Issues Classi몭eds Series News Events Contest Search SIGN IN SUBSCRIBE

FROM THE EDITOR ADVENTURES BOAT PROFILES READER BUILT TECHNIQUE REVIEWS

SERIES, SMALL BOATS ANNUAL 2009

The 16/30 Sailing Canoe

An easy-to-build racer 몭nds its inspiration in history

Written by GEOFF KERR

M ost “honest” sailors (is that an oxymoron?) will admit to having 몭irted
with a one-design class. With the combined appeals of match and 몭eet
racing, of innovation and “interpretation” of the rules, of cutting-edge
technology and long-steeped traditions, one-design racing enriches sailing on
a completely different plane than just pottering about the harbor in any old
boat. That dream of building a one-design and then campaigning her is
merely a rich fantasyland for most of us, and ful몭lled for very few.

The boat presented here is intended to offer this possibility to the rest of us.
She is a high-tech, cutting-edge, extreme racing machine with a serious nod
to history and tradition, buildable by amateurs, affordable, and transportable,
with the potential for class events and the promise of fun whether sailing
alone or in the 몭eet.

This new 16/30 class sailing canoe is the product of a long-term project on the
part of John Summers, General Manager at the Canadian Canoe Museum in
Peterborough, Ontario. He designed the canoe while at the Antique Boat
Museum in Clayton, New York. The ABM has a long standing as a bastion of
the mahogany speedboat crowd, but it deserves at least equal stature as both
a repository and an enthusiastic reproducer of classic small craft. The fact that
Clayton and the Thousand Islands region have long been the hotbed of sailing
canoe development (see sidebar) led Summers to a natural interest in
promoting the type. A survey of existing boats and enthusiasts exposed,
however, a situation without much promise for growth: owners were reluctant
to bash their lovingly restored antiques around the buoys, reproductions were
challenging and therefore expensive to build, and the bloody things were
dif몭cult and uncomfortable to sail.

To have a chance of reinvigorating the class, the world needed a sailing canoe
that was easily and inexpensively built, could be sailed by a wide range of
sailors, and was a true one-design (i.e., the boats would be well matched). Not
content with that set of apparently limiting parameters, let’s throw in the
desire to have the design based on a boat from the glory days of the class, say
a century or so ago.

Geoff Kerr

No racing boat is complete without a competitor, and several 16/30s were built in a workshop at
the Antique Boat Museum.

S ummers based the concept for the new 16/30 class on a boat built by the
Gilbert Boat Company of Brockville, Ontario, one of a number built circa
1920 for the Gananoque Canoe Club from the Canadian side of the Thousand
Islands. He found the archetype pre-served in the collection of Heritage
Toronto and was able to visit and document the boat in 2004. Longtime sailing
canoe builder, sailor, and pied piper Dan Sutherland took up the gauntlet at
this point, and from John’s data built the prototype of the new class, STORMY
SKY ES. Her debut at the ABM’s Antique Boat Show in 2006 proved her a great
success, both as a sailboat and a prize-winning crowd pleaser. The next step
was to make her duplication possible by the masses.

First, her lines were converted to “analog” plywood patterns for stitch-and-glue
construction, STORMY SKY ES having been constructed in “traditional
plywood” style with frames, chine logs, and sheer clamps. Then a week-long
workshop was offered at ABM to produce several new hulls at once—an
instant 몭eet, if you will. Chesapeake Light Craft digitized the panels and CNC-
cut the needed batch of hull kits. Sails were designed and built by Douglas
Fowler of Ithaca, New York, to complement the carbon-몭ber masts developed
for the boats by Tony DeLima of ForteRTS.

The resulting boats are reasonably true to the originals, and with a traditionally
inspired 몭nish job they could look at home on the Sugar Island 몭oat. The hulls
are hard-chined and fully decked, with a small cockpit—really a footwell—that
is self-draining through the daggerboard slot. The boat is steered by a
Norwegian tiller rig, with a side arm on the rudderhead connected by a
push/pull rod to an athwartships tiller. The hull construction is of 6mm and
3mm marine plywood, epoxy glued and sheathed in ’glass, with multiple
bulkheads that stiffen the hull, support the decks, and create watertight
compartments for positive buoyancy. Building the hull would be a similar-
sized job to a large stitch-and-glue kayak, with the added challenge of
complex but small-scale framing adventures in way of the cockpit.

The History of Sailing Canoes

S ailing canoes and cruising and racing in them date back to the
mid-19th century. The 몭rst decked canoes built speci몭cally for
recreational sailing appeared in Great Britain in 1868, closely following
 the establishment of the Royal Canoe Club in 1866. Within a very few
years, the boats had been discovered in the United States, with the New
York Canoe Club being founded in 1871. By 1890, there were upwards of
two dozen recognized canoe clubs on the U.S. East Coast. The American
Canoe Association (ACA) was formed and held its 몭rst annual camping
and sailing gathering in 1880. Sugar Island, near Clayton in the Thousand
Islands, became the permanent home of the ACA gatherings in 1902.
Such gatherings became boating and society happenings both in North
America and in the U.K. International challenge racing was so
competitive that new boats were designed and built every year, and
those boats shipped hither and yon and across the pond. Paul Butler, an
enthusiast from Lowell, Massachusetts, was the driving force behind
many of the key features that made the boats popular, championing
bulkheads for buoyancy, and by all accounts inventing or at least
adapting the cross-sliding seat, Norwegian tiller steering, hollow spars,
and the self-draining cockpit. By 1890, these improvements in
survivability and manageability had led to such interest that the 16/30
racing class was established, with a complex rule resulting in a number
of designs that were generally 16′ long by 30″ wide (hence the name),
with a 90-sq-ft sail area.

The ultimate modern evolution of the sailing canoe is the IC class…

recognizably a 16/30 on steroids. Come to think of it, design-enhancing
substances must have been around back in the day as well. Check out
WB No. 164 for an account of the “88” class of super canoes. –GK

Geoff Kerr

John Summers designed the 16/30 canoe to be built with off-the-shelf hardware, requiring no
complex casting or custom work to drive up the cost of construction.

The rig is really quite simple: there just appears to be a lot of it on such a small
platform. She is set up as a cat-ketch. The unstayed masts are stepped
through tubes built into the decks. As well as keeping the watertight
compartments inviolate, these tubes make rigging the boat on the beach
child’s play. Luff sleeves on the sails (the same system used in Lasers) both
re몭ne aero-dynamics and eliminate a bagful of hardware and line. Continuous
sheets for both sails lead on deck to cam cleats at the cockpit, mounted just
forward of the skipper both port and starboard, allowing instant one-handed
sail control on both tacks. Off-the-shelf rudder hardware is used to hang the
small but ef몭cient wooden rudder, and the daggerboard, also of wood, is
simplicity itself— jam it down into the slot, and off we go. The most signi몭cant
characteristic of the 16/30s is the sliding hiking board, or “thwartships sliding
seat” as it is called in period literature. In spite of its forbidding appearance, it is
actually the civilizing feature of this design, making the boat comfortable
(even for a large “mature” adult) and far less strenuous to sail than those
rigged with knee and abdominal-trashing hiking straps.
This design and setup contribute to a logistically manageable boat. She can be
transported on a very light trailer by a very light vehicle, or loaded on a cartop
rack by a couple of reasonably able adults. Throw the spars up there too, and
the rest of the gear is small, light, and easily packed away, leaving room in
most vehicles (though regrettably not in the boat) for the cooler and
companions. With one of those companions, or a “Tom Sawyer’s fence”
onlooker, you can easily carry her to the beach for rigging and launching.

Our real quest is the sailing, though, so let’s have a look. The skipper stays on
the hiking board, because: (a) there is no other place to go and (b) anywhere
else would spell a swim. With one’s feet in the footwell on either side of the
hiking board, everything you need is at hand: the mizzen and main sheets just
forward, and the cross-arm tiller poised aft. The steering is very light, a
combination of a nicely balanced rig, great leverage, and a small rudder. The
unusual-looking steering system is really very simple and quite natural in use…
just don’t look at it while underway! The sheet loads are minimal, a function of
small sails and mechanical advantage, although the number of feet of line
squirming around in the footwell is quite impressive and somehow tends to
end up long on one tack and short on the other. That will make for an
interesting jibe around the mark someday. The boat is responsive to sail and
crew trim, to say the least, but well within the realm of small, light sailing craft.
The 34″ beam and hard chines give her a greater initial stability than many (I’d
bet all) of the other classic 16/30 designs.

Trimming the boat is easy and natural. The trick is to shift the board all the way
to windward while tacking, then to slide yourself in and out as necessary while
sailing. No great effort is required, you’ll suffer no grooves in you buns, and you
will have time to concentrate on sail trim, steering, and tactics without
desperately clinging to the boat. I’d call her far better mannered than the
other sailing canoes I’ve endured, and in many ways more comfortable, better
behaved, and far more intriguing than many of the modern one-design
dinghies foisted on the competitive-minded sailing public. I like to think of
16/30 sailing as a dance rather than an athletic endeavor.

