Small-Boat Gear SCOUT UPDATE
What does the smallest possible camp-cruising sailboat look like? If larger cruising keelboats are akin to motorhomes, what does a backpacker’s boat look like? Just how small can one go, practically speaking?
Here was our dream wish list for this new boat we call Scout:
1. Light enough to cartop 2. Safe boat with lots of flotation 3. Especially quick to rig 4. Sails and rows well 5. Lots of dry stowage 6. Room to sleep aboard
It was an interesting design exercise, as some of these features—like car-topping and sleeping aboard—would seem mu- tually exclusive. But before long Bran- don Davis at Turn Point Design was producing drawings that seemed to tick all of the boxes and, most remarkably, with judicious use of closed-cell foam panels to augment the 4mm plywood, he estimated we could keep the boat down under 70 pounds.
Lifting the finished boat was a shock, as even with two layers of glass inside the cockpit sole and on the bottom, the prototype came in at only 65 pounds! Scout is indeed truly car-toppable—no need for a trailer.
Looking for a roomy cockpit? How about 52" of beam and a deep, totally unobstructed footwell (the daggerboard is offset). And how many 10-foot car- toppers offer a sleeping bunk? Te Scout footwell measures 20 3/8" wide by 81.5" long—not a luxurious berth, but wider than some sailboat bunks and much longer. Want more space? Use a cloth, hammock or filler boards over footwell to create a double bunk.
Safety? Imagine a wide, stable, 10-foot boat with six different discrete wa- tertight, bulkheaded chambers under decks.
Te boomless, unstayed rig is simple and safe, and she is designed to row easily (oars stow out of the way under the lip above footwell). And those locking
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ABOVE—Scout: A stable, fast, cartoppable sleep-aboard boat. BELOW—A look before the deck went on. Loads of flotation and dry stowage
rowing thwart/seats are moveable. Not rowing? Slide them out of the way or position them so that you can sit on the cockpit sole and lean back comfortably against the slanted forward panel—slide the second thwart over in front of you to use as a table or cook station.
Stowage? Checkout the photo before the decks went on. Obviously the deck access plate diameter will limit the size of gear, but the photo gives you an idea of the tremendous dry stowage volume.
A limited number of kits are going to be cut for a “Founders Build”—where a handful of folks will build Scouts here
in Port Townsend at the Northwest Maritime Center or in their own shops as they follow along virtually as part of the live-streamed and recorded building class.
If you are interested in possibly being part of this class—in person, or vir- tually—you can visit the Northwest Maritime Center’s page for more info on the class.
www.nwmaritime.org/programs/ adult-programs/boatshop-classes/
More details on Scout as they develop •SCA•
SMALL CRAFT ADVISOR
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