Practical Boat Owner – June 2019

When a new issue of PBO

lands on my doormat, the

Sketchbook page soon gets

my attention. In PBO April

2019 it was about tiller locks.

I find tiller locks to be very

helpful, and have tried

several versions over the

years. The one I use now for

my 26ft Marieholm

International Folkboat is

cheap and simple, both to

make and to use.

My version looks very

similar to version C in the

Sketchbook. The main

difference is that the line is

terminated in a stout bungee

at each side, and the hook

under the tiller is replaced

with a hardwood cleat, which

forms a narrow V-notch

against the tiller. This lets the

line jam in the notch and

hold the course. The present

version has an 8° notch and

works well, but I think the

angle could be reduced to

even 6° or 5°, and would thus

hold the tiller of larger boats

than mine.

This tiller lock has proven

to be super-quick to activate

and remove. Even better, I

Tiller lock

Readers share their thoughts and opinions

Letters

Email [email protected]

or write to us at the address on page 5.

Photos are appreciated, letters may be edited.

Thank you for a great

magazine. For those with

neither the money nor

inclination to buy a new yacht

Rupert Holmes’s series on

Popular Classics is a continual

delight. However in his

write-up of the 1980 Westerly

Fulmar, his praise for the later

Typhoon misses an important

step. Good though the

Typhoon (1990) may be, it is

really a stretched Westerly

Storm 33 (1986) and the

Tempest 31 (1987) is a slightly

reduced version of the Storm’s

very practical hull shape. I am

about to enjoy my third season

in my 1991 Westerly Storm.

A great article on a great boat

(used boat test Scanmar 40

PBO April)! But you didn’t

mention an important issue

with this particular boat. She

has a cored hull. While this was

more common at the time for

lighter boats and multihulls, it

was a relatively innovative idea

then for larger, heavier blue

water cruising boats. Buyers

need to be aware of this, and

to research all the issues that

go with older cored hulls.

Moisture take-up is not unusual

for example, as is delamination

in some areas. Most of the

problems are curable, or even

ignorable if not too serious, as

the skins were relatively heavy,

but it still pays to be aware of

the issue. Moisture readings

above and below the waterline

and thorough hammer

sounding are essential.

Readings should also taken

internally around the waterline

and deep into the bilges below

the saloon.

Just a note of caution on a

otherwise great boat!

Mike Buggy

Yacht Surveyor,

Gosport

I am planning on building this

boat. Are there other photos to

aid in construction? Can they

be accessed or had?

Eddie Breeden

PBO editor Rob replies: There

are now more photos online at

pbo.co.uk/western_skiff plus

there is a

rig diagram

and other

updates as

well – all

from page

60 in this

issue.

Skiff photos

Nigel^ Ir

ens/Jac

k^ Giffo

rd

W

hen Nigel Irens designed the Western Skiff 22

a modest but signifiyears ago, boatbuilding as a hobby was enjoying cant revival

in the UK. Designers such as Iain Oughtred, Selway Fisher and Andrew Wolstenholme were developing

expanding portfolios of plans for amateur construction, and a highly

successful amateur boatbuilding competition (ABBA) was established, which is still going to this day.

for amateur boatbuilders, however, Nigel Irens, the designer of record-breaking Not content with just creating a dinghy

multihulls such as & Wirelessthe logical next step forward. decided that kit boats would be B&Q, ENZA and Cable

kit building is in for a revival,’ he wrote. ‘Partly because, as in the post-war years, ‘There’s more than a whiff in the air that

people are again looking for a way to get afl oat without mortgaging their soul, and

partly because there’s some new technology about that makes the whole

Fancy building your own Nigel Irens-designed

14ft rowing/sailing skiff? Nic Compton

explains how to get

the plans for free

Build your own

Nigel Irens

14-footer

Western Skiff is designed for rowing or sailing – but The Nigel Irens 14ft

motor if fican also be powered by a small outboard tted with a well

modifi cation

idea more accessible to those who cannot claim to be master builders.’

of course the new interface of CAD programmes and CNC cutters, which had The technology he was referring to was

by then been developed to a high level by mainstream manufacturers and was now ‘fi ltering down at the right price to ordinary

mortals in cottage industries like boatbuilding’.

progressed as Nigel predicted, and most of the boat plans offered by Oughtred, The boatbuilding revolution has indeed

Fisher, Wolstenholme and others are now available in kit form through the likes of

Jordan Boats and Fyne Boats. ‘kits’ are increasingly used by professional What’s perhaps surprising is that those

boatbuilders who appreciate the saving in their time, even if they already have the skills to build the boats without the help of

a CNC cutter.

The Western SkiffThe design Nigel came up with all those years ago was a slender 14ft clinker

plywood dinghy, with an upright stem and elegantly raked transom. Although

primarily a rowing boat, it was fi tted with a modest lug rig (just 61sq ft/5.7m (^2) ), complete with
daggerboard and rudder. In fact, the sweeping tiller (in two sizes: a long one for sailing
and a short one for rowing) was one of the defi ning
prototype Western Skiff in 1998Designer Nigel Irens sails the characteristics of the designs. There was no provision for an
26 Practical Boat Owner @ http://www.pbo.co.uk
memorial fund, then visit Make a donation to the Ed Burnett
pbo.co.ukplywood kits can be free plans. Pre-cut for your set of
(^14) delivered to your door by Jordan Boats from £940 + delivery
FT^ W
ESTE
RN^ SK
IFF
FR
EE^
BOAT
PLA
NS
can fine-adjust the tiller setting
with millimetre accuracy. This
has let me bring my boat to
sail herself for quite some
time, as long as the wind
strength does not vary too
much. I use my tiller lock on
every outing, and I would feel
quite handicapped without it.
Arne Kverneland,
Stavanger, Norway
Ed Dubois produced a great
design inside and out. The boat
is manageable single-handed
but can sleep up to seven at a
push. It deserves a closer look
in your pages.
Paul Kelly
Poole, Dorset
Core innovation
Westerly Storm
recognition
Tiller lock ideas by
Dick Everitt in PBO
April 2019
A similar
arrangement...
... aboard this
junk-rigged
Folkboat
More skiff build
photos online
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