Wee Rob Canoe Building Plans

Description

These days a lot of sailors are again beginning to realise that a light and simple boat, which is easily stored and transported, may tend to get used a lot more than a larger and far more expensive one – for which mooring space is becoming harder to find every year. Canoes such as these can travel happily on top of a car, ready to explore quiet stretches of water that will never see a skier or jet ski. Yet they can easily carry sufficient hear – with careful planning – for a week or two of cruising.

The WEE ROB and MACGREGOR designs have nothing about them that would have caused any surprises in the 1890’s. Except perhaps for the leeboards. But a closer look will reveal a few features designed to handle better the confused and lumpy seas we often have to deal with, now that there are all these power boats rushing frantically about with nowhere to go. A little more freeboard, a good sheer; plenty of flare and buoyancy to keep the water out, combined with longer ends and a little keel rocker and a cutaway forefoot, which helps the manoeuvrability and sensitivity under sail. Wooden Boat has described the hulls as being “like baby whaleboats”, and indeed the basic form has a lot in common with some of the most seaworthy vessels in history.

For all their limitations of size, these little boats are actually very versatile, and can be adapted to a wide variety of uses and conditions. With this in mind, the designs include several options. In length, for a start: The WEE ROB can be built 12′ overall as drawn or extended to 13′ – 7″ (4.14) by increasing the spacing of the stations and using the revised stem patterns supplied. The longer hulls can be paddled a little faster, while retaining the moderate beam of 28.25″ which is generally believed to be ideal for efficient operation of the paddle.

• Length

  12′ 1″ – 3.67m

• Beam

  28″ – 0.71m

• Draft

  –

• Weight (kg)

  14

• Sail Area

  34 sq ft – 3.15 sq m

• Time to build (estimate)

  80-130 hours