I did say in the last post that I would share some photos of a few details in Spraoi the 16′ experimental sea-boat I launched recently. I’ve decided to call the design a Willi-WAW like the wind as it can get fairly gusty around here but also it references this cool wooden foiling trimaran built in the 70’s that was cruised around the Pacific.

The photos above show what I’ve given the catchy name of articulated coamings. In many small boats a coaming is built around the edge of the cockpit to give better back support and to keep splashes out of the boat. They’re great at this job but when you have to hike out over the edge the top of the coaming painfully sticks into your legs. These articulated coamings flip flat and provide a nice wide seat when hiking out. Because of the curves involved they are actually held very securely when folded flat and are loose when upright.

Being loose allows them to move with the sitters back improving comfort and allows them to be slid aft to allow a gap for the oars.

The oars are held in Keips ( scandanavian oarlocks) which slot into the gunnels. I couldn’t have fixed oarlocks or pads for removable ones as they would interfere with the coamings. So I came up with the easily slotted in keips. Once in they don’t pop out when rowing. Lift them up at the back and out the slide. I’ve already thought of a better solution so I’ll make the change during the winter. In fact pretty much everything is liable to change which is on of the reasons that pieces of the boat are quite rudimentarily made.

And speaking of oars I should have thought out where to stow them a little better but I’ve decided to put them on the cockpit sole. I made a little rest for them so that they wouldn’t slip under foot. I can use them as a foot brace when heeled over. This bracket is just lashed in place and flips up to become the foot stretcher when I’m rowing.

Oh yeah and here’s two photos of the boat with the sail up. With and without the mast raked. I’m still getting a feel for where best to place the sail. I’ll hopefully post about handling the Crab Claw rig in the future.

If you would like to discuss having your own wooden boat built, repaired or restored please don’t hesitate to contact me, Tiernan Roe, at +353 28 38973 or +353 86 1586937.

Roeboats, Ballydehob, Co. Cork, t:+353 (0)28 38973 m: +353 (0)86 158 69 37 e:roeboats@ymail.com

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