return to section: 2023 Big Little Boat Festival Recap - Part 2
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Low-key competitions for boatbuilding have always been a feature of CLC's Big Little Boat Festival and "OkoumeFest." We have never failed to be amazed at the quality and variety of small wooden boats that arrive from all over the country.
Runner-up "Best Kayak" went to Alden Frautschy, who brought his Shearwater Sport all the way from Wisconsin. "Overall execution" is always the primary consideration of the incorruptible judges, and overall, Alden's Shearwater Sport was beautifully executed.
David Dawson, a returning champion with several podium-level boatbuilding awards, took "Best Kayak" for this Petrel Play SG. He laminated dazzling fabric beneath the fiberglass for an absolutely unique finish.
From a distance, David's Petrel Play SG looks flamboyant. Up close, it's still flamboyant, but you find that the work was executed with great care. Professional-level boatbuilding, and we love the whimsy of the project.
Runner-up for "Best Small Craft" went to Mark Palmquist for his absolutely unique, and uniquely clever, folding dinghy. CLC mogul John C. Harris, a lifelong admirer of quirky and practical designs, would not permit this year's competition to continue without giving Mark an award. Mark calls his design a "Shuttle Punt."
Mark's dinghy folds in the middle and fits in the back of a minivan. Clip on wheels and a goose-neck handle, and the boat can be dollied to the water over any terrain. More notably, the geometry of the handle allows the rig to be hitched to his bicycle. Cycle to the head of some nearby creek or river, launch the boat, stow the bicycle behind the seat in the brackets provided, and paddle back to your starting point. In a garage or shed, the boat can be stowed standing on end.
The seat slips over the hinged joint amidships, and, along with some aluminum doublers, keeps the boat locked in its waterborne configuration. Note the fork mount for the stowed bicycle, on the bottom just behind the palatial seat.
Though not intended for open water crossing, of course, in smooth water the extremely lightweight hull shows a good turn of speed.
Many admired the clever design and attachment of the folding skeg.
First Runner-up for "Best Small Craft" went to Conrad Smith, who took a set of plans for our stock Oxford Shell and stretched the design to create a perfectly good double shell. The engineering is sound and well-executed, and we are entirely satisfied that, notwithstanding the name, this rowing shell will never become firewood!
"Best Small Craft" went to Lou Maresko for his...kayak. Well, a stock CLC Mill Creek 13 outfitted with a standard CLC SailRig. The conversion creates a handy and sporty little trimaran, which we're happy to include in the "Small Craft" division. After 25 years of experimentation, designer John Harris thinks that kayaks and canoes in the 10- to 14-foot range, used as a trimaran's center hull, probably yield the best all-around performance with this rig. Not as fast, maybe, but more nimble under sail.
Nice details and craftsmanship in Lou's Mill Creek 13 trimaran.
"Best in Show" is reserved for someone who not only tackles an intricate project, but nails every detail. Charlie Ellin's Lighthouse Tender Peapod checked all of the boxes.
CLC's Lighthouse Tender Peapod isn't a hard boat to build, but it's got a high parts-count and a lot of surface area for its 13'5" length. (It feels like a 16- or 17-foot boat on the water. And in the shop.) All of that surface area translates into a lot of highly detailed finish work, and this is the nicest example we've ever seen. Nicer than our demo models, to be sure!
Chief Judge John Harris spotted one feature of Charlie's peapod from across the parking lot: the perfect fit of the planking where it comes together at the bow and stern. Built from a computer-cut kit, that's how the bow and stern are supposed to look, of course, but it requires patience to execute that in the shop such that the result is varnish-grade!
Nice details. We liked how the lower strakes inside the hull were painted, a practical feature for cleaning and long-term wear. And it helps set off the varnish work in the interior.
Tie-downs and/or lifting rings for the floorboards in Charlie's peapod. Congrats! Now go get that boat scratched up...
The arrival of heavy rain later in the day precluded the usual awards ceremony, so John Harris wanted to amplify his thanks for all involved here on the website. And may it be heard all 'round the world:
"First, many thanks to the Chesapeake Paddlers Association, who have provided safety boats at our events every single year for the last 24 years. We could not—literally could not—have an on-water event like this without a team of safety paddlers.
"The Big Little Boat Festival is a giant logistical undertaking, involving a swarm of organizational details to be managed one at a time, from securing permits and a venue, to physically hauling 60 CLC demo boats from Annapolis to Conquest Beach. (And back again, just when everyone is really tired!) It's a job that requires stamina and a sharp eye for detail.
"My warmest, heartfelt thanks to the entire team at CLC, who spent the last six months making 2023's Big Little Boat Festival work.
"Russ Jacobsen is the boss of the event. He did the cat-herding, always energetically and with a sense of humor. Ed Wigglesworth, CLC's president, and Nicky Stimpson, our Sales Manager, shouldered heavy responsibility and got their own teams rowing together to make the event really sing.
"Dylan Jones, Nancy Noyes, Brian Schmidt, Andrew Schroeher, and Blaine Skilling also had vital roles in making BLBF go off without a hitch. On top of everything else they do at CLC!
"Likewise, I am in debt to every single staff member—you know who you are—who touched up varnish, loaded boats, and rallied at dawn on the morning of the event, and did the load-out in the rain at the end of a long day!
"And to everyone who came to the event, whether you brought boats or not: We love you, and we'll see you next year!*"
The scene: Russ Jacobsen's desk. The time: the Monday after BLBF. Note the bottle, which you'll find on the desk of every successful manager!
* Next year's planning has begun -- look for us at Conquest Beach again, on Saturday, May 18, 2024!
