Design
AWOL
Designed by John Welsford
AWOL came out of a long conversation of what-ifs. Dave had left his Navigator behind with friends overseas as a thank you, and once home the questions started: what if it were longer, faster, better accommodated, higher rigged, what if he wanted to race. Sketches went back and forth until Welsford sent him out to buy plywood and kept drawing ahead of him. What resulted reads like a quick 1980s plywood club racer with a gaff sloop rig, a raised floor with room for two airbeds, and a cockpit with proper backrests and footwells.
A 16 ft 5 in family daysailer and adventure cruiser drawn for a Navigator owner who wanted more speed. Sloop rigged with 85 sq ft in the main, 36 in the jib and an 86 sq ft gennaker for off the wind, at 210 kg rigged. Draws a little over 6 in with the board up.
What building a AWOL 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 AWOL 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piepowder 16 | Dudley Dix Yacht Design | 16′ 7″ (5.05 m) | 0 |
| Pilgrim | John Welsford | 5 m (16′ 5″) | 0 |
| Walkabout | John Welsford | 5 m (16′ 5″) | 0 |
| Pelegrin | John Welsford | 5.15 m (16′ 11″) | 0 |
| Naskeag 16 | Dudley Dix Yacht Design | 16′ 2″ (4.92 m) | 0 |
| 17 ft Catboat Puffin & Cruising Cat Liberty | Benford Design Group | 17′ 0″ (5.18 m) | 0 |