BUILD YOUR OWN SPINDRIFT DINGHY
An elegant yacht tender, junior trainer, or daysailer that’s easy and fun to build.
- Graham Byrnes —July 4–10
Designed in 1984, Graham Byrnes’s Spindrift dinghy was originally conceived as a yacht tender, but numerous boats built to the design have done very well racing in regattas around the country. With over 800 of them registered, the dinghy also has wide appeal as a lovely daysailer. It offers versatility that’s not always easy to find in small boats and is enjoyed by children and adults learning to sail, along with competitive small-boat sailors who appreciate the challenge of top-end racing.
Participants in this exciting six-day course will have the opportunity to choose between building a Spindrift 10′ or 12′ model. The instructor will supply the pre-cut okoume marine plywood kits, which incorporate such features as step scarfs and gear chines, and each student will create their very own sophisticated boat quite rapidly as the week progresses. You’ll learn basic stitch-and-glue boatbuilding techniques and then move on to the finer points of interior joinery and finish work that can make the difference between an amateur-looking job and one done by professionals. For example, students will learn to lay down a filleted-taped seam in one step that requires little if any sanding, and apply simple and quick ways to measure and fit things in the odd spaces that are a “boat.” Many of the techniques you learn this week will carry over and give the confidence you need to tackle almost any other building projects in the future.
So, come join innovative designer and boatbuilder Graham Byrnes for a week that promises to be rewarding and fun. And, by week’s end, you’ll be taking home a great boat for you or your children to row, motor, or sail, and you’ll have the satisfaction of building something both beautiful and functional.
Tuition: $750 (partner: $375)
Materials: 10′–$1160, 12′–$1345
Note: This is a six-day course ending Saturday afternoon.