Light Dory

It dawned on him one October morning that there would be no Christmas cruise that year without something unusual happening, and the idea of cruising under oars took hold. The way to build a boat quickly is not to work fast but to build something small and very simple, so this is a plywood dory with a tombstone transom, which is what makes it a dory at all, a curved stem to force shape into the forward sections, a strong sheer rising aft with surfing in mind, maximum beam carried further aft than tradition so she runs straight in a following sea, a big skeg for directional stability, buoyancy tanks under the seats and a sculling notch in the transom.

A 16 ft 8 in light dory, seaworthy enough for a week of coastal cruising under oars and drawing only 6 in. At 42 kg it can be car-topped, and the designer cruised one from Dargaville down the Kaipara Harbour in it.