Those swelled-out Herreshoff sheerstrakes, so admired, don’t come into being without a clear idea of what their final shape should be—at the bow and stern as well as along the rest of the sheer. When they’re carefully shaped, tapered and varnished, you can’t beat them for emphasizing the sheerline. In theory, their bulge bcomes the boat’s rubrail. But who in their right mind would ever allow that lovely piece of planking to scrub against anything? So their chief benefit, other than enhancing appearance, is adding strength where the deck connects to the hull. The additional thickness near the sheerstrakes’ top edge give more landing for the covering boards and more meat to fasten them into.
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Cliff Gates says:
How would one ensure that the shapes/curves are duplicated from side to side?
David Tew says:
The treatment at the transom corners is equally elegant. I’d hate to bang them against anything, too!