The most dif몭cult and awkward moment in sailing this boat is the transition
from beach to sailing…shall we call it the mount and dismount? The usual
shallow-water daggerboard and rudder bugaboos apply (why does the wind
always blow onto the beach?) and with a hull that is extremely sensitive to the
몭rst step, I’ll predict a few swims at bathtub depth. That said, my dignity and
dry shirt survived a day of demo sails. Take a deep cleansing breath, tread
lightly, and distract the audience.

Geoff Kerr

The sliding seat keeps the helmsman’s ballast weight where it needs to be, and allows rapid
adjustment—while still keeping control of the sheets and the tiller.
A major part of the appeal of a 16/30 as a project is that Summers and the
ABM have gone to great lengths to make it amateur-friendly. The large-
size high-quality drawings are accompanied by an enthusiastic manual of
more than 30 pages that includes historic photos; discussions of useful tools,
books, and materials; step-by-step instructions with illustrations; and
something very rare, a list of sources and part numbers for hardware,
materials, and equipment. Much of the work of matching speci몭cations and
sourcing materials that could bog down a novice has been done, eliminating,
for example, the sometimes fruitless (though sometimes really intriguing)
pursuit of custom hardware. Knowing in advance that a call to ForteRTS for
masts, to Douglas Fowler for sails, and even to Chesapeake Light Craft for
precut plywood hull panels will put you days ahead of the game is a great
comfort.

I’d now like to offer some minor caveats here. Some of the recommended
sources and materials for the hull construction are not my favorites. No one is
steering you wrong, but do not be afraid to ask and shop around. While you
are building, I’d suggest ’glassing the deck as well as the hull, enhancing its
stiffness, durability, and the life of the 몭nish. When I build mine, I’ll stare long
and hard at the transom, hoping for inspiration and new hardware so she
could be truly double-ended. Finally, in converting to stitch-and-glue
construction, I’m puzzled that inner and outer stems endured. Not only are
these vestiges of traditional construction a challenge for novice builders, but a
몭lleted and taped stem joint serves the stitch-and- glue world successfully in
all scales.

A philosophical note is in order regarding one-designs and their convenient

standardization. The 16/30 world welcomes one and all, for the more boats the
merrier. That means there is room for individual expression in the building of
these boats. The boats can be clunkers or professionally sculpted icons, and
depending on craftsmanship and 몭nish work they can look like modern rocket
ships or century-old antiques. Wooden spars, polished bronze blocks, stained
decks, and myriad other choices could make for a show-stopper. Just be a
good sport and keep the hull shape and sails true to class, or the other kids
might not let you play with them when you show up at the No-Octane
Regatta, The Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival, or the ABM Antique Boat Show.
See you there!

Simple construction using 6mm and 3mm okoume plywood and an uncomplicated rigging plan
make the 16/30 canoe easily within range of an amateur builder. The thoroughly detailed
instruction book will help in that regard, as well.

This Boat Pro몭le was published in Small Boats 2009 and appears here as
archival material. If you have more information about this boat, plan or
design – please let us know in the comment section.

Share this article

 Join The Conversation
We welcome your comments about this article. If you’d like to include a photo
or a video with your comment, please email the 몭le or link.

Comments (4)
Pedro Mario Vozza July 22, 2021 at 10:30 pm

Sail surface? Main y Mizzen?.

P.M.V.

Reply

VIEW COMMENTS

STAY ON COURSE

More From This Issue

FROM THE EDITOR BOAT PROFILE

Menorca Drake 13
n 2009, I kayaked the 25-mile-long south coast of Menorca, Selway-Fisher’s 13’ sharpie is a big boat in a small package and
the northernmost of Spain’s Balearic Islands. I had intended to accommodates all the gear I need for overnight camping
circumnavigate the island but there was a strong northwest trips; I could probably pack enough in GREBE for…
wind,...

BOAT PROFILE ADVENTURES

L’Ark Two Tramps and a Lady

We wanted a relatively small trailerable boat that was suitable After spending a night at a canal-side campground in
for overnight travel. It had to have a galley, a head, and berths Villeneuve-les-Béziers, it was already 80°F by 9 a.m. the next
for at least two. I also wanted… morning. Ben and I each set a now faded, 몭attened, and…
 TECHNIQUE PRODUCT REVIEWS

French Whipping DeWalt’s Cordless Power Planer

We start the whip about 3″ from the end of the tiller, leaving The belt-driven, twin-blade cutter head spins at 30,000 rpm,
room for a tiller-extension 몭tting should we decide to add one with a minimum speed of 15,000 rpm. DeWalt’s 20V brushless
later. The 몭rst half hitch is put… technology increases torque to the motor to keep rpm
constant as…

PRODUCT REVIEWS R E A D E R B U I LT B O AT S

Clampdesk AL DEMANY CHIMAN

Inside, there are two mesh pockets on the left side, the upper AL DEMANY CHIMAN was relaunched in July 2021 and on the
one zippered and the lower one open-topped to hold long day following the launch Tim, Helena, and Aidan went
items. The mesh provides a good view of… paddling at Mason Neck State Park, situated in a backwater…

RELATED

More SeriesSmall Boats Annual 2009

TECHNIQUE TECHNIQUE

A Downdraft Table 4 Practical Tips

Building and maintaining a wooden boat involves a lot of Tie-down straps with cam buckles are very tidy devices for
sanding and a lot of dust. I have an exhaust fan for the shop, a holding kayaks and canoes securely on roof racks, as well as a
dust collector connected to my… host of other applications, but they’re not so…

TECHNIQUE R E A D E R B U I LT B O AT S

Five Practical Tips The Kingfisher Elective

Tom DeVries bought a 4″ bench vise at a second-hand store—it Glenn’s class at JPII is now among the most popular electives,
was especially cheap because it was missing its handle, and he has twice as many students as he had at home. That’s 10
remedied with a lathe-turned length of ash—but didn’t mount students, a healthy percentage of…
it…

VIEW ALL
 Subscribe Today!
Become a subscriber today and you’ll
recieve a new issue every month plus
unlimited access to our full archive of
backlogged issues.

SUBSCRIBE

Already a subscriber? Sign In

FROM THE EDITOR ADVENTURES BOAT PROFILES READER BUILT TECHNIQUE REVIEWS

ISSUES CLASSIFIEDS SERIES NEWS EVENTS CONTEST SIGN IN SUBSCRIBE

Privacy Policy About FAQ Contact Download The App

© 2022 Small Boats Magazine. Small Boats Magazine is an imprint of

WoodenBoat

Site by 50FISH
 Build a 16-30
Sailing Canoe
PART 1
A simple hull
with great
performance
At 16‘ long with a beam of 30”, this decked canoe
is meant for exhilarating sailing, as the author
demonstrates.

JIM WIlSON

by John Summers

I n the early years of the 20th century, the Gilbert

Boat Company of Brockville, Ontario, built a number
of hard-chined sailing canoes for the Gananoque
Canoe Club under the American Canoe Association’s
so-called “16-30” rule, meaning 16' long with 30" of
Ragged Mountain Press, 1996), both of which are
available through The WoodenBoat Store.
Because the construction of this hull is typical of the
technique, I’ll spend most of my time here describing
the details that make this canoe unique.
beam (see sidebar, page 44). One of these boats sur-
vives in the collections of Heritage Toronto. In 2004, I Construction: Getting Started
took the lines off this boat, then adapted the design for Because of their curvature, the glued-together plywood
modern construction using readily available materials. panels that make up the sides and bottom need to be
My aim was not only to revive a unique small-boat type longer than the boat’s 16' overall length. How do we get
but also to bring a high-performance sailing experi- panels longer than 16' out of two 8' sheets of plywood?
ence to a new generation of canoe sailors with a boat Most nominally 4' × 8' sheets of the okoume plywood
that would be easy to build and modest in cost. I’ve speciied—which is a good type to use for this
This reproduction is built using stitch-and-glue construction—are actually more than a couple of
construction, which relies on twisted copper wires to inches longer than 8'. So there’s usually just enough
tie together plywood panels and hold them securely material to get the panels out of two sheets placed end-
while the structure is glued together with thickened to-end if you use butt blocks instead of scarf joints to
epoxy. This technique has been well described numer- join the panels. These butt blocks will be completely
ous times in the pages of WoodenBoat; check the online hidden by the cockpit structure.
index at www.woodenboat.com for further reading. I Some people prefer to use scarf joints. In this tech-
would also recommend two books: Chris Kulczycki’s nique, the ends of the panels are planed carefully
Stitch and Glue Boatbuilding: How to Build Kayaks and to feather edges, allowing two panels to be epoxied
Other Small Boats (International Marine, 2005) and together at the overlap (see WB Nos. 106, 175, and oth-
Sam Devlin’s Devlin’s Boatbuilding: How to Build Any ers). A scarf is a good gluing surface and leaves the com-
Boat the Stitch-and-Glue Way (International Marine/ pleted joint the same thickness as the rest of the panel.

