boatbuildlog

Design

Caravelle 16

Designed by Jacques Mertens

A 14 ft 4 in family daysailer by Jacques Mertens of Bateau, inspired by the French Caravelle sailing school boat drawn by Jean-Jacques Herbulot. It is a pram-bowed dinghy with lengthwise benches and a small cuddy for stowage, sized to get the hull out of four sheets of plywood. Designed weight is 160 lb, sail area 96 sq ft on a simple stayed rig, and it takes an outboard up to 6 hp.

Flat plywood panels joined stitch and glue with epoxy and fiberglass tape. No woodworking skill or special tools are needed, but it uses more time and material than the smaller dinghies. The designer's figure is about 80 hours for the hull, so budget 120 to 200 hours overall. Real hours from logged builds are below.

What building a Caravelle 16 actually takes

Medians from the build logs kept on this site, not the designer’s estimate. Nobody has logged this boat here yet, so they are empty until the first builder does.

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Build logs
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Launched
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Median hours
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Median months

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Builds of this boat

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Same type, closest in length.

Design Plans from LOA Logs
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Sharpie 14 Bateau 14′ 0″ (4.27 m) 0