Isle Of Man

By Tom Babbs #781 (1ar)

Hi Shorty,

I have been toying with the idea of building a boat for some time and have finally started, I am really impressed by the entire puddle duck racer concept and especially your drive and the amount of effort you have put into it.

I am based on the Isle of Man which is in the Irish sea in the UK. Unfortunately there aren't any inland waters that I will be able to sail on so the intention will be to sail in sheltered coastal bays. I have cut the sides from 6mm WPB plywood and the base from 9mm WPB plywood. Which I plan on coating with epoxy resin using the west system kit.

I am sure that I have over engineered the framework as I built side air boxes the using solid timber (150mm by 20mm softwood) gables in order give me impact strength on all four corners. I am planning on using a pivoting lee board.

I am still deciding what rig to put on the boat, I would really like some kind of junk rig put keep swaying towards the leg o mutton sprit or some sort of sliding gunter.

My main purpose for the boat is to sail mess about with sails and do a little bit of fishing. I still haven't made up my mind on a name for the boat. I have included a couple of pictures of the build and one of the model I built floating in the bath!

From Tom Babbs