36 • WoodenBoat 214
JOHN SUMMERS

A hard-chined hull makes this boat simple to build in stitch-and-glue construction. (Sail plans will be published with Part 2;
for tables of offsets, see page 38.)

WOOD
—— Materials List ——
5— 4’ x 8’ x 6mm ( 1⁄4”) okoume, BS 1088 plywood panel 1 box— No. 8 x 1 1⁄4” lathead stainless-steel wood screws
2— 4’ x 8’ x 3mm ( 1⁄8”) okoume, BS 6566 plywood panel 1 box— No. 8 x 3⁄4” lathead, stainless-steel wood screws
1— Hardwood 1” x 6”x 4’ (inner stem and sternpost) 1 box— No. 8 x 3⁄4” round-head stainless-steel wood screws
1— Hardwood, 1” x 6”x 4’ (outer stem) 1 box— No. 8 x 1⁄2” round-head stainless-steel wood screws
1— Hardwood, 1” x 6”x 8’ (seat bridge/supports) 8 — No. 8–32 x 3⁄4” stainless-steel machine screws
1— Hardwood, 1” x 4”x 10’ (coamings) 8 — 8–32 stainless-steel stop nuts with insert
1— Hardwood, 2” x 2” x 12’ (rails for aluminum strips/ 1 box— No. 8 stainless-steel washers
sliding seat) 1 box— No. 12 x 3⁄4” bronze ring nails
1— Hardwood, 2” x 2” x 3’ (daggerboard head ledges and 1 box— No. 14 x 3⁄4” bronze ring nails
iller)
1— Hardwood, 2” x 4”x 4’ (steps for masts, crosshead) HARDWARE
1— White pine 1”x 8”x 10’ (booms) 2— 25’ roll, 18-gauge copper wire (for stitching hull panels)
1—White pine 1” x 6” x 10’ (bulkhead and cockpit nailers) 1— 5’ aluminum pipe 1 5⁄8” outside diameter
2—White pine 1”x 6”x 10’ (king planks) (rudder cross-head tube)
1— White pine 1”x 10”x 10’ (deck blocking) 1—3’ aluminum round tube, 1 1⁄4” outside diameter (cross-
1— White pine 1”x 6” x 10’ (gunwales) head post)
2—Fir dowel, 8’, 11⁄4” outside-diameter (crosshead tiller, 1— aluminum slip-on structural framing crossover
tiller rod) (rudder cross-head)
1— aluminum shaft collar, 1 1⁄4” inside diameter
EPOXY AND FIBERGLASS (cross-head post cap)
2— Epoxy resin gallon
1— aluminum slip-on structural framing panel connector
2— Epoxy slow hardener to match gallon (rudder cross-head)
1— Epoxy adhesive iller (glue powder)
1— 3’ aluminum round tube, 2 1⁄2” inside diameter (mast
1— Epoxy fairing iller (colloidal silica) tubes)
25 yards— 3” iberglass tape for illets
1— 3’, 1”x 1⁄8” aluminum lat bar (ends of tiller rod)
10 yards— 50”-wide 4-oz iberglass cloth
2— 6’, 1 1⁄2”x 1⁄8” aluminum lat bar (sliding seat rails)
FASTENINGS 1—clevis pins 1⁄4”x 1 1⁄8”, package of 2 (for tiller rod)
1 box— No. 8 x 2” lathead stainless-steel wood screws 1— cotter rings, 7⁄8”, package of 4 (for tiller rod)

May/June 2010 • 37
Bulkhead patterns can be determined from a
hull lofting (remembering to deduct planking
thickness), but full-size patterns are included
in the full plans set. Limber and lightening
holes should be bored as shown.

JOHN SUMMERS (ALL DRAWINGS THIS PAGE)

OFFSETS FOR HULL LINES SHOWN ON PAGE 37 (inches-eighths) KEY MEASUREMENTS (feet, inches, eighths)
Heights Above Baseline Use these measurements for layout—do not scale
from drawing
Station 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Distances aft from forward face of INNER stem
Keel 8–7 6–1 4–1 3–6 3–6 4–5 5–7 7–2 8–4 Forward edge of bulkhead 1 1–0–0
Chine 9–0 8–3 8–0 7–5 7–4 7–6 8–0 8–4 9–2 Forward edge of bulkhead 2 3–11–0
Sheer 20–6 18–2 16–7 16–1 15–4 15–1 14–7 15–2 15–6 Forward edge of bulkhead 3 6–3–0
Deck 21–0 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 16–1 Forward edge of bulkhead 4 9–8–0
Forward edge of bulkhead 5 11–3–0
Half-Breadths
Forward edge of bulkhead 6 12–9–0
Station 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Forward edge of bulkhead 7 13–11–0
Sheer 0–2 7–4 13–1 16–1 17–4 16–6 14–0 8–7 0–2
Centerline of mainmast tube 0–10–3
Chine 0–2 5–4 10–2 13+ 14–6 14–5 12–3 7–4 0–2
Centerline of forward deck hatch 5–0–0
Notes: Forward end of daggerboard trunk 6–5–7
Rake of Inner Stem Face—
distance aft of 0 Station spacing = 2’ Aft end of daggerboard trunk 8–4–0
Proile lines to outside of plank Centerline of seat bridge 8–9–0
Waterline Half-breadth lines to outside of plank Centerline of cross-head post 9–10–0
9 3–1 Outer stem to suit builder, not Centerline of aft deck hatch 10–8–0
included in measurements above
18 1–4 Centerline of mizzenmast tube 11–5–4

38 • WoodenBoat 214
JoHN SuMMeRS

Suggested Panel Layout for Main Components (no scale)

LAYOUT DIMENSIONS FOR HULL PANELS (shown on page 38)

Notes: Station spacing 1' ; Dimensions in feet-inches-eighths; Distances up from baseline
Station 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
BOTTOM PANEL
to bottom edge 0-3-0+ 0-2-4+ 0-2-0 0-1-5 0-1-2 0-1-0+ 0-1-0 0-1-0 0-1-0 0-1-0 0-1-1 0-1-1 0-1-2+ 0-1-2+ 0-1-3+ 0-1-4 0-1-4+* n/a
of panel
to top edge 0-3-3+ 0-6-1 0-8-5 0-11-0+ 1-0-7 1-2-2 1-3-3 1-3-7 1-4-2 1-4-2+ 1-4-0 1-3-0+ 1-1-4 0-11-0+ 0-8-0+ 0-4-7 0-2-2* n/a
of panel
SIDE PANEL
to bottom edge 0-3-0* 0-3-4 0-4-2+ 0-4-7+ 0-5-4 0-5-7+ 0-6-2+ 0-6-3+ 0-6-4+ 0-6-6 0-6-6+ 0-6-6 0-6-5 0-6-2 0-5-7 0-5-3+ 0-5-0 n/a
of panel
to top edge 1-2-4* 1-2-2+ 1-2-2+ 1-2-2+ 1-2-4 1-2-4+ 1-2-7 1-3-0+ 1-3-1 1-2-7 1-2-5+ 1-2-2 1-1-5 1-1-1 1-0-4+ 1-0-0 0-11-4+ n/a
of panel
*Lines extended to stations for fairing
SIDE PANEL STEM RAKE
at top of stem, 1–2–4 above baseline, point is 0–0–3 aft of Station 1
at bottom of stem, 0–3–3 above baseline, point is 0–3–3 aft of Station 1 Although it is possible to build a boat from the
SIDE PANEL STERNPOST RAKE information presented here, we highly recommend
at top of sternpost, 0–11–3+ above baseline, point is 0–8–2+ forward of Station 18 obtaining full-sized plans sheets. The author
at bottom of sternpost, 0–4–7 above baseline, point is 0–8–5+ forward of Station 18 and his associates have also produced an
BOTTOM PANEL STERN ANGLE instructional manual. See the end notes for
at center of panel, 0–1–4+ above baseline, point is 0–2–1+ forward of Station 17 ordering information. —Eds
at top edge of panel, 0–2–2 above baseline, point is 0–2–1 forward of Station 17

It also avoids the slight weight added by butt blocks. But left over.) Measure the station heights carefully from
because some panel length is lost to the overlap, you’ll the plans, and when you have them all marked on the
have to use three lengths of plywood instead of two to panels, use a long, limber batten to scribe a fair line
make the inished panels long enough for the boat. through the points (Photo 1).
(Note that if you choose plywood panels that actu- After scribing the lines, separate the panels and
ally are 8' long, you’ll have to use three lengths in any cut them out close to the line. Rejoin one pair of for-
event.) ward and after sections end-to-end, with waxed paper
The hull panels can be laid out and lofted, or drawn under the joint to prevent gluing them to the loor.
out full-size on the plywood sheets, using the coordinate Make sure that the lines match perfectly and the joint
dimensions given on the plans. Place two 6mm panels is tight. Make a plywood butt block as shown in the
tightly together end-to-end. Tack them to the loor if plans. This is set back 1⁄2" from the edges of the pan-
you can, or clamp them in some manner so that the els to simplify the stitch-and-glue work later. Glue and
ends are irmly together and can’t slip. (Plan the use of fasten the butt block in place (Photo 2). After the glue
materials carefully: out of two sheets of 6mm plywood, has fully set, plane the panel edges fair, square, and to
you should have enough material to get both bottom their inished dimensions. Repeat this process for the
panels and all seven bulkheads, with a little material second bottom panel, and follow the same method to
JoN SuMMeRS (BoTH)

