FLATPACK SAILING
A fun little wooden boat that can be
assembled in minutes without any tools
- what could be easier?
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS NIC COMPTON
T
he weather was glorious when we set off to
try out the folding dinghy kindly loaned to
us by Seahopper Ltd. The plan had been to
go to a nearby beach, work out how to put
it together, go for a potter with the kids,
take a few photos, eat some ice cream, etc. But when
a friend invited us to join him on a birthday “cruise”
down the river Avon in South Devon (not to be confused
with the four other river Avons in the UK), it sounded
too good an opportunity to miss. So we packed a picnic,
loaded the boat into the car, and drove out to the agreed
meeting point. It proved to be a baptism of fire.
Seahopper was established in 1974 and has a long
history of building high-quality collapsible boats, starting
with the 6ft 8in Scamp and the 7ft 10in Lighter (aka
the Nifty Fifty) and then, from 1997 onwards, the 10ft
Kondor (ex-Kontender). More than 7,500 boats have
been sold since the company’s inception, making it one
of the best-selling wooden builders in the UK.
Two years ago, the company was taken over by
Steven Burch, a management consultant who was
looking for a new dinghy for his 30ft wooden sloop
and, in the way these things sometimes go, ended up
buying the company. He claims to have made 32
“quality improvements” since taking over, including
replacing brass with stainless steel wherever possible
and changing the aluminium spars to wood.
We borrowed the 7ft 10in Lighter on the basis that
this was the smallest model you could squeeze two
adults, two children and a dog into – and still potentially
fit on the foredeck of our 26ft sloop. Our maiden sail,
however, was the three miles from the village of Aveton
Gifford down the river Avon to Bantham, famous for
its fine beaches and excellent surfing. So, while the
others pumped up their inflatables and rigged a small
aluminium dinghy in the car park at Aveton Gifford,
we assembled our Seahopper for the first time.The boat’s construction is nothing if not ingenious
and shows the benefits of 40 years of development. The
central keel is about 4in wide and made of three layers
of 6mm ply, giving a rigid 18mm centreline onto which
everything else is hinged. Each of the boat’s sides is made
of two longitudinal panels, hinged together with durable
fabric, and the joints are strengthened by a series of
wide, interlocking teeth. Both ends of the boat are made
of fabric, stiffened internally with plywood panels.
To assemble the boat, you open the bottom boards,
then unfold the side panels. The aft transom is built
onto the keel and simply unfolds, pushing the sides out.
The main lateral stiffener is the centre thwart, which is
hinged in the middle. To open the boat fully, you place
the ends of the thwart in the corresponding slots on
the inside of the hull and push it down firmly until it’s
horizontal. The thwart then locks in place holding the
sides open. Slide the forward transom into position,
click the fore and aft thwarts in place, and you have
your basic boat.WORLD RECORD
The world record for assembling a Seahopper is held by
the company’s previous owner Steve Rea: 1 minute and
45 seconds. We didn’t manage anything like that, taking
10-15 minutes the first time, although we eventually got
it down to less than five minutes after a little practice –
plus another 10 minutes or so for the rig.
Once the boat was assembled, we headed from the
car park to the launch area using one of the boat’s best
features: a sturdy launching wheel, permanently fitted
to rear end of the skeg. This simple addition means the
boat can be moved around, either folded or fully
assembled, by one person with ease.
We had misjudged the tide, however, and by the time
we set off there was barely enough water to float the
Seahopper – though the other boats, being shallower,