Building a wooden boat had finally made its way to the top of my to-do list, and building a small one would be sufficient to satisfy that dream. At the time, we still had a 27′ trimaran and have since moved to a 35′ sloop, both wonderful sailing machines, but a sailing dinghy, capable of rowing, would provide a very different sailing experience. And, if light enough, we could potentially put it on top of our SUV and explore new waters. My son Tyler commented this would be a perfect new hobby for me combining two of my favorite interests: sailing and woodworking. I was eager to get started.Inspired by the beauty and light weight of strip-built kayaks, I decided I’d use the same method for a sailing dinghy. I scoured the Internet but just couldn’t find a design that got me excited enough to invest a few hundred hours of my time. Then I found the Morbic 12 sail-and-oar dinghy, designed by the French naval architect, François Vivier.I contacted François in the fall of 2016 to inquire if his Morbic 12, designed for lapstrake plywood, could be built with strip planks. He replied, “Yes, with some modification,” and asked me more about my requirements to make sure the Morbic 12 would meet my needs. After discussions on weight, cockpit arrangement, rowing ability, and rig, he decided a new design would be in order.We agreed to go forward with a Morbic 11 as a lightweight strip-built hull with a balanced lug rig, daggerboard, kick-up rudder, buoyancy compartments, and a bit of dry storage.
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Thought I recognized those waters. I live in NE Portland and sail my home-built wooden double-ended lug rig, as well as a fiberglass Drascombe Lugger on local waters. Hope to see your beautiful little boat out there sometime!
Beautiful job! I am beginning a strip-built Catspaw project in Rhode Island and your outstanding workmanship is an inspiration!
Nice design nicely executed. You can be proud of yourself!
I find Francois Vivier’s designs beautiful both aesthetically and in the thoughtful and thorough design work Vivier does (check his website, beautifully presented).
I’m trying to choose between five designs; two of them are Vivier’s. I would like to get started this year with the build.
Problem or consideration: I’m in my seventies with back problems so I’m forced into making new priorities when picking a design.
Use: Puget Sound, known for fluky winds but most of the time light air. A big body of water with large current and tidal changes that can change quickly from mild to choppy with corresponding wind conditions.
I would like to explore lakes, bays, & estuaries ( Would like to do some boat trailering while touring parts of the country)
I’ll be single-handed most of the time, but a boat with the capacity to carry two or three people is important.
Most important in design choice:
1) Stability & Safety – forgiving of mistakes, predictable handling, no racing, easy-going, no sudden and unexpected twitchy behavior. Able to move about in the boat without a sudden tendency to want to flip or become unstable. But still have reasonable performance when sailing.
2) Quick – rigging set-up 10-15 min. max. Easy load and unload from the trailer a must.
3) Simplicity – Single-sail, Lug-sail with loose-foot (don’t need to another whack in the head by a boom) A clean layout on deck, few lines to tend as possible, easy, relaxed and enjoyable sailing.
Designs being considered: In no particular order
1 – Sam Devin’s Egret 15′ https://devlinboat.com
2 – Hylan’s OONAGH 11′ 8″ http://www.dhylanboats.com/design/plans/
3 – Hylan’s Beach Pea 13’ or 15′ (website same as above)
4 – Vivier’s Morbic 12’ http://www.vivierboats.com
5 – Vivier’s Ilur 14′ (weight and performance in light air may be a problem?)
Problem: I haven’t found much info on these boats in Puget-Sound-like conditions by people who own the boat and sailed in these waters or similar.
Any ideas or suggestions?
Karl Saul
Gary,
Absolutely Stunning! Too pretty to take out and sail. I did not read the other comments, forgive me if I’m repeating someone.
I’m interested in the Ilur due to wanting to sail almost anywhere – 4′ Chesapeake chop or not.
Back to reading your story – yep, I check out the photos first and, I was captivated.
Great job, sir
Rob