Yeah, I just read John'd description of the OJ and it really sounds exciting. This is one boat I want to try out at the next OkoumeFest. I never thought I'd get excited about a multi-hull but this design really looks fascinating.

Ha! That'll give those Sunfish sailors something to think about while turning green with envy - for sure!

Once again: Bravo to John!

~~~_/)~~Chris

I just re-read the specs of the OJ. - 165 sqft of  sail!!!

That is virtually the same area as the downwind sail area of the MX-Ray (incl. asymmetrical chute). That must be one fast boat - smokin'!

Lookin forward to give the OJ a spin at the O-Fest.

>>>I don't see any reason why the fiberglass couldn't completely applied before the stitching and gluing begins.>>>

Oh, I'm a big believer in pre-'glassing whenever possible.  Every single panel in the prototype Outrigger Junior was 'glassed on the flat.  With peel ply, no less:

What a cool design! The sail looks large and maybe not reefable, do you think it will be managable in stronger wind?

  I think a lateen can be reefed up to a point, but you eventually wind up with a lot of spar up high in the boat at just the wrong time. Still, this looks like a great beach playboat. And I LOVE the idea of using lashings! A set of hardwood wedges driven in from opposite sides will tighten up a lashed joint in seconds with nothing to corrode and at a cost of pennies. Ditto the stiff short unstayed mast with bendy spars and the lateen rig: brilliant idea! 

I'm curious about the centerboard. The pivot pin must fit into a slot rather than an enclosed hole in the board, I suppose, to make it possible to lift the board up and out of an open-topped case for cartopping. Or is there another clever way to do that?

It looks like it has a large cutout in the part that remains sheathed in the case when the board is fully lowered. For weight saving purposes? It doesn't compromise the strength needed to resist the sailing side forces?  

  John, now that you have given an endorsement of pre-glassing of parts and panels, will the kit instructions be amended to reflect this? 

>>  John, now that you have given an endorsement of pre-glassing of parts and panels, will the kit instructions be amended to reflect this? >>>

Where it makes sense, we've always done it.  The Outrigger Junior is one where it makes sense, and the instructions will prescribe that approach.

Extensive pre-coating is not a good fit for all boats or all builders.  Professionals pre-coat things reflexively, but it requires experience and sophisticated visualization skills to understand exactly which surfaces can be pre-'glassed and which can't.  

Back in 2005 we tried putting the pre-coating procedure into the instructions of one of our most popular kits.  It became an enduring Top Ten tech call, with a lot of hand-wringing and confusion.  For a first-time boatbuilder, the instruction to "pre-coat the inside face of this, this, and this panel, but NOT that panel, and NOT a certain part of THAT panel" was simply confusing.  Not pre-coating at the beginning of the project means a modest amount of additional sanding at the end of the project.  The customers told us it was a worthwhile trade-off for simpler instructions.