Re: CLC Sailing Craft

Posted by Laszlo on May 23, 2006

Ditto on what Greg says about the skerry. If the plans had come out a year earlier, that's the small sailboat I would have built. As it is, I play with one every chance I get at Okoumefest. The first time it showed up it was a real revelation - beautiful lines, roomy and comfortable and the push-pull tiller was a pleasant surprise (no more tiller swinging around to bang me in the head). Next year the sailing rig had been changed from loose-footed to a boom, which made the sheeting of the sprit sail easier. It's a great boat to sail.

The Jimmy Skiff is a lot of fun, too. Very easy to sail, and with that flat bottom, looks very easy to build. When it goes through some chop it says "slap-slap" instead of "gurgle-gurgle" like the skerry. Has a good cargo capacity. I ferried some people from their boat to the shore at Okoumefest. One load was 3 of us, none lightweights, and the boat handled it just fine. Later that day the screw holding the top gudgeon came loose and the rudder was unusable, but I had no trouble getting it back to the dock steering with just the set of the sails. It's a very forgiving sailer.

I didn't get along as well with the Passagemaker, but that was my fault, not the boat's. I was trying too many new things at once - new hull, 2 sails and and unfamiliar rigging - in a crowded area while worrying about not damaging the demo boat. But even with all that, I got it out, around the river a bit and back in again with no mishaps, so I suspect that with a bit of quiet practice time it'd be a fine boat to knock around in. But it was not the instant fun machine that the Jimmy Skiff was, nor the effortless gliding beauty that the skerry was. Again, though, that was my fault, not the boat's.

Best thing to do, George, is to see if you can make it to Okoumefest and actually examine the boats and take them out for a spin.

Laszlo

In Response to: CLC Sailing Craft by George on May 22, 2006

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