boatbuildlog

Design

John's Sharpie

Designed by John C. Harris

An 18 ft 1 in cat-ketch sharpie designed in 1996 by John C. Harris for his own sailing on Chesapeake Bay, sold by Chesapeake Light Craft. Its proportions follow the 19th-century New Haven oyster-tonging sharpies, but it is a light, fast daysailer and camp cruiser for two to four adults: 54 in beam, 200 lb hull, 108 sq ft on two unstayed masts, a daggerboard and an 800 lb payload. Harris notes that many owners carry a pair of sandbags to steady it.

No frames or strongback are needed. The 9 mm okoume hull is bent around permanent bulkheads and stitched and glued like a big kayak. CLC grades it intermediate and says builds average about 250 hours. Real hours from logged builds are below.

What building a John's Sharpie 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

Nobody has logged a John's Sharpie here yet.

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Boats like this one

Same type, closest in length.

Design Plans from LOA Logs
Micro Class n/a 5.5 m (18′ 1″) 0
Vagabond 18 Bateau 18′ 2″ (5.54 m) 0
Lit'l Coot 18 Bilge Keel Devlin 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) 0
Sentinel Explorer 18 Dudley Dix Yacht Design 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) 0
Sport Boat 18 Bateau 18′ 0″ (5.49 m) 0
Lit'l Coot 18 Full Keel Devlin 17′ 10″ (5.45 m) 0