Classic Boat - May 2018

New Classics

See boats for sale at classicboat.co.uk/type/buy-a-classic-boat

Also new from CLC is the Nanoship. Functionally, it is the smaller sister to the

already popular 14ft Pocketship, a tiny cabin cruiser. It’s just 12ft 11in in length,

but that’s deceiving – the full hull form and capability, notwithstanding the lack

of cabin give the ‘ship’ its name. The hull weighs 650lb when filled with the

optional 375lb of water ballast, making this centreboarder heavy at sea and

light on the trailer. CLC built this prototype with a view to marketing it to the

world at large, but decided that it was beyond the reach of most amateur

builders (plans are available to those with the experience and skill).

CLC’s John C Harris is keen to point out that the boat has been trialled and

tweaked for a full year and is ‘bug free’. Nanoship is a commodious daysailer,

with a one-year-old 2hp Honda in a well, and a one-year-old custom trailer. Rig

is gaf yawl. It is selling this one for the material cost only to make way for

building the next, so this represents a rare bargain.

Cost: $9,999 (c£7,000), clcboats.com

One of the many maxims of amateur boatbuilding is that you should

build a model of it first. This is a test of your aptitude, patience, skill

and so on, but it also serves forever more as a reminder of happy

summer months as it sits on your mantelpiece all winter, your full-size

boat (now built) under cover and gathering leaves.

Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) in Maryland USA (and represented

in Britain by Fyne Boat Kits) have taken it a stage further and

produced a 1:8 model of its popular Northeaster Dory. The real thing

is 17ft long so the model is a little over 2ft. Build method is puzzle-

jointed planks stitched and glued to the flat bottom; the method is

almost identical to the full-sized boat, but at this small size, and

without the need to glass the hull, build time is estimated at just 10

hours. That’s one long rainy day or a few evenings. CLC bought a

large laser cutter in 2016, and has been busy coming up with models

of other boats in its range – the Nor’Easter is just the beginning. Best

of all, CLC has produced a 90-minute comprehensive video to guide

you through the process. It’s freely available on the website below.

Cost: $99 (c£70) with a printed manual available for $1

clcboats.com

NANOSHIP

One they built earlier

NORTHEASTER DORY

Start small with a scale model