Preview: Two Drake Rowboats – The Raceboat & The 17′ “Sedan”

18 Responses So Far to “Two Drake Rowboats – The Raceboat & The 17′ “Sedan””

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  Clint Chase says:

  You are seeing a slight tenderness there which any serious rower wants to have. There is a great amount of secondary stability as the boat heels…as Nate mentions this is more reflective of the stability we feel as waves pass under us in the boat. I think you’d find the Drake just right.

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  Rory Cowan says:

  Greetings from Scotland
  I like the concept, however I note that the demo rows are shown on very calm water and clearly the boat rocks a bit. I suspect that rocking would be much more pronounced in rougher water. The Herreschof rowboat as detailed in John Gardner’s book has a flat hull section amidships and this effectively brings the metacentric height down, lowering the CG by just enough. I built a Whitehall also lofted from John Gardner’s table of offsets in his book and when rowing round the Isle of Arran on my own, I hit some rougher water where I wasn’t able to get both oars out of the water at the same time. Fortunately the Whitehall has a fuller bilge and the necessary stability – I wonder if I would have got into serious trouble with the Drake in a sea state 3/4 a few miles from shore on my own!!
  I think that were I to build one then I might make the bilge a bit fuller and flatten the bottom a little – it doesn’t have to be much at all, but it would give me that reserve of stability.
  That said it looks a superb boat and just what I’d like to be rowing on some of the distance races like Castle to Crane and Monster the Loch.

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    Clint Chase says:

    Rory, I have some amazing photos I could share with you of a D17 on Loch Ness. All you can see is the hat of the customer rowing the boat. Huge waves, lots of wind and he reported the only water that came aboard was the spray off the wave tops and blades of the oars. And the boat tracked beautifully the whole way in the following sea. As you may know, these types of seas are the hardest to row in as most boats, like the Herreshoff Rowboat, would nearly broach when coming down the waves. Not the Drake. Don’t get me wrong, you need to pull harder on one oar to be sure and you need to stay on top of things, but the Drake 17 absolutely takes care of you in a sea. This boat needs no flattening on the bottom of firming of the bilge or else the rowing would be ruined.
    As far as the rocking goes, I am not sure which of two you speak of…even with a slide, neither boat hobby horses, which is fore aft rocking. And I am quite sensitive to that effect – I do not see undue hobby horsing in either boat in the video. Sure, I designed the boats and I may be biased…let me know if what you are seeing is fore/aft rocking or transversal (widthwise).

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      Nate Rooks says:

      I can speak to this from my Drake Raceboat 20, because the contrast between its initial and secondary stability is one of my favorite parts of the boat. When level and unladen, it feels rather tippy unless you’re rowing, kind of the feel of a rowing shell. But with the amazing flair to the wide gunwale, the boat feels more and more stable the further it rolls.

      I’ve rowed it through breaking 3′ seas and was amazed at how dry the boat stayed inside, splashing waves away with that wide gunwale. Tracking was always predictable and steady, even with following seas. The one thing I found affected tracking was weight distribution – in head winds I’d put weight forward, in following I’d put weight aft.

      All that’s to say this is one the most seaworthy boats I’ve rowed, while also having great feel, glide, and capacity. Check out the “Just Keep Going” videos we have featuring the Drake RB20 if you want to see more.

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      Rory Cowan says:

      Hi Clint, Thanks for that. What I had noticed was a lateral rocking – not a lot, but in a near flat calm I thought it was unusual. Of course. there is no perfect answer to these things and often we get to preferences. The glued carvel Whitehall I built recently goes well, tracks well and can handle a bit of sea – what I was recounting was extreme and frankly I shouldn’t have been there – except I was(!) – but I was looking for a bit more speed in my next boat and perhaps 3 rowers and a cox like the Whitehall. In the Castle to Crane recently, we averaged 75 years per rower and managed to get ourselves 4/5 up the St Ayles Skiff fleet in terms of speed – but I am looking for a bit more!! Have a look at http://www.morayhouse.com

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        Rory Cowan says:

        Thanks Nate, that’s useful to know.

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    Steve Stone says:

    Hi Rory. I’ll provide a layman/novice/simple reply to this question. I am not a highly skilled competitive rower and when I row the Drake I don’t find it tippy feeling at all because I know the hull is designed with “secondary stability” (the more it heels, the more it pushes back). It’s not tippy like a racing shell, at all. There’s a bit of initial tip if she’s sitting still and you lean to one side or the other, but the flared hull quickly pushes back. That slight initial tip is designed into the boat, a key element to making it fast and slippery. The second thing you mention, large waves, is a totally different question. That is a question of seaworthiness. The Drake is designed to take on sizeable seas and be just fine. It has proven itself that way in lots of conditions/races/etc. It’s not that you’d want to head out in those conditions, but if you get caught in them, and you have decent skills and experience in the boat, she’ll get you home safely as well as any rowboat. Hope this helps.

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  John Homer says:

  What boat was the Drakes designed from ?

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    Nate Rooks says:

    John, Clint has told me in the past that the Drake family’s lines came from Norwegian faerings.

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    Clint Chase says:

    John,
    In addition to the Faerings of Norway, other boats were influential, like the Joel White Shearwater. I like the idea just wanted something sleeker and a bit better looking. The Gartside Flashboats and cruising rowboats were also nice, but was more interested in glued lap construction. For the Drake Raceboats, the Savo’s from Finland were inspiring but wanted a different aesthetic and a boat with a touch more rocker.

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  Russ Curtis says:

  When growing up in the 1950’s my family had a place on the West Arm of the Kootenay Lake at Nelson, BC. Road access was poor so there were boat houses on each side of the Arm, one in front of the property and the other at a municipal dock. There were two row boats of local design and build called Walton boats. One was 22′ long and the other 24′. Both were clinker built.
  Question: have the plans for these boats survived?

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    Clint Chase says:

    Russ these sound really interesting, let us know if you have found anything.

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    Judie Romeo says:

    Found this when I was looking for something else and thought it might be interesting to you. It is from a UBC website about how we learn and it is a Masters in Education Research paper:

    Swansborough, David. (1998). Curriculum Within a Community: The Study of Walton Boats as a Curriculum Model. M.Ed. Paper.

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  Edward Hoogland says:

  The Drake 19 . I read that that you can have two rowers. Does this mean there will be a total of four oars?

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    Clint Chase says:

    Two rowers, each with a pair of oars. When you want to switch to single rowing, the seats lift out and slide into the new arrangement. This is the key, so we can maintain proper trim. I have aspirations for a Drake22 which may be for 3 rowers, 6 oars OR four rowers, 4 oars.

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  Stephen Shohet says:

  The 17 looks like an elegant compromise. How has it stood up in general, and to multiple beaching, in particular? Also, how complete is the “kit” — does it include epoxy and fastenings?

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    Clint Chase says:

    Stephen, thanks for the inquiry. To me a complete kit is everything you need. It comes to the door and you don’t need to leave again until you have a boat! So…plywood, timber all precut, the epoxy you need for all the operations (System Three Silvertip series), and the hardware and fittings that are designed to integrate with the boat.
    http://www.chase-small-craft.com/whats-in-a-kit-1/

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  Jim Dumser says:

  Thanks to Clint for a great summary of his Drake designs.