6' 9" PUD-g Plans PDF

This design is a departure from what I had told myself about not working on any more short boats. Most people are looking for a boat somewhere in the 10 to 14 foot range. This isn't even close to that ideal. But I gave it a go anyway for the following reasons.

The design came about after I had gone up to Bellingham, Washington, to look at a 34 foot steel sailboat. As I was waiting for the broker to show up, I made a quick stroll up and down the docks looking at the other boats sitting at their moorings. As I walked along, I kept seeing all the yacht's tenders stacked in their dock racks in neat little rows. I then became more interested in them than their mother ships.

There were prams, skiffs, and dinghys; some homemade and some production boats. I was amazed at how short they were and how little volume they carried at their beams and ends. Some of the more stylish ones had tiny little wineglass transoms which carry no load until the boat is 6" deeper in the water and freeboard is at a premium. For a lot of them, twelve inches of freeboard sitting empty was stretching the point.

I decided when I got home to see what I could come up with that was small enough to fit on the fore deck, but still carry the captain and at least one crew member, plus supplies from the docks to the mothership. I wanted to keep it short, somewhat narrow in the beam, and with low enough freeboard to be out of the way of either the main boom or the headsail on the mothership.

A short narrow boat needs it's volume where the hull meets the water so to speak. So I made sure that I carried the volume all the way down in the stern. A wine glass looks pretty, but doesn't carry the weight well when more than one person is in the boat. I puffed out the volume in the bow area to give more displacement forward to keep the nose up and the extra flare helps lift her up in waves and keep some of the spray out. I also gave her some freeboard to keep the seas out when loaded down with crew and supplies. Sitting on the dock, her height at the beam is about 16" and this should help keep her dry. There is enough "V" to the bottom that I don't think she will need a keel strip to keep her going in a straight line. If you want to add a short one along the last two feet of the keel, be my guest as it can't hurt and can only help. It looks like six foot oars would work very well and could be stored in the hull with no overhangs.

I did rake the transom a little, and put a bit of a curve in the sheer. Nothing says she has to be practical, and homely. I used a "boxed" seat system with hatches to act as flotation chambers, and for storage. The fore and aft center seat with double oarlock sets, allows the rower to move forward to adjust the weight in the hull to maintain trim. I was quite pleased during the "sea trials", to how the boat handled and rowed. At 6ft 9", you give up some waterline length for speed, but it was still easy to move along and tracked well without a keel strip. The sailing rig is optional, but will keep the captain and kids happy at anchor. The 36sq ft Opti sail, and the 65 lb hull should make the PUD-g quick like a bunny. I hope you enjoy building your PUD-g as much as I did mine.

Plans include the following PDF files:

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

Each set of plans comes with a printable paper model (click here),
21 colorful and concise pages of drawings (samples above) and a 50 page instruction manual - perfect for the first time builder.

click image to download PDF

Thanks again for your comments and ideas.

Warren Messer
Red Barn Boats
P.S. The PUD-g stands for Personal Utility Dingy-model g. ;)

Free Study Plans - click HERE