New Post on “Boats for difficult times”
Another new post on Boats for difficult times:
Fortuitous Mashup?
Two ideas collided this morning. “Boats I’d like to design” and Crowd-Sourcing.
It struck me right away, “Why hadn’t I thought of this before?!”
The strangulation point that’s afflicted boat design – leaving Yacht Design to the side – has been the growing gap between what people can afford – in a world of lowering incomes and many competing interests and activities chasing that lesser amount of discretionary income – and what a design costs to produce. People would like a new design, can see at least some of the benefits of having a boat that fits their needs most closely; but they simply can’t afford what it costs to commission a design.
Recent project, Re-”forming” the Newport Catboat Falcon
Mark Sutherland approached me this past Spring to see if we could recover the actual form of a Newport catboat with an interesting history. The 25′ Catboat Falcon was lost off Brenton Reef in a summer thunder-squall at the turn of the Twentieth Century. Two lives were lost, an older brother passing the bowsprit to his younger sibling, leading to his singular survival. The older brother and a friend’s bodies were never to be recovered.
Marty Harris Catboat Update
Just heard from Marty. He’s put up a bunch of new pictures on his website.
Here’s his update:
“I just put the cotton in the seams and primed the bottom and topsides. The boat is doing well. I plan on putting in the underwater seam compound in the morning then flipping the boat back right side up.”
My Book on Design
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Since 12.02.10