1. 2.
May/June 2010 • 39
 make the sides—double-checking to make sure you’ve
placed the butt blocks on the inside faces (Photo 3).
Wiring the Hull Together
Wire the two completed bottom panels together irst.
At the centerline seam, bore corresponding 3⁄32" holes
in each panel about 3⁄16" away from the edges, spaced
about every 3". Next, wire the completed two bottom
panels together loosely, using 4" pieces of copper wire
with the twist outboard. As you wire these slightly curved
panels together, the bottom will take on a V-shape and
the rocker will develop. Follow the same procedure to
wire each side panel to its corresponding bottom panel
(Photo 4). At the bow and stern, the side panels won’t
come tight together; these gaps will later accommodate
the stem and sternpost.
Level the hull side-to-side and fore-and-aft and brace
it on a couple of well-spaced sawhorses before installing
any bulkheads. The bulkheads need to be in the right
places and they need to be square to the longitudinal
axis of the boat, so take some care in aligning them. For
3. each bulkhead in turn, measure to the bulkhead’s verti-
cal forward face from the forward upper corner of the
inside face of the side panel at the bow. Always measure
from this same point; don’t measure from bulkhead to
bulkhead, which would not only be less accurate but
also allow errors to compound. Make sure that the
measurements match the plan and that each bulkhead
is plumb. Bore holes for wires along the bottom and
side edges of each bulkhead before putting them in the
boat, and bore holes in the side and bottom panels to
correspond to the holes in the bulkheads.
Once the irst two bulkheads are in the right places and
plumb, square, and lightly wired into place (Photo 5), you
may want to add some longitudinal braces to keep every-
thing in alignment. These can be made from 2×2s cut to
it between the bulkheads and temporarily fastened with
screws driven through the bulkheads into each brace’s end.
4. Stiffen the wide bulkheads amidships with a 2×4 temporar-
ily screwed in place horizontally, inboard from the sheer.
Once all of the bulkheads are loosely wired in place, start
tightening all of the wires gradually, a turn at a time for each
wire. Work around the hull and back and forth from one
side to the other, too, to keep the overall tension even.
Some small stitch-and-glue hulls, especially canoes
and kayaks, dispense with the stem and sternpost,
instead irming up the ends of the planks by pouring in
thickened epoxy. You could build this boat that way, but
I’d recommend using the stem and sternpost as shown
on the plans. The bow can take a real beating, especially
if you sail from a dock, and the outer stem makes a good
sacriicial piece in the event of a too-fast landing. This
hull has a very narrow “transom” block to which the
stock stainless-steel gudgeons can be fastened by screws.
If you’d prefer to have a true sharp stern, you’ll have to
JOhN SuMMerS (ThIS PAge)

fashion your own gudgeons to it—but even then, I’d

still recommend itting an internal sternpost to provide
a good, solid hold for their fastenings.
Checking Alignment
5. After all of the wires are tightened, your hull should be
pretty solid. Now is the time to make certain the hull

40 • WoodenBoat 214
has no twist. To check the alignment, irst ind three or
four straight pieces of 2x4 or other stock that is at least
2' longer than the boat is wide. Lay these across the hull
perpendicular to the centerline and on the top edges of
the side panels at equal intervals along the hull. Now,
get down on one knee forward of the bow and sight
down the boat across them. The tops of these “winding
sticks,” as they’re called, should be parallel (Photo 6). If
they are not, there’s a twist in the boat.
Sight the boat from bow and stern, from close and far,
and invite anyone who’s around to do the same. Adjust
the tension in the wires as necessary to align the hull.
Then go for lunch. After lunch, come back and sight it
all over again. Make a inal check to see that all the wires
are snug and that the bulkhead corners are tight against
the plywood panels at the chines and also at the center-
line seam. Once you’re satisied, it’s time to glue in the 6.
stem and sternpost and inish off the seams inside.
Stem and Sternpost
The stem has two pieces. The inner piece goes in irst.
Start with a hardwood block (or lamination) that is 3"
longer than the inished dimension. Side bevels are
shown in the plans and can be cut on a tablesaw, or
marked off and cut with a handsaw. Trial-it the piece
and trim it as needed to get a snug it. Then, trim the
heel so it its lush against the bottom. Dry-it the piece
once more, ensuring a good it and checking to see
that the stem is plumb and that there is no distortion

JOhN SUMMeRS (ThIS PAge)

in the side panels, which should align equally side to
side. Drive two temporary screws per side to hold the
stem in place. Remove it once more, then coat its faying
surfaces (and the planking, too) with epoxy.
(Whenever you glue wood together with epoxy, it’s
best to irst spread unthickened epoxy in the area to 7.
be glued, then mix up epoxy with illers meant for
adhesive use—as opposed to fairing—and spread that,
too, before clamping or fastening the pieces together. Taping and Filleting Inside Seams
Throughout this article, references to gluing with epoxy Before mixing any epoxy, cut and organize all the iber-
assume you’ll follow this technique.) glass tape (actually 3"-wide bands of iberglass cloth)
Put the stem piece back into place, pressing it into the that you’ll need. Also check to see whether any of the
epoxy, and drive the screws again, making sure to ind seam wires protrude too far into the interior, and, if
your original holes. Use the squeeze-out inside to create they do, push them toward the joint with a screwdriver
illets, but wipe away the excess on the outside. After the to make the illeting easier and cleaner.
glue cures, remove the screws and cut the top of the stem Before illeting, spread unthickened epoxy on the
lush with the side planking. panels to about 1 1⁄2" each side of the joint. For the illet,
To it the outer stem, use your block plane to dress mix epoxy with thickener until it is the consistency of
down the ends of the side panels to be lush with the thick peanut butter. Work one area at a time, between
outer face of the stem, making a landing that is square bulkheads. Be sure not to block the centerline limber
and has no concavity or convexity across its face. The holes at the bottom of each bulkhead.
outer stem is shown in the plans, but you can adjust There are several ways to get the illet mixture into the
its dimensions if necessary to assure a good it. Use joint, but my favorite is to put it into a heavy-duty one-pint
duct tape to hold it in place temporarily, then drive freezer bag. Cut off one corner of the bag diagonally to
two stainless-steel screws outward through the inner make a 1⁄2" opening. Twist the upper opposite corner of
stem so that they drive about 1⁄2" into the outer stem. the bag with your right hand to generate some internal
Remove, apply epoxy, and reinstall. After the epoxy has pressure, and, cradling the bag in your left hand, gently
cured, plane the outer stem’s sides lush and fair with squeeze the mixture into the apex of the joint (Photo 7).
the rest of the hull, trim its bottom and top ends lush, As the bag empties, give it another twist at intervals to
and round-over its outboard edge to a 1⁄2" radius. keep up the pressure while your left hand guides the
The sternpost installation follows the same method, mixture into the joint. When that mix runs out, start
but it doesn’t have an outer piece, since its width is again with a fresh bag. By piping the illet mixture into
needed for rudder hardware attachment. the apex this way and then making one pass with a

May/June 2010 • 41
 radiused illeting tool (which you can easily make out
of scrap plywood), you’ll have a nearly perfect joint
(Photo 8). Cooks use this “baker’s bag” technique, too,
so you may also be ready to enroll in a cake-decorating
class.
Generally speaking, a second coat of epoxy can be
put on before a previous coat has fully cured—during
what’s called its “green” stage. (Check the manufac-
turer’s instructions for your particular brand for their
guidelines about this so-called “hot-coating.”) So while
the illet is still green, you can lay the precut tape down
along the seam and press it gently into place. Then wet
it out with unthickened epoxy, illing the weave. As
with the illeting, tape section by section between bulk-
heads. After the illeting has been completed (Photo
9), but while the epoxy is still in the green stage, roll at
least two coats of unthickened epoxy onto the inside of
8. the hull and then let it cure fully.
After the interior coating has fully cured, invert
the hull, clip all the wires off lush, and gently
radius the chines, after illing any gaps in those seams
or at the stem and sternpost with thickened epoxy. When
the hull is smooth, drape 6-oz iberglass cloth over the
entire hull, cutting it to overlap at the stem and sternpost.
Flow unthickened epoxy over the cloth. Use enough
coats of epoxy to ill the weave, allowing the epoxy to
cure to the green stage between coats (Photo 10). Before
the inal coat has fully cured, trim the excess cloth
along the sheer with a razor blade, being careful not to
pull the cloth away from the hull.
Preparing for the Deck
After the exterior sheathing has fully cured, turn the
boat right-side up again so you can it out the interior.
Each of the bulkheads needs a pine strip along its
upper edge, glued and ring-nailed to the bulkheads,
to accept the deck nails and provide a suficient gluing
surface (Photo 11).
Full-length gunwales also have to be glued and ring-
9. nailed along the sheer. Make these from a nice, clear
10'-long piece of 1×6 pine, ripped into four 3⁄4"-wide
strips. You’ll need two per side, and you can scarf them
or butt them where they join. After installation, add a
small illet of thickened epoxy where the lower edge of
the gunwale meets the hull.
Forward and aft of the cockpit, a pine 1 × 6 king-
plank ties the upper edges of the bulkheads together,
makes a landing for the middle of the deck plank-
ing, and supports the mast tubes, the steering gear,
and the deck hatches. At the tops of most bulkheads,
both the plywood and pine nailing strip are notched
to receive the kingplank. The exceptions are bulk-
heads No. 3 and No. 4, which are at the forward and
after ends of the cockpit; at these bulkheads, only
the pine nailing strip is notched. Measure the notch
JohN SUMMErS (ThiS PAGE)

