West Mersea Duck Punts - new two sheet S+T version

[BrianP]

Here's Dylan's thoughts after his first sail

"These are my thoughts after two hours of sailing in tideless fresh water in a four knot breeze

I am sure it would be possible to add chine runners - you could probably extend the bottom panel a bit

but the punt seems perfectly close winded to me provided you let it heel a bit

and a stroke of the oar has a miraculous impact

the oar can also be used to cut sideways motion

Gavin Atkin suggested that I did not put anything on the bottom of the boat as that might make it harder to tack

it did seem to need a stroke or two to get through the wind - but I think with a bit of exoperience and the right gbreeze that might not be necessary

I shall see how the bottom survives the intended abuse

I want to keep the hull as light as possible so that I can manhandle it myself - and maybe even tow it behind a bike

more wood is more weight and if you don't need it....

there was a bloke out sailing a laser and he was outpointing us .... but not by much and there did not seem to be much in the way of terrible leeway

lots of experimenting to do with sailing techniques before I start messing with the design

but all round I am astonished


I reckon in the right breeze you could steer this thing no hands - just by shifting your leg inboard and outboard

having been a sailor for 50 years I thought that the time was past for me trying something new

I did have a go at windsurfing - hated it

I am too old for kite surfing

this is a whole new experience afloat and I love it

I really do suggest that if you can get hold of an oppy rig then you might as well slap one of these together and get on the water for some real fun

the plans are spreading around the web and flo-mos version should be a little cracker


it is sailing stripped to its bare essentials


and it feels stupidly fast because you are so low in the water

I realy can't wait to get it up to North Norfolk"

Dylan
www.keepturningleft.co.uk

[stanrich]

Between Dylan Winter's Duck Punt build and wonderful links and photo's of the West Mersea Duck Punts on the Internet I couldn't resist the chance to build my own duck punt.   I downloaded the plans from Dylan's web site and have watched his fast build techniques.    I am following somewhat of a similar building process with close dimensional values from the plans and Dylan's process for a fast build using lighter weight wood.   I am blogging my build, so if anyone is interested...http://duckpunt.wordpress.com/ 

The challenge for me after the build will be finding the right wind conditions to overcome a 4 mph river current and allow upstream sailing.  I have a vacation spot on the Colorado River south of Lake Havasu AZ, (famous for relocating the London Bridge)

[Timmo]

Last time I went to Havasu City there were only two types of boats around, either fast ones (clearly people competed to have the most and biggest outboards) or great party pontoons, both groups competing to have the loudest hi fi and biggest stock of cold beer on board.

I guess the boats I would appreciate gather somewhere else.

Was a little weird seeing London Bridge again looking so familiar yet so out of context.

Look forward to seeing your Duck Punt afloat.

Timmo

On 10 Feb 2012, at 15:13, stanrich [via UK HBBR Forum] wrote:

> The challenge for me after the build will be finding the right wind conditions to overcome a 4 mph river current and allow upstream sailing.  I have a vacation spot on the Colorado River south of Lake Havasu AZ, (famous for relocating the London Bridge)

[stanrich]

Lake Havasu and the Colorado River is a spring, summer, and fall mecca for fast boats and minimal clothing.   Winter is a different animal.  Offering the best weather in the USA during the winter months, it is still a bit too cold for the speed boat crowd, but is an excellent spot for finding piece and quiet with a small sailboat.  It's a contrast from the normal for the area.  I am a bit further south then Havasu, actually below the Parker strip, so my area of the river is especially quiet during the winter months.  This is the area I hope to explore with my duck punt.  

On Feb 10, 2012, at 12:30 PM, Timmo [via UK HBBR Forum] wrote:

Last time I went to Havasu City there were only two types of boats around, either fast ones (clearly people competed to have the most and biggest outboards) or great party pontoons, both groups competing to have the loudest hi fi and biggest stock of cold beer on board.

I guess the boats I would appreciate gather somewhere else.

Was a little weird seeing London Bridge again looking so familiar yet so out of context.

Look forward to seeing your Duck Punt afloat.

Timmo

On 10 Feb 2012, at 15:13, stanrich [via UK HBBR Forum] wrote:

> The challenge for me after the build will be finding the right wind conditions to overcome a 4 mph river current and allow upstream sailing.  I have a vacation spot on the Colorado River south of Lake Havasu AZ, (famous for relocating the London Bridge)

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[Jeremy]

Having been a bit inspired by this thread, and the apparent simplicity of these little boats, I'm going to have a go at building one.  Thanks to Brian for providing the links to the plans, and to the generosity of those who have given them freely to us.  There a a couple of tiny discrepancies on the plans worth noting and correcting when you build the jig, though.  The bottom panel isn't quite a fair curve from bow to the midpoint with the heights given for jig frames 1,2 and 3.  The error is small, but to get a fair curve these three frames need to be 320.5 mm, 337.8 mm and 349.2 mm high, respectively.

I've got the jig frame outlines and the bottom and top of the hull inner shape outlines drawn up in CAD now, but I'm making some small modifications to the jig and drawings to suit my preferred construction method (which is far from being traditional!).

[BrianP]

some more inspiration here from Dylan. A wonderful video.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_qFvMbrMWw

Brian

[Jeremy]

Thanks Brian, it is indeed a wonderful video.  I'm impressed by Dylan's obvious surprise at just how good a boat for his purposes the Duck Punt is, in fact so impressed that I got back on to my own Duck Punt project again this afternoon.  I need some better lengths of timber for the bent parts of the jig though, as so far I've broken four bits of B&Qs finest trying to get them to bend around the gunwale..........

