Design
Nutshell 7
Designed by Jacques Mertens
A 7 ft 6 in minimum dinghy for oars or a 2 hp outboard by Jacques Mertens, sold by Bateau / Boat Builder Central as the N7. It was modelled on the deck-stowed tender of a long-distance cruising friend: light enough at 52 lb to launch and retrieve easily, yet buoyant enough to carry out an anchor. It is happiest with one person aboard.
Stitch and glue with no butt joints at all, the sides coming out of a single sheet of plywood. The designer ranks it among his easiest boats and mentions crews as young as ten finishing one. He gives an average of 25 hours for the hull. Budget 30 to 60 hours. Real hours from logged builds are below.
What building a Nutshell 7 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.
Those medians firm up as more people log this boat.
Builds of this boat
Nobody has logged a Nutshell 7 here yet.
If you are building one, yours becomes the reference: the page the next person building this boat finds when they search for it. One photo and one line is a valid first entry.
Start the first log of this boatBoats like this one
Same type, closest in length.
| Design | Plans from | LOA | Logs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polliwog 8 | Devlin | 7′ 6″ (2.29 m) | 1 |
| Paddlewheeler | Glen-L Marine | 7′ 8″ (2.34 m) | 0 |
| Prameke 7'-8' | Bateau | 7′ 8″ (2.34 m) | 0 |
| Eastport Nesting Pram | Chesapeake Light Craft | 7′ 9″ (2.36 m) | 0 |
| Eastport Pram | Chesapeake Light Craft | 7′ 9″ (2.36 m) | 0 |
| Stasha | Woodenwidget | 7′ 3″ (2.2 m) | 0 |