Powerboats

The PortableBoatPlans "2012 Portable Boat Design Contest" is over for another year, and there were two winners (tied votes). The object of the contest was simple: Develop a concept for a small homemade boat that would appeal to many other amateur...

For the Windsor slipper launch we have used the ply over frame method of construction using a modern framework of ply bulkheads and frames partly linked by fore and aft ply girders all set up to make sure that the builder starts with an accurate base...

A 21' x 7' bigger sister to the Power 1 design using the same easy construction method and having a similar double chine construction with a flat bottom panel simplifying her building and producing an easy planing hull form. The hull, seats and cabin...

I decided to add this larger version of the Electric Moto Craft to my growing fleet of EMC hulls after a comment and request from one of my YouTube subscribers. He had been watching one of my how-to videos on building the 14ft version of the...

Our Felix 13’ was lengthened to 15’ and the beam increased to accommodate batteries for electric power and now this design has been lengthened a further 12” and the beam increased by 6” and the hull depth also increased so that she may...

The Whooping Swan is a development of the 16' Grey Swan pocket cruiser - a client asked me to alter the hull so that it would take an outboard with a wheelhouse - in doing this we have added buoyancy to the aft end and made the transom more vertical to...

After designing and building the 8ft Nuthatch Pram, I thought that a larger version of the hull would be a good fit in my series of stitch and glue boats. This is the finished design of the 12ft "fishing" version, and I have a 14ft version in the early...

AF4 is a simple low powered cuddy cruiser intended for protected waters. Kilburn Adams of St. Louis brought a boat similar in spirit to AF4 to our Midwest Messabouts and it was easy to see what a good idea this is. Kiburn's boat was a modified Sturdee...

The 30' Amaryllis was commissioned by Mr. William Fuller to replace his 22' steam launch. The new launch will be built by the International Boat Building College in Lowestoft using conventional planked methods. She uses a 25 hp steam unit by J. Alex...

We were asked to design "Fanny" for the Boatman magazine and the construction of her hull was covered in issues 30 to 37. Since then several have been built both in plywood and in steel (by Peter Nicholls Steel Yachtbuilders). She was originally based...

The AQUA SPORT CRUISER was specifically designed for 2 purposes. First, when nested, it had to fit in the trunk of most cars, and second, it had to be capable of accepting a smal outboard motor for power, anything under 2.5hp. It also had to be...

Dani Jay is the chosen name of the project I called Bobsboat in last year's essays. The idea behind it was to have an easily driven seaworthy launch that would take a bunch of adults around in a laid back style. It was not to be a planing boat so big...