(I wonder if the splintering noises reached as far as the gentlemen in Arundel and Fishbourne - I have a feeling my timber may have come out in sympathy .......)

[stanrich]

I finished my Duck Punt following basic plans for the West Mersea design and the Flo-Mo modified S+T version.  The finished punt came in at 87 lbs.   I tested the buoyancy of the punt with floatation chambers.  Fully swamped, the floatation chambers held the gunwales above water with 180 lbs of ballast.    

[NeilL]

Hi  Dreaming of building a West Mersea Punt as a winter project to sail on Blackwater.  Have downloaded John Milgate plans, and keen to adapt to lightweight ply version.  3 sheet boat sounds appealing for cost + lightness.  Has anyone local to Chelmsford completed a build - I would be keen to look at a finished / part finished boat and pick brains for ideas.  We have built ply / expoxy canoes before, so not complete novice - but find plans a bit daunting.  Any help, particularly re how to mark panels from ply + mark up frames would be really appreciated.  Also - is it better to use Glassfibre, or expoxy?  How much do you reckon I would need.  All help appreciated!!!!!  Many thanks  Neil        

[stanrich]

You will have no problems building the Duck Punt from the plans.   The lightweight version is an easier build from my experience too.   The frame locations and frame measurements are clearly defined on the plans and once your building jig is completed the panels can be easily fitted and then trimmed to size.   There are a number of building blogs that show details of the build.  Just google  "Building the Duck Punt" or visit my building site  http://duckpunt.wordpress.com/    The more you look at the plans the clearer they become, and once you are into the build the details always seem to pop out with enough clarity to get the job done.    Build with epoxy and 4 oz fiberglass cloth.   You need no more then 16 ft of 50 in width cloth.  A gallon of Epoxy should be enough too.  Start a building blog so we can follow along with you build.

[BrianP]

Neil, FLO-MO used the plans to create a stitch and tape set of panel dimensions, just the same as you may have used in your canoe builds. They make the process less intimidating I feel. As Stan says, the combination of the original plans and FLO-MO's should get you there.

Here's a link to the S+T dimensions. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4Bi31ixDF93c0FuTWYyNzRRT0dGNjlnVW5YZFZnQQ/edit

Let me know if the link doesn't work, Google Docs does seem a bit awkward.

The Duck Punt guys sail in your part of the world, including a winter season of racing,and seem very helpful.  http://www.duckpunt.org.uk/

Hope you go ahead, it's a great little boat.

Brian

[Jeremy]

I still have the jig from building Quackers, my super-lightweight Duck Punt, if anyone wants it.  It's to the same dimensions as the original one.  It would be pretty easy to use the jig to both cut out the panels (the jig could be used as a template for marking the panels easily enough) and then the jig would support the panels whilst they are glued up.  I'd be inclined to just use packing tape to hold the panels in place whilst the epoxy sets up, then use either glass tape and epoxy, or maybe glass cloth, to reinforce the thing.

[NeilL]

Hi Jeremy

 

Sounds interesting – I am hoping to build a punt as a winter project.  Whereabouts are you based?  I would also really like to take a look at ‘Quackers’ so I can better understand the plans on a ‘real’ 3D boat J  We are Chelmsford based, and have car / trailer so could collect jig

 

Many thanks

 

Neil

 

  

 

From: Jeremy [via UK HBBR Forum] [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: 15 September 2012 14:57
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: West Mersea Duck Punts - new two sheet S+T version

 

I still have the jig from building Quackers, my super-lightweight Duck Punt, if anyone wants it.  It's to the same dimensions as the original one.  It would be pretty easy to use the jig to both cut out the panels (the jig could be used as a template for marking the panels easily enough) and then the jig would support the panels whilst they are glued up.  I'd be inclined to just use packing tape to hold the panels in place whilst the epoxy sets up, then use either glass tape and epoxy, or maybe glass cloth, to reinforce the thing.

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[Jeremy]

I'm near Salisbury, Wiltshire, but could easily meet you part way with the jig if that's easier, as I'm fairly often up nearer London.  The jig gives a pretty good idea of the shape of the boat hull, you might just be able to get an idea of it from these pictures from the build thread: http://uk-hbbr-forum.967333.n3.nabble.com/A-Duck-Punt-for-the-Cordless-Canoe-Challenge-tp3777357.html

[NeilL]

Hi Jeremy

 

Many thanks for your kind offer and sorry for delay in getting back to you.  Unfortunately, I need to delay the build, as finances are going to be a bit stretched over the coming months.  Probably try again next summer (which will be better for curing epoxy etc anyway).

 

Will spend the winter, reading, studying plans, sourcing materials etc......and dreaming a bit 

 

Regards

 

Neil

 

 

 

From: Jeremy [via UK HBBR Forum] [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: 17 September 2012 10:05
To: [hidden email]
Subject: RE: West Mersea Duck Punts - new two sheet S+T version

 

I'm near Salisbury, Wiltshire, but could easily meet you part way with the jig if that's easier, as I'm fairly often up nearer London.  The jig gives a pretty good idea of the shape of the boat hull, you might just be able to get an idea of it from these pictures from the build thread: http://uk-hbbr-forum.967333.n3.nabble.com/A-Duck-Punt-for-the-Cordless-Canoe-Challenge-tp3777357.html

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[dschin]

the displacement of the ducky is?????

will it be save as gunning skiff?

how will it work in short high waves???



regards from vienna