thickness down from the centerline, not from the

edges of the kingplank. This way, the kingplank can
be planed to match the crown of the bulkheads so as
to solidly support the deck.

10. Maststeps and Rudder Cross-Head Post

Before installing the kingplank and shaping the

42 • WoodenBoat 214
bulkhead tops, make and install the maststeps. These
are solid hardwood blocks, bored with a 2 5⁄8" holesaw or
Forstner bit to accept the aluminum tubes into which
the masts will slip. These steps will have to be shaped to
it the bottom of the boat.
After making sure the hull is plumb and level, it the
mast tubes into their steps, and place them in the boat
so that the steps it snugly against the appropriate bulk-
head. Sight the tubes to be certain they are plumb both
to the centerline and fore-and-aft, and then mark the
locations of the steps on the bottom panels.
Repeat this process to make the rudder cross-head
post. In this boat, the tiller is an athwartship dowel run-
ning through a horizontal aluminum tube, or “cross-
head,” which will be mounted to rotate on this vertical
post. When the helmsman moves one end of the tiller
fore-and-aft (from either side of the boat), the steering
linkage is made to the rudder by way of a separate long
dowel that connects one arm of the cross-head to a yoke 11.
on the rudderhead. Using the same methods used in
making the maststeps, make the step with a 1 3⁄8" bore
to accept the heel of the cross-head post, and align it
the same way you aligned the maststeps.
Take the mast tubes and cross-head post out with-
out moving their steps, and then put the kingplanks
in place. Plumb up from the step blocks to establish
the center of the kingplank holes, then bore 2 1 ⁄2" holes
for the mast tubes in the kingplanks and a 11⁄4" for the
cross-head post.
Return the tubes, post, and kingplanks to the boat,
and plumb and level everything again. Take the
tubes and post out and glue the blocks to the bottom.
Before the glue sets, reinsert the tubes and post, make
a inal check for plumb and level, and then leave the
boat alone until the epoxy has cured. Then, make a
inal check on the it of the kingplanks and install them
with glue and ring nails (Photo 12).
You’ll glue the tubes and post in place, too, but before 12.
you do, take them out and plane the kingplank to a cam-
ber that matches that of the bulkhead tops. Also, cut the
mast tubes to their inal lengths from the bottom of
the steps to the top of the kingplank, plus 1⁄4" to allow for
deck thickness, 1⁄2" for trim rings, and an additional 3" to
support the masts above the deck. Leave the cross-head
post long for now. Mix up a batch of thickened epoxy
and ill the holes in the mast steps two-thirds full. Plunk
the tubes into this mixture and make a inal check for
vertical alignment before the glue sets.
The Daggerboard Trunk
With the kingplanks and tubes in place, it’s time to
build the daggerboard trunk assembly on the bench
(Photo 13).
Before you cut any wood, measure the distance between
bulkheads No. 3 and No. 4 on your boat. Whatever that
JohN SUMMeRS (ThIS PAGe)

measurement, add 1⁄2" and make that the overall length

of the daggerboard trunk assembly to allow for inal it-
ting later. Get out the plywood sides and precoat what will
become the inside of the trunk with two coats of unthick-
ened epoxy before assembling further. First attach each
side’s longitudinal pine pieces—the bedlogs at the bot- 13.
tom and the nailing strips at the top—to the outboard

May/June 2010 • 43
Speed Never Goes Out of Style
I n the middle of the 19th century, an intrepid Scots army
oficer named John MacGregor constructed a small decked
canoe which he dubbed ROB ROY. An astute promoter as

YACHTING/ANTIquE BOAT MuSEuM

well as an intrepid adventurer, he wrote a series of popular
books about his travels in this tiny canoe (see WB No. 168).
Inspired by MacGregor, sportsmen formed canoe clubs in both
Europe and North America and staged annual meets where
they assembled for camping, fellowship, and competition.
Not long after recreational canoeists started to paddle
their craft, some added sails as well. At irst, these were an
addition to the paddle to be used on long cruises when the
wind was right: “Sail when you can, paddle when you must,”
was the rubric. Human nature being what it is, however, the
canoeists soon began racing each other under sail, and this Kenneth Friede, in his sailing knickers, hikes out on the
led to rapid development in hulls, rigs, and hardware. sliding seat and puts the helm hard to starboard in a
The irst sailing canoes were cruising boats with sails added, circa-1930s photograph of his 16-30 canoe PRESTIGE .
and the sailor sat down on the loorboards in the cockpit. Get-
ting the skipper’s weight up on deck to windward allowed boats
to carry more sail. An expert but small-of-stature sailor named as “16-30s.” Those dimensions (16' length × 30" beam with 90
Paul Butler took the idea one step further by creating a sliding sq ft of sail) were typical for boats built under Rule IV, “Sail-
seat mounted above the deck, which allowed him to get his ing Canoes,” of the ACA’s classiication system. As published
weight even farther out to windward. In the search for sail-car- in the ACA yearbook of 1930, that rule reads as follows:
rying power, cockpits became smaller and side decks wider. “Maximum length 18', minimum beam 30". Beam in no
Canvas liners were added to make cockpits waterproof in the case to be less than 5⁄32 , nor more than 1⁄5 , of length. Great-
event of a capsize, and eventually the cockpits were completely est beam at waterline, with 150 lbs load aboard, shall be not
enclosed and made self-bailing. By the late 1890s, recreational less than 88% of greatest beam wherever found. Minimum
canoe design had diverged into three main branches: decked- depth amidship shall be not less than 51⁄4% of length. Mini-
over canoes for racing under sail, all-round canoes for cruis- mum weight in pounds, exclusive of centerboard, rudder,
ing under sail or paddle, and racing paddling canoes. Each steering gear, and deck seat, shall be not less than length
was optimized for its particular use. in inches multiplied by beam in inches divided by 60. A
The canvas spread by racing sailing canoes grew ever larger, centerboard shall be capable of being raised so as not to
to more than 120 sq ft on some 16' hulls, and capsizes became project below the keel. On a canoe of length 16' and beam
a constant feature of competition. In the early 20th century, in 30", sail area allowed is 90 sq ft. For each inch that beam is
response to concerns that canoes were becoming “unhealthy” increased, sail area may be increased 3 sq ft. For each inch
racing machines, the American Canoe Association (ACA) for- that length is increased, sail area must be decreased 1⁄2 sq ft.
mulated a set of rules that governed the dimensions of all classes Maximum height in feet of any sail above the level of gun-
of canoes, both paddling and sailing, and it was that rule that wale shall not exceed the square root of the total sail area
produced the canoe that I’ll describe in this two-part series. plus 5.5. A paddle, at least 3' long, shall be carried through-
Decked sailing canoes like this one were most often known out every sailing race.” —JS

face of their respective sides, using glue and nails driven square. Bore 3⁄32" pilot holes from the inside of the hull
from what will become the inside of the trunk. in the center of each of the resulting 7⁄8" squares. (You
Cut the three 7⁄8"-thick vertical pieces to length, mak- can scribe lines from corner to corner in each of the
ing sure to leave the two head ledges—the pieces that squares to ind the center.) Flip the boat upside down,
will extend through the bottom of the hull—at least 3⁄4" and, using these pilot holes as a guide, it your drill
long on the bottom to project through the daggerboard with a 7⁄8" Forstner bit and bore two clean, plumb holes
slot for inal trimming after the trunk is installed. Glue through the bottom. Then, use a straightedge to scribe
and ring-nail the two completed sides to the three parallel straight lines tangent to these two holes, one on
upright pieces to complete the trunk assembly. each side of the hull’s centerline. Cut the resulting slot
When the trunk is assembled and the epoxy has plumb with a jigsaw.
cured, measure the exact distance between your bulk- The protruding lengths of the trunk’s head ledges
heads again and cut the trunk to length for a irm it. will have to be rounded. Put the trunk upside down in a
Set the trunk in the boat between the bulkheads and bench vise, and use a rasp to round the forward corners of
on the centerline, keeping it plumb. Where the pro- the forward head ledge and the after corners of the after
truding head ledges touch the hull at the centerline, one until they match the 7⁄8" radius of the holes you bored
trace their perimeters onto the plywood bottom. You’ll earlier at each end of the daggerboard slot (Photo 14).
use these marks in cutting the daggerboard slot. Slip the assembled trunk back into place to
Take the trunk out of the boat. In the resulting check the it of the head ledges. After you’re satis-
perimeter tracings, measure 7⁄8" toward amidships ied, scribe the pine bedlogs to it the boat’s bottom.
from the outer extremity of each tracing, and square Remove the trunk again and plane the bedlogs to
this measurement athwartships. This results in a 7⁄8" the scribe marks. Several dry-its may be necessary.

