Boat:
When I first read the subject
of the contest proposed by Duckworks Magazine, I asked myself
where I could find information about the journey imagined, and
while searching all over the web, found wonderful rivers and
landscapes.
Although I never went in this
area of the world, It made me strongly think of some areas of
two rivers of my country (I’m french.. Nobody’s
perfect..), the Saone and the Rhone, so I designed this boat
as if I was to do this journey from the mists of Jura Mountains
to the shores of Mediterranean sea, in St Louis du Rhone. Conditions
seemed to me to be quite the same, and requirements for the
journey as well.
I imagined ‘A Minima’
to be a combination of a sailing boat, a powerboat, and a camper,
keeping in mind she would have to be ported outside of the water
sometimes.
For a short journey, I imagined
she could be quite short (4 meters (±13 ft), allowing
two meters berths to sleep in her small cabin, and the rest
for a comfortable cockpit.
She has to be light, so very
simple shape was required to save on wood weight, no soft and
complicated lines, flat and perpendicular panels.
She has to be cheap, so every
square meter of wood and glass fabric, every gallon of resin
would count.
She had to be carried ashore
for short periods, so, assuming a couple were no Hercules, they
could not carry her, but the could roll her.. So she would have
wheels.
As I wanted her to be gently
sailed as well as motor powered, and didn’t want to deal
with a heavy and complex centerboard system, I chose to equip
her with leeboards, easy to pull up when on motor or ashore.
I wanted the motor to be centered
in the axis of the hull, so I gave her twin sword rudders that
would be able to be lifted when on motor or rolled ashore.
She would be rolled ashore,
so I imagined using two plastic wheelbarrow wheels included
in the transom and a solid handle aft to raise her and pull
her.
She would be a camper too, so
the top of the cabin would be articulated and soft sided, lined
with a bimini to cover the cockpit and protect from heavy sun
as well as summer sudden rains.
The rig would have to be simple,
so I inspired myself of D4 gaff rig, which would be quite sufficient
for such a small boat.
The combination of all these
elements gave birth to the drawing I’m presenting to you
today:
‘A minima’ is 4
meters long, her beam is 1,86 meters. She is 0,70 meters high
at the cockpit and 1 meter at the roof top when closed (roof
raises to 1.70 meters at it’s highest point when opened).
Mast is 3 meters high alone, and the top of the gaff raises
to 4 meters. She can be sailed by a beginner, leeboards being
able to be lifted on the side in the wind to reduce draft, as
well as the rudder in the wind can be, twin attached tillers
allowing the sailors to handle them when the boat is heeled.
Of course she is not designed
to handle a regatta, and the pilot and her sweetheart will have
to play counterweights when over winded, but she is wide enough
to prevent a sudden capsizing if carefully handled.
And when the wind falls, leeboards
and rudders will be lifted out of the water and a 6 hp short
shaft outboard motor (bought for $500 at eBay) will push her
strongly enough to face many currents especially since no draft
is to be expected from the raised appendixes.
For lunch, or at night, the
cabin top will be raised, offering 2 comfortable 2 meters berths
to sleep, with a standing height varying from 1 to 1.70 meters.
The bimini will protect the cockpit from the sun, and, when
raining, one can easily imagine having soft sides attached
to the bimini too.
When needed, the boat will be
brought ashore by lifting her nose with the strong handle and
rolling on her rear wheels (plastic or rubber wheelbarrow wheels
that won’t suffer from drowning and will never need to
be inflated nor risk to be punctured)
To achieve this purpose, A minima
will be built out of plywood with the stitch and glue method,
glassed with epoxy, and can be painted with latex paint (or
left unpainted either).
Mast and gaff will be made out
of glued assembled and sanded lumber.
Sail will be made in Dacron sailcloth (although it could be
made of polytarp to gain on price), soft sides of the cabin
and the bimini (whose armature will be made with polyvinyl pipes,
cheap and easily bent with steam) will be made of sunbrella
(blue is very sun resistant).
