Here is another 23’ foot daysailer, quite similar to my previous SELKIE, but aimed more towards the home builder. Compared to SELKIE, she is lower sided (a bit less room below), lighter, and shallower. But the main difference is her glued lapstrake contruction. She would be a good project for an ambitious amateur – someone who has perhaps enjoyed building a simple boat and is ready to step up to a bigger project.
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Andrew Neal says:
This design checks a lot of boxes for me. Mostly retired, with the last of 5 kids in college, and after several decades of armchair boatbuilding and forum-lurking, I hope to start on a Pooduck Skiff in the next couple of months. I have decent woodworking skills, so the intent of the project is to see if the reality of building a boat meets (or exceeds!) the dream. Assuming it does, the next boat would be a displacement daysailer to replace our lovely, ancient, expensive to own, and very under-used Hallberg-Rassy Rasmus sloop. The leading contender (up until now) has been Joel White’s Fox Island Class sloop (perhaps with some of the tweaks suggested by Bob Stephens in WB 264). His other 23′ foot daysailer design (Sakonnet) is lovely, as is Mr. Hylan’s Selkie, but I have no desire to cold-mold a boat. I’m probably a couple of years away from starting, so hopefully Ruby Slipper will be a viable option if and when I am ready to start. Sorry for the long post!
Rob Kiely says:
Hi Andrew, Rob Kiely here, i am from Queensland Australia. Good to see you are looking at building one of Doug’s boats. Like you i am retired and decided to build one of his the Big Ben Garvey boats it is finished and the process was fun and it is a great boat and turns heads whenever i take it out. I am now looking at building one of his WICOMICO boats, i found Doug to be very helpful during the build. Good luck and have fun. Regards Rob.
Crayke Windsor says:
Looks great!
Michael McEvoy says:
Doug: Great boat! Really nice lines – long, low and sleek and looks easy to board from a dinghy – spot on! The cockpit seating looks really comfortable, and the cabin might be a bit tight, but workable for an occasional overnight. Looks like it would go upwind like a 12 meter, too! Great job!
Walter Cavanagh says:
Very nice! I’m just finishing up a Welsford Pathfinder, and Ruby Slipper is now a top contender for “what do I build next”. :-)
How much will the plans cost? And is a kit in the works?
-Jim
Doug Hylan says:
Hi Jim — I’m hoping we will get to build one of these boats soon, in which case we would do the drawings for a kit. These drawings are a lot of work, so I tend to put them off unless we have a customer signed up for a boat, or a couple of folks have committed to purchase kits.
Plans are closer — working on finished drawings now. Probably be in the 300 USD range.