10' Hudson Springs Pram Plans PDF

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The Hudson Springs Pram was the outgrowth from a conversation with a man with a small rowing boat in the back of his truck. I was working on the 8ft Nuthatch Pram at the time and I wanted to know what he used his boat for and what changes he would make if he could. Bigger was his answer, and that started me to think about a bigger Nuthatch design. I scaled up a Nuthatch to 10 feet and showed him the model. He was thinking more of a flat bottomed boat, but I really didn't want to design a flat bottomed boat. My concerns about flat bottomed boats always comes back to secondary stability, or the lack there of when the hull gets to it's point of no return. So a truly flat bottomed boat was out of the question, from my perspective at that time.

Hudson Springs Pram Specifications:

Length: 9' 10"
Beam: 55"
Weight: 115 lbs
Max Outboard: 3 hp
Maximum Load: 650 lbs

I then proceeded to come up with some designs that would cross the gap between a V-bottomed boat and a pure flat bottomed, Jon style boat. I took the 10ft Nuthatch design and put a 12" wide flat panel down the middle, replacing the single edge with two. This gave the bottom some resistance to oil canning, but not as much as with a true "V". I showed this model to him and explained what I was doing. He said it looked good, but could I widen the flat panel. I said I could and widened it out to 18" and changed the bottom edge of the bow panel to match. Made the model and showed it to him again. Could I make the bottom panel a little wider, for more stability? I said I will try. To widen the bottom panel again I would have to also widen the bow panel again, and it was starting to not be pleasing to my eyes. I was looking at the latest model when I had a light bulb moment. The bottom center panel would come to a point and touch the point on the bow panel. I would then stretch out two bottom side panels that would curve around the front of the bottom center panel, and the same width as the bottom edges of the bow panel. That way I could make the center panel as wide as I needed and the two side panels could be adjusted from that edge to the bottoms of the side panels, and it still looked like a pram from the front. Great, he would be pleased with this new design too.

Looks good, but could you make the bottom a little wider? Ummmmmmm. I threw in the towel and came up with this design in 8, 9, and 10ft versions. The 8ft model has evolved into a kids sailing pram and should kick an Optimist where it hurts. I let Erik name the boat as he was the design customer, and so the "Hudson Springs Pram", a fly fisherman's dream platform was launched.

The boat sits proud in the water and is very easy to row. A 2hp Honda (long shaft) should be more than adequate to power the boat if you have far to travel, and it's 28 pounds will never be felt. After rowing the boat, I really like the center seat concept and all the open space around it. It's an idea that I will pursue further.

Warren D. Messer

Stitch and Glue and Stylish Too.

Plans include the following PDF files:

• Printable Paper model - FREE Download
• 39 page instruction manual
• 14 pages of detailed, color drawings

Each set of plans comes with a printable paper model (above, left),
14 colorful and concise pages of drawings and a 39 page
instruction manual - perfect for the first time builder.