I had been hearing about New Zealand boat designer John Welford’s idea for the Saturday Night Special for a few years: a fast beach cruiser so simple to build that you could arrive a few days early for a multi-day small-boat cruise or raid with a few crucial pre-prepared components, build the boat, participate in the event, and go back home. It wasn’t entirely clear what you were supposed to do with the boat afterwards—you could disassemble it, sell it, scrap it, or donate it to the event hosts—but the notion of being able to sail your own boat in a far-flung event, eliminating the need to ship one there, was intriguing. Raid Finland? Sail Caledonia? Conquer the Everglades Challenge? I could imagine plenty of possibilities.

A centerboard complicates the building of the Saturday Night Special and takes up some space in the cockpit, but is essential for sailing shallow waters.Tom Pamperin

A centerboard complicates the building of the Saturday Night Special and takes up some space in the cockpit, but is essential for sailing shallow waters.

As it turns out, the idea of an inexpensive, easily built, fast cruising boat went through some changes between the initial concept and its final form, and what started out as an ultra-quick-build, one-race boat evolved into a more conventional build. Part of the Saturday Night Special’s evolution was a result of the shape needed to get the performance Welsford was looking for. The 14′ 8″ Saturday Night Special was designed specifically for the Texas 200, which typically involves downwind sailing in 20–25 knots, with exposure to big fetches and steep chop. To deal with those conditions, he drew a full bow with lots of flare to provide ample volume above the waterline, protecting the boat from burying the bow or broaching when overtaking waves while surfing. That shape proved difficult to achieve in the stitch-and-glue prototype. “The proof-of-concept boat that we built was a bit of a stinker to get the shape right without stringers,” Welsford reported. “There is a lot of shape in that chine panel forward.”

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