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Boatbuilding

Building Kerisper

A 16′ outboard Vivier design.

Dates
June 7 – June 20
Location
Brooklin, Maine
Tuition
$1700
Tools
Click to Download Tool List
Instructor
Clint Chase
Experience Level
Beginner
Activity Level
High
  Spend two weeks with Clint Chase building an outboard motorboat that utilizes multiple building techniques. Stitch and glue hull with a traditional glue-lapstrake plywood sheer plank, so students will learn both methods as well as all the basic skills you need to build your own boat. Kerisper is a classic, fuel-efficient power skiff by François Vivier, a renowned French Naval Architect. Named after a beautiful hamlet along the Brittany coast, she is a stable, seaworthy skiff intended for day boating, fishing, picnicking, and zipping about in both sheltered waters and open coastal waters.

Interior arrangements are a tiller-steering, where the helmsman sits aft and  comfortable seating for up 4 adults. Generous side benches up forward and a spacious locker for storage of gear make it feel like a bigger boat. Flotation chambers fore and aft add to the safety and an excellent choice for most any body of water.

Kerisper has the following key features:

  • Stability and ample freeboard making her dry and comfortable

  • A semi-planing hull form that is very fuel-efficient and requires no more than a 20 horse outboard.

  • Sturdy, lightweight construction technique, that combines stich-and-glue with lapstrake construction

  • Benefit from a fully epoxy sheathed hull, resistant to shocks and abrasion, very durable (no risk of osmosis) and easy to maintain.

  • Trailerable and easy to launch and recover with the flat bottom and curving stem shape

Performance is excellent with Kerisper varying with horsepower and, of course, sea state. She can be driven at a relaxing cruising speed with only a 6 hp engine. With a 10 HP and a crew of 3 adults, 13 knots can be maintained, as measured by one of the early hulls in France. With up to a 20 HP, she can go 18 knots which is quite good for a semi-planing hull design.

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