44 • WoodenBoat 214
 When the trunk its snugly, epoxy it into place and
make a tidy illet with the squeeze-out. Then turn the
boat upside down and fasten through the plywood
bottom planking into the bedlogs with countersunk
screws. After the epoxy has set, add a screw from the
forward side of bulkhead No. 3 and the after side of
bulkhead No. 4 into the uprights just for insurance.
Finally, trim the ends of the head ledges lush with
the boat’s bottom on the outside, using a plane, rasp,
and sandpaper. Remove any epoxy squeeze-out that
crept into the trunk (Photo 15).

The next step is to install the deck—and that’s where we’ll

14.
take up the project in Part 2.

John Summers has been fascinated by sailing canoes since he irst

read a magazine article about the International 10 Square Metre
Canoe in the mid-1980s. A curator, boatbuilder, and U.S. Sailing–
certiied instructor, he is currently general manager of the Canadian
Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario.

The development of this design was generously supported by the

Antique Boat Museum, and complete building plans and instruc-

JoHN SummeRS (BoTH)

tions, including detailed hardware and materials lists and sources,
are available for $125 (plus $10 shipping) from the museum, 750
Mary St., Clayton, NY 13624; 315–686–4104; www.abm.org.
Encouragement, advice, troubleshooting, and moral support are
available from the author at authenticboats@gmail.com. For infor-
mation about classes in which you can build your own 16-30, contact
Dan Miller, curator of the Antique Boat Museum, dmiller@abm.org.
15.

—— Plan Details ——
JoHN SummeRS

may/June 2010 • 45
Build a 16-30
Sailing Canoe
JohN SuMMerS

A simple hull with great performance

by John Summers
PART 2
H aving completed the hull as shown in Part 1 (WB
No. 214), the next step is to complete the 16-30
sailing canoe’s self-bailing cockpit, which will be
the last project before the deck goes on.
Start with the amidship cockpit sole supports, made
enough to extend a few inches higher than the center-
board trunk. Fit the pattern into place on one side of
the trunk and scribe the bottom angle with a pencil
compass. Mark the height of the daggerboard trunk
on the inner edge, and square that height horizontally
up of one half-bulkhead on each side of the dagger- across to the outer edge. Then, add 3⁄4" of height to the
board trunk (Photo 1). These are built like the bulk- outer edge to give a good amount of slope. Connect
heads described in Part 1, itted to the bottom and then these two points, and you have the master angle for the
illeted to the bottom and sides, and reinforced at the slope of your cockpit sole. Transfer this angle from the
top edge with 3⁄4" × 3⁄4" pine. pattern to plywood stock. Mark the heights and widths
In addition to holding the daggerboard, the trunk of the daggerboard trunk’s longitudinals, and mark off
functions as the cockpit drain, so the cockpit sole is a 45-degree cut on the lower inside corner to provide
made up of two plywood panels that slope toward the a limber hole. Cut the marked plywood to shape, and
centerline. Before making the amidship half-bulkheads, cut ventilation holes as shown. The same pattern should
ensure that the hull is once again plumb and level. work for both sides, but check it before cutting the sec-
Then, rough-cut a pattern from scrap, making it large ond piece. After the plywood pieces are inished to

Above—With her simple rigging completed, this 16-30 sailing canoe is ready for paint—after which she can be launched.
Learning to sail the boat will be a task of its own, as explained on page 57.

50 • WoodenBoat 215
their inal shapes, attach the 3⁄4" × 3⁄4" reinforcing strips
to their upper edges with glue and nails. After this is
done, illet the sole supports into the boat.
The other athwartship cockpit sole supports are four
3
⁄4" clamps epoxied and nailed to the bulkheads, one
per side at each end of the cockpit (visible in Photo 1).
To determine where the top edges of these should lie,
use a straightedge the length of the cockpit placed so
that it lies atop the amidship sole support about a foot
out from the centerline and level fore-and-aft. Mark
where the underside of this straightedge intersects the
bulkheads. Line up each clamp so that its top surface
is lush with the top of the daggerboard trunk at its
inboard end and hits the mark on the bulkhead at 1.
the outboard end. These pieces should extend 13" out
from the centerline. Fasten them to the bulkheads with
epoxy and ring shank nails.
The outboard edges of the cockpit sole panels are
supported by longitudinal plywood supports made the
same way as the half-bulkheads (Photo 2). These sup-
ports run parallel to, and 13" outboard of, the center-
line, connecting the outboard ends of the clamps on
the bulkheads to the center cockpit sole support. You’ll
need four of them. Make several limber holes along the
bottom edge of each to allow bilge water to move freely.
Glue and nail 3⁄4" × 3⁄4" strips along their top edges, too.
Cockpit Sole and Sides
Next, measure and cut the two halves of the cockpit sole
from 6mm plywood (visible in Photo 4). Each should 2.
extend a little way outboard of the outer longitudinal
cockpit sole beams. Remember to make a notch the
length of the daggerboard slot and half its width along
the inboard edge of each side panel (visible in Photo 4).
Trim the ends of the panels so they it irmly in place
between the bulkheads. Mark and cut the holes for the
inspection ports (visible in Photo 4), but don’t fasten
the sole in place yet.
The side decks alongside the cockpit take a lot of
stress, because they support not only the sliding seat
but also the cleats and turning blocks for the sheets.
So they are fully backed up with horizontal, solid pine
blocking that extends from bulkhead No. 3 back to
bulkhead No. 4 (Photo 3). Cut two pieces of 1 × 10 pine
to it snugly between the bulkheads, lush with the sheer 3.
and matching the camber of the bulkheads. Scribe the
curve of the hull side along their outer edges, and cut
and bevel them to it. Fasten these pieces into place
with epoxy and also with screws driven into both ends
through the bulkheads and their nailing strips. After
the epoxy cures, use a plane to fair the blocking to
match the camber of the bulkheads.
We have more to do before the cockpit sole can be
permanently installed. First, make sure the boat is still
level athwartships, then plumb downward from the
JohN SuMMERS (ThiS PAGE)

inner edge of the side deck blocking to the cockpit sole

pieces to mark for the longitudinal clamps to which the
cockpit sides will attach. Mark two positions, one for-
ward and one aft, on each side. Remove the sole pieces
and use epoxy and bronze ring nails (from the under-
side) to install a 3⁄4" × 3⁄4" clamp on each side so that its 4.
inboard face lies on this lines (visible in Photo 4).

July/August 2010 • 51
 While the sole panels are still out of the boat, rein-
force the inspection holes. For each hole, cut a hole the
same size in 6mm plywood scrap, then epoxy this piece
onto the underside of the cockpit sole panel, lining up
the hole and making sure the piece won’t get in the way
of the sole panel’s it to the cockpit supports.
Before installing the cockpit sole pieces, apply two
coats of unthickened epoxy to their undersides and
also to the plywood cockpit supports. (Also, if you wish
to install through-hull drain plugs that line up with
the inspection ports, visible in Photos 2 and 4, this is the
time to do it.)
After the epoxy has cured, put the cockpit sole pan-
els in place once more and mark where they will be
fastened with screws along each edge. Bore holes and
countersinks for the screws, then coat the sole beams 5.
and nailing strips with epoxy and fasten both sole
pieces in place.
Next, use 6mm plywood to make the two cockpit
sides, which extend between the bulkheads and it
snugly to the cockpit sole and lush to the top of the
inboard edge of the side deck blocking. It’s best to cut
the plywood to length irst and leave the pieces a little
high, then place them in the boat, trim their bottom
edges as needed, and scribe along the upper edges of
the side deck blocking to determine where to cut their
tops. Do this separately for each side to account for any
variations from side to side.
More Structure, Then Coamings
Before installing the cockpit sides, we also need to
add a backing piece to each of them to support the
uprights for the seat bridge. First, establish and mark 6.
the location of the centerline of the seat bridge,
which is 14" forward of the centerline of the rudder
cross-head post (visible in Photo 4). The seat bridge
uprights are 31⁄2" wide, but their backing pieces should
be 6" wide and made up of two layers of 6mm plywood.
Glue them to the outboard face of each cockpit side,
centered on the seat bridge location. Don’t forget to
leave 1" at the bottom to clear the cockpit side nailing
strips and 1" at the top to clear the side deck block-
ing. The backs of the cockpit sides and these backing
pieces should be epoxy coated, too, and when they’re
done, you can bore for 3⁄4" screws and glue and fasten JohN SummErS (ThIS pAGE)

them into place.