Rudders and leeboards will be
shaped in two plywood planks and sanded to the right shape.
Most of the chandlery will be
found at Duckwork’s online store
for an affordable price or at your local ship chandler.
Mechanical parts such as rudder
slots and tillers can be made by your local farrier if you are
unfamiliar with steelwork (or if you are very skilled you may
build them with welded aluminum to gain weight) for a reasonable
price.
Fixing (nails, screw, bolts
and nuts) will if possible be made of inox and ironmongery will
be aluminum to gain weight.
I’m afraid not much more
can be said in 1000 words, so I invite You to let your imagination
do the rest while watching the drawings.
Budget:
Qty. |
Material |
Price |
Total |
1 |
Old 6HP short shaft ourtoard motor |
500.00 |
500.oo |
10 |
Luan 1/4" Plywood 4*8 sheets |
19.95 |
199.50 |
12 |
Natural birch 1/2" plywood 4*8 Sheets |
53.95 |
647.40 |
4 |
727-20biaxial tape (west system) 4*20yds |
38.15 |
152.60 |
2 |
737-20 biaxial fabric 50"*20yds |
369.80 |
739.60 |
1 |
732 glass tape 4"*50yds |
64.15 |
64.15 |
3 |
105 C epoxy resin 4,5gal pc |
266.40 |
799.20 |
1 |
205 C fast hardener |
27.95 |
27.95 |
1 |
Wire/screws |
100.00 |
100.00 |
1 |
Lumber for mast |
200.00 |
200.00 |
15 |
Sail fabric Sailcloth - White - 3.8 oz. - 36" wide |
7.00 |
105.00 |
3 |
tubes for bimini and cabin extension (sq meter) |
15.00 |
45.00 |
8 |
Bimini and cabin extension sunbrella fabric (40"x1yd) |
11.95 |
95.60 |
2 |
3/4 ply for leeboards and rudders (4*8) |
56.95 |
113.90 |
1 |
Aluminium for rudder holders (m2) |
100.00 |
100.00 |
1 |
General chandlery |
200.00 |
200.00 |
Explanation:
I based the budget on US prices
found on Internet, as European prices would have made it much
more expensive (especially plywood).
As I mentioned before, a 6hp
motor in good shape can be quite easily found on eBay for $500,
so if the budget allows it at the end of the building, a 10
hp will even be possible to buy for $300 more..
I counted very wide for the
number of plywood sheets, as the whole surface used by the boat
is around 30 sq. meters (98 sq. feet). 1/2” plywood will
be used for the exposed parts of the hull and the frames, transom,
etc.., and 1/4” will be for non risky parts like cabin,
soles, benches.
As the boat will be completely
glassed, I relied on West System epoxy whose quality is well
known, but savings can be made on the cost by using cheaper
products and/or partially glassing the boat (only the hull for
instance.
The mast will be built out of
pine lumber glued and sanded in order to be filled with foam
and avoid rotting from the inside while consisting in a small
buoyancy supplement in case of capsizing.
I insisted on a good quality
inox set of screws, bolts and nuts as nothing is worse than
seeing a hull rotten from the inside by the rust of it screws.
Building a boat is one thing, building a boat that lasts is
another.
Chandlery will be bought at
it’s best price on internet, so as sailcloth and bimini/soft
top fabric.
There is not a lot left to say
on this budget, as the table speaks for herself, the total estimated
budget reaches $4000, letting a ±$1000 range to build
a better boat or enjoy the restaurants and hotels during the
journey …
Bio:
Philippe Peltier
I’m a 43 year old guy born in France. I’m head of a software company in the south on the
shores of Mediterranean. I’ve been boating and sailing for as long as I can remember with
my father and now with my wife and daughter.
Boatdesign has always been my passion. I've been designing boats since I was a teenager.
I've been publishing my designs for a few years. For some months now, I have been working on a 17”
sailing boat for the French market that I hope will be successful in 2005.
