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Rapid Whale

Mini Boat

’m a Bay Area maker – owner and operator of a

ridiculously small one-man design shop, Rapid Whale. I

have a knack for designing things no one wants (or is willing to

pay for), so it’s fitting that I designed such a small mini boat.

The Rapid Whale Mini Boat is only 6 foot in length, which

I believe makes it one of the smallest mini-boats out there

(most are 8’). And as far as I know, it may be the first mini boat ever

to be CNC laser-cut. Typically when you think of boat manufacturing,

you think of CNC routers, or giant metal moulds for laying up

fibreglass. With something as small as a mini boat, it becomes

possible (and advantageous) to cut it with a laser. My laser cutter

has a cutting zone of just 900 mm × 1000 mm (just under 3’ × 2’), so

that partly dictated the size of my boat.

The first mini boat I ever saw was Paul Elkin’s 8-foot ‘Little

Miss Sally’. It was amazing, and it stuck with me for a few years.

I became motivated to design and build my own mini boat once

I discovered the simplicity of ‘stitch and glue’ boat building. I

spent countless hours designing and tweaking the boat in CAD

before moving onto a scale-model, and then finally three full-scale

production models.

My Dad, my good friend Dylan, and I built three of these boats at

the same time in a garage. We knocked out most of the work in a

weekend and took our time waterproofing and putting on finishing

touches. When it came time to launch them for the first voyage, I

had some idea of what to expect (knowledge from the CAD model,

and the scale model) but was still largely uncertain as to how it

would behave in the water. Lucky for us, the boats performed

admirably. Primary stability was quite low, which is what allows us

to lean into turns. Secondary stability was very good, which is what

prevents us from actually flipping. That combination of stability is

perfect for having a blast at low speeds, which is great because you

aren’t going any faster than 4 mph with the electric trolling motors.

I’m looking forward to taking our boats out on many

more adventures.

I

By Josh Tulberg Rapidwhale.com