The forward end of the cockpit coaming offers you
some room for artistic expression. You have to decide its
shape now, because you’ll need to install pine blocking
to support the deck and coaming at the forward end of
the cockpit (Photo 5). The photos show a straight coam- 7.
ing that’s raked and angled and laps onto the deck at its
forward end. Though good-looking, this is probably the
most complicated shape to build, owing to the multiple The Deck
bevels in each piece. A gently curving coaming also The deck is made of 3mm plywood. This is very light
looks good, either plumb (easier) or raked (more dif- but not particularly strong. You’ll want to be careful
icult to it). When you’ve chosen your coaming shape, never to stand or sit on the deck. You may even want to
make the blocking out of pine and install it with glue as stencil “No Step” here and there, the way aircraft build-
well as screws driven through the bulkhead. Toe-screw ers do. For a more robust deck, you can add some longi-
the after ends into the cockpit sides. Be sure the block- tudinal stringers between the bulkheads parallel to the
ing isn’t set too low, because you’ll fair these pieces to kingplank. You could also add a second layer of 3mm
the deck camber, as well. plywood and skip the stringers. Either way, the deck

52 • WoodenBoat 215
 Once the deck is epoxied and fastened down, make
built-up trim rings for the mast and cross-head tubes
(Photo 7). Use the same method to make lat surfaces
for the deck-mounted inspection ports shown in the
plans. All of these are glued-up from two layers of 6mm
plywood. After the trim rings are glued up, “back out”
their undersides as necessary—meaning shape a con-
cavity into them—so that they will it tight to the cam-
bered deck. Round-over their exposed corners, too.
The trim ring for the cross-head post should also have
an aluminum or nylon washer set into it to take the
wear of the pivoting cross-head tube assembly, which
slips over the top of the post. Glue down the trim rings
and illet the joints where they meet the deck.
8. The Seat Bridge
The seat bridge is made from hardwood, such as mahog-
any or oak, supported by two upright supports per side
(Photo 8). First make the inner supports, which fasten
to the cockpit sides where the plywood backing pieces
were placed earlier. Cut them long enough so that the
top face of the seat bridge will be at least 31⁄2" above the
deck at the cockpit coaming.
Next, cut the bridge itself to length; you’ll need to
do this before you establish the locations of the outer
supports. Set the bridge on the inner supports, cen-
tered athwartships. Square down from the bridge to the
deck to mark the outboard locations of the outer posts
(Photo 9). It’s best if these are close to the outer edge
of the deck, so place them so that their inboard faces
9. are 5" outboard of the cockpit coaming to give room
for the mizzen sheet to pass between the outer post
and the coaming on each side. Pick off the bevel for
the bottom of the support with a bevel gauge. Cut this
bevel on the bottom of the support, then put it back in
position and mark its inal height. Note that the outer
support needs to be lared out at the bottom to accept
the screws that will fasten it through to the side-deck
blocking (visible in Photo 9). Give the support as much
width as you can from your stock and then cut a pleas-
ing curved transition to its 3 1⁄2" width at the upper end.
The lower edge of this post will sometimes be underwa-
ter on the leeward side of the boat, so you might want to
taper the forward and after edges. Dry-it the supports
and the bridge and check for alignment. When you’re
JOhN SUMMeRS (ThIS PAGe)

satisied, bore and countersink for screws through the

seat bridge and into the vertical supports, and dry-it
again, driving the screws this time. When you’re really
satisied, assemble with screws and epoxy.
After the seat bridge is in place, inish the rest of the
10. cockpit coaming so the aft end and sides match what
you did with the forward end (visible in Photo 8).
Sliding Seat
is ring nailed and epoxied in two halves, one forward The sliding seat is a shallow box made from pine
and the other aft, with the athwartships joint landing stock and 6mm plywood, liberally glued and screwed
in the middle of the side-deck blocking (Photo 6). Use together (Photo 10). The square cutout in the center
battens to check the supporting structure for fairness, is an optional handhold or foothold to assist in slid-
and plane it where necessary. Mark the deckbeam loca- ing the seat from side to side and in pushing yourself
tions on the upper sides of the deck panels while you’re outboard to the end of the seat. (If you make the hole
dry-itting them, so you’ll know right where to drive the round, it can also be a drink holder—on calm days!)
nails during inal installation. In laying out the sliding seat, space the aluminum rails

July/August 2010 • 53
 11.
you’ll attach to the bottom of the seat so that they have
at least 1⁄4" of slop when the seat is riding on the seat
bridge (Photo 11). This will prevent binding when the
seat slides back and forth.

The Daggerboard
The daggerboard is glued up from three pieces of 6mm
plywood, liberally coated with epoxy, and clamped lat
while drying. The blocks at the top can be made from
hardwood scrap. For sailing, it will be easier to lift the 12.
board if you fashion a groove in each side of the blocks
to give your ingertips something to grip. After the
board is glued up, taper its edges with a block plane,
making sure the sides are symmetrical.
The Rudder and Cross-head
The rudder is built in the same way as the daggerboard
except with only two layers of 6mm plywood (Photo
12). The yoke arm at the top is also made from two
layers of 6mm plywood. The rudderhead and yoke are
braced by a support bracket you can make from 1⁄8" ×
1" aluminum bar stock, bending it to 90 degrees and
boring holes for its fastenings. Use epoxy and bolts
to install the bracket. Mount the gudgeons on the
sternpost, but don’t attach the pintles to the rudder yet.
The cross-head is assembled from aluminum tub- 13.
ing and scaffolding connectors (Photo 13). The verti-
cal tube, which has a 15⁄8" outside diameter, slides over
the exposed top of the stationary 11⁄4" cross-head post
and bears against the washer set into the trim ring as it
rotates. How high to make the tube is a matter of per-
sonal preference, but it should be long enough to bring
the bottom of the transverse tube that holds the tiller
at least 8" above the top of the seat bridge to allow the
tiller to clear the top of the seat and the skipper’s leg
even if it delects during use. When the tubes are cut to
length and assembled, place the unit onto the post, add
JoHn SUMMErS (THiS pAgE)

the retaining ring to the top, mark the height, and cut the
cross-head post to this inal height.
The cross-head and yoke are connected by a rigid
tiller rod made from 11⁄4"-outside-diameter ir dowel,
sometimes called a “closet pole” (Photos 14 and
15). Each end is slotted to receive a piece of 1⁄8" × 1" 14.
aluminum bar stock, epoxied and riveted in place.

54 • WoodenBoat 215
 To it the pieces of the steering system together, irst
place the cross-head assembly onto the post. Slip the pintles
onto the rudder (without fastenings) and adjust the rud-
der’s height until the top of the rudder yoke matches the
height of the tab on the cross-head arm, then mark where
the pintles and gudgeons will go, then inal-it them.
Hang the rudder, then clamp a rigid piece of stock to
both hold the rudder amidships and the cross-head arm
square to the boat’s centerline. While they’re clamped,
determine the length of the tiller rod including its alu-
minum end ittings. Cut the tiller rod to length, then
cut slots in each end and rivet and epoxy the bar stock
in place without cutting it to inal length or drilling for
the clevis pins. Place the tiller rod assembly onto the
boat and mark the inal center-to-center distance for
the clevis pin holes. Bore the holes, then cut the bar
stock to length and round the ends.
15. Deck Hardware (Photo 16)
The two cam cleats for the main and mizzen sheets
should be placed on a plywood pad that’s high enough
for the line to clear the cockpit coaming. Locate the
turning blocks for the sheets so that the line doesn’t
chafe on the seat bridge support. It’s best if the cleats
are close together so that you can grab both sheets with
one hand when sailing. At the base of each mast, there
should be an eye strap to take the downhaul, with a
cleat nearby where it can be made off. Another cleat
goes at the bow, forward of the mast tube, to take the
painter. Two swivel blocks go at the stern for the miz-
zen sheet. The swivel blocks for the mainsheet go near
the forward end of the cockpit. Remember to locate
all hardware so that it can be screwed into the deck
blocking or the kingplank.
Spars and Rigging
There are several options for spars (Photo 17). The
16. original 16-30s had hollow spars of spruce. Some of
the new boats use carbon-iber masts. You could make
hollow wooden spars using the “bird’s mouth” method
(see WB No. 149). In any case, the dimensions are on
the plans. You have several options for the booms, rang-
ing from round wooden ones to T-shaped wooden ones,
to carbon iber, to aluminum. For the 16-30 prototype,
we experimented with windsurfer spars but found them
to be too lexible.
Sails for the 16-30 are readily available from sailmaker
Douglas Fowler, whose contact information is included
in the rigging materials list on page 56. You will receive
a class sail number when you order your plans.
The eye snaps for the main and mizzen sheets should
be lashed to the booms above the deck blocks with
heavy waxed nylon whipping twine.
The sliding seat needs a leash to keep it from being
accidentally ired out of the boat when tacking or going
JoHN SummeRS (THIS PAge)

adrift after a capsize (visible in Photo 15). The leash

should be just long enough to let the leeward end of the
seat come even with the leeward end of the seat bridge.
Put an eye strap at the aft end of the cockpit and another
under the aft edge of the seat. Tie one end of the line off
17. on the seat’s eye and then use an eye snap to attach
the other end to the eye strap on the cockpit. That way,

