Hugh Horton in his Bufflehead, single reefed gunter at Cedar Key '08
Bufflehead is a 21st century, cruising sailing canoe for the experienced sailor. She’s a comfortable, high performance sailing craft, 15 feet 6 inches by 33 inches, built with modern materials & techniques.
Cartop weight is 45-60 pounds. She has the displacement to sail well with two aboard, or to carry extra water & gear.
The plan is for experienced builders (or patient craftspeople), and includes a full sized body plan, stems & chined deck strake patterns, a PDF of the deck shape, & dimensioned sketches.
Bufflehead’s shape and systems are complex---this is not ‘quick & dirty’ boatbuilding. Many choices are open to the builder-sailor including scantlings and layup schedules, deck construction, rig choices, seating, cockpit rim, & other details.
One of the 1st 4 hulls Skip Izon built for us.
Strakes
are in place before fastenings are pulled.
The underside of half of a chined deck with freshly applied,
wet kevlar.
Assembling a chined deck at Skip Izon's---no staples.
Kevlar tape still wet on the outside of the hull-deck joint on
my Bufflehead.
An untrimmed cockpit rim sitting on the deck before cutting the
hole in the deck. The hole is roughly shown by a marker drawn around
the rim.
Charlie Ball's cypress stripped deck. Charlie & Pat Ball's hull
mold is on the left.
Leeboard mount on my Bufflehead, after the carefully aligned
tube is glue in, before the triangular brace, & further carbon &
kevlar taping.
These photos (above and below) Howard Rice on Lake St Claire in Michigan. "Bufflehead" is scooting along nicely in 7-9 knots, gusts 11-12. The rig is from Jim Renouf's Bufflehead Eden.
Read: "Bufflehead - A 21st Century, Solo Cruising Sailing Canoe"
by Hugh Horton
***** |
