midship rowing station, but the addition of one would allow for a more powerful pull.
All photos by Delaney Brown
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I just purchased a shellback to restore. Waiting on a new mast. Does any one know how far down the mast to drill the halyard hole? We welcome any advice on the restoration.
Thanks,
Rick and Lisa
Northeast Ohio
I purchased one three years ago and am having a lot of fun camp cruising. When sailing two up a tad crowded. She is fast and fun. I use box-store white fenders to add buoyancy. It is the only sailboat I have ever eased over a beaver dam while exploring in the Adirondacks. Floats in a puddle and can be moved along standing with an oar in quiet water.
Wow , I’ve never seen a Shellback with a battened main with a roach. Was this a personal decision? The plans and every Shellback I’ve seen (including my own) has a very traditional looking lugsail. I’m not against roaches and battens, my Gartside 130 has them, but I’ve never seen them on a Shellback dinghy. I agree with your assessment, great, capable little boat. I added a small sprit to mine and flew a jib and took it camping several times. Though I would take my girlfriend out, I always thought of it as a 1.5-person boat.
To carry momentum well through tacking, you need to augment the displacement, for which you might try removable water ballast. This can be in soft sided carriers or jugs. The 2 liter Platypus bottles would work well, and so would dromedary bags as sold by REI. Another advantage of this type of ballast is that it is easily shifted as needed to achieve ideal trim. And should you swamp or capsize, water ballast provides neutral buoyancy and won’t sink your boat as denser ballast might.