July/August 2010 • 55
 Diameters for Wooden Spars
Station 0 is foot of spar, stations 1' on center
Stick Length Main Mizzen Main Mizzen
Mast Mast Boom Boom
16‘8” 12‘ 6” 9‘ 5” 7‘ 2”
Station 0 2 1 ⁄2” 2 1 ⁄2” 1 1 ⁄2” 1 1 ⁄2”
“ 1 2 1 ⁄2” 2 1 ⁄2”
“ 2 2 1 ⁄2” 2 1 ⁄2”
“ 3 2 1 ⁄2” 2 1 ⁄2”
“ 4 2 1 ⁄2” 2 1 ⁄2” 2”
“ 5 2 1 ⁄2” 2 3⁄8” 2”
“ 6 2 1 ⁄2” 2 3⁄8”
“ 7 2 1 ⁄2” 2 3⁄16”
“ 8 2 1 ⁄2” 2 1 ⁄8” 1”
“ 9 2 1 ⁄2” 2 1 ⁄16”
“ 10 2 3⁄8” 1 15 ⁄16” 1”
“ 11 2 1 ⁄4” 1 7 ⁄8”
“ 12 2 1 ⁄16” 1 3 ⁄4”

JOhn SuMMERS
“ 13 2” 1 1 ⁄2”
“ 14 1 3⁄4”
“ 15 1 3⁄4”
“ 16 1 1 ⁄2”
17 1 1 ⁄4”
Sails and Rigging Materials list
SPARS 4— single swivel bullet block 6 – 3” nylon cleats 50’— 1⁄8” Dacron cord
Carbon-iber masts, preitted (deck sheet blocks) (painter, 2; outhauls, 2; (downhauls, outhauls)
with goosenecks, ForteRTS, 4— stand-up spring, 1”, downhauls, 2)
www.forterts.com. for bullet blocks (sheet 1— rudder pintles and OThER
blocks) gudgeons kit 1— Daggerboard blade
SAIlS carpet to line trunk, 10’
14— 1 5⁄8” stainless-steel 4— 4” white screw-in deck
Douglas Fowler, Sailmaker, eye strap (bullet blocks, (Annapolis Performance
plates (1 bow, 1 stern, 2
1182 East Shore Dr., Ithaca, 4; sheet ends, 4; seat Sailing, www.apsltd.com)
cockpit)
NY 14850; 607–277–0041 leash, 2; downhauls, 2; 1— set of air low telltales 1— telescoping paddle
RIggIng outhauls, 2) 1— Self-bonding rigging
26’— 1⁄4” poly yacht braid,
2— gooseneck ittings (if not 4— single cheek bullet block black (main sheet) tape, 10’ roll (for
ordered with spars) (sheet blocks on deck) adjusting it of masts in
12’— 1⁄4” poly yacht braid,
3— eye snap bronze swivel 4— small cam cleats (main black (painter) mast tubes)
(sheets on booms, seat and mizzen sheets) 2— 1⁄2” bronze garboard
8’— 1⁄4” poly yacht braid,
leash) 4— angled fairleads for cam black (tiller rod retainer) drain plugs with pin
2— single bullet block (sheets cleats (for main and 1—Sail repair tape, 15’ roll (for
34’— 1⁄4” poly yacht braid,
on booms) mizzen sheets) adjusting it of cross-head)
green (mizzen sheet)

the leash travels with the seat and won’t log around the inside the cockpit. Either way, they should be just long
boat when trailering. enough to let the boom go out almost at right angles
The simplest setup for the main and mizzen sheets to the centerline of the hull but no farther—anything
is to use one sheet per side, with stopper knots in their longer just makes a mess in the cockpit.
ends. If you’d like to spend a little more time on a more Your boat is ready for the paint of your choice (after
elegant solution, you can make your sheets continuous. washing the hull with warm, soapy water to remove
You can do this either by using three-strand and learn- the epoxy amine blush). Then, it’s time to learn how
ing how to do a longsplice (which doesn’t increase the to sail her.
diameter of the line much) or by taking the sheet to a John Summers has been fascinated by sailing canoes since he irst
marine store and having them do an end-to-end splice read a magazine article about the International 10 Square Metre
in braided line. The advantage is a little less tangle in Canoe in the mid-1980s. A curator, boatbuilder, and U.S. Sailing-
the cockpit when you’re under way, and no possibility certiied instructor, he is currently general manager of the Canadian
of having the stopper knot come undone and causing a Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario.
dramatic wipeout. The disadvantage is that your sheets
will always be on the boat, and if you’re using braided The development of this design was generously supported by the
line and you send the sheets out to be spliced, you’ll Antique Boat Museum, and complete building plans and instruc-
tions, including detailed hardware and materials lists and sources,
have to put the blocks on them before the ends are are available for $125 (plus $10 shipping) from the museum, 750
joined. Mary St., Clayton, NY 13624; 315–686–4104; www.abm.org.
There are various treatments for the dead ends of Encouragement, advice, troubleshooting, and moral support are
the sheets if you don’t make them continuous. Some available from the author at authenticboats@gmail.com. For infor-
sailors make them off to an eye strap on the end of mation about classes in which you can build your own 16-30, contact
the sliding seat. Others make them off to an eye strap Dan Miller, curator of the Antique Boat Museum, dmiller@abm.org.

56 • WoodenBoat 215
LYNN MILLER

As with their historical counterparts, these 16-30 sailing canoes take some getting used to, and capsizes are as common as in
high-performance dinghy racing.

Learning to Sail the 16-30

T here are two important ways in which a sailing
canoe is like a bicycle: 1) It won’t stand up on its
own; and 2) it’s easier to ride it faster than slower.
As you try your canoe for the irst time, remember
also that it took you probably at least ten tries to ride
Eventually you’ll learn to be one step ahead of the game.
That irst generation of 16–30 canoes was set up with
cleats designed to be operated with the skipper’s toe.
After you tacked, you cleated the sheets, shifted your
weight out onto the sliding seat, and stayed there until
down the driveway without falling over when you were you tacked again, only releasing the sheets in an emer-
learning to ride your bike. Remember how frustrating gency. Changes in wind strength were dealt with mostly
that was? And remember how satisfying it was on the by hiking out or feathering the boat into the wind. These
eleventh time when you lew down the driveway, turned days, dinghy sailors tend to sail with the sheet in their
at the mailbox, and rode off down the street? Learning hand, playing it in and out to help trim the boat. In fact,
to sail your canoe is a little like that. There isn’t another if you’ve taken sailing lessons recently, you’ll probably
small sailboat aloat that will give you a better educa- recall that they wouldn’t let you cleat the mainsheet.
tion in how to read and respond to the wind and the This canoe is designed so that its cam cleats and cross-
waves than a sailing canoe, but it takes a little getting cockpit sheeting allow you the choice of sailing the old
used to. Here are some general tips. way or the new way.
You’ll ind out two things as soon as you head out. Three important thoughts about capsizing in the
First, your canoe is very sensitive to your weight—in 16–30:
fact, your position in the boat is the key to the whole • You will. (When you start, you’ll capsize a lot).
operation. Second, a decked canoe is a subtle boat, and • It happens to everyone.
you need make only small adjustments of the tiller to
• It’s no big deal.
steer. For the most part, you slide the seat as far as it can
go to windward and keep it there until you tack. Most If you’ve done a good job in building your canoe,
of the movement is done by your seat, not the sliding the boat can be thought of as one big buoyancy tank
seat. This is why sailing-canoe enthusiasts often wear and will loat quite high in the water. When (not if) you
shorts with padding at the rear, and why International capsize, try not to fall on the sail, as you could break
Canoes (the big brothers and sisters of the 16–30) the battens or even tear the cloth. If you see a capsize
sometimes have names like STICKY BUNS or ROSY coming, the best way to recover is to end up astride the
CHEEKS. Think of yourself as the manager of the boat- side of the boat as it goes over, just as in dinghy sailing.
trim department. The secret to canoe sailing is to be From there, it’s easy to put some weight on the dagger-
constantly aware of your degree of heel and the factors board, pull on the coaming and climb back in as the
(sheet, seat, skipper’s position, wind) that can affect it. boat comes upright. —JS

July/August 2010 • 57