You'll Slice Through a Chop With Little Loss of Headway in a Breeze in Your Customized Skiff
Power-Row Skiff
rugged flat-bottom skiffs for row or power
Build in
Plywood
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It takes only a little time, money, and effort to build one of these rugged - yet simple - flat bottom skiffs. Every model includes details for TWO bottom profile shapes. Use the ROW OPTION with rockered bottom profile if you favor easy rowing or smaller motors and lower speeds under power. Or use the POWER OPTION with straight, flat bottom aft if you’ll be rowing less or want more speed and power.
Three nominal lengths and bottom widths are available. NB models can be car-topped, carried in many station wagons or pick-up trucks, and are easier to row. SB models offer a good balance of easy rowing or powering, spaciousness, and stability. WB models offer the ultimate in room, stability, and speed under power, yet are still practical to row.
All models show built-in buoyancy chambers (3) and optional aft thwart (if omitted, the aft buoyancy chambers form side seats instead). All models feature low-resistance straight-steering, dry-running hull shapes of ample depth for security. Yet the nicely flared topsides with fine dory-type V-bow entries slice through a chop with little loss of headway in a breeze.
Plans include instructions with material listings and fastening schedule. Simple joining methods detailed on the plans allow you to use 8' plywood throughout with either exterior or marine grade panels (full-length panels are optional). Construction takes place over three temporary forms set up on a simple building base for accuracy. The few internal members can largely be pre-beveled to eliminate most fairing. Only minimal power hand tools are required (saber saw, variable-speed drill), plus some hand tools so that anyone can do it, even first-timers!
Plans include FULL-SIZE PATTERNS for temporary frames, transom, and stem, instructions, matieral listings, and fastening schedule.
Power or row option hull forms with each plan set
No boatbuilding experience required
Instructions especially for do-it-yourself builders
Commenting on his 11½’ POWER-ROW SKIFF (above
photos), Jeff Cope notes, "She rows beautifully. Soon I
will purchase a small outboard. I get many compliments on [the
boat’s] graceful lines. Keep up the good work."
Chris Totten built his 15-1/2' POWER-ROW SKIFF (above
photos) in California - his first boat!
Reed Gramse, M.D. and his sons built their 13-1/2'
POWER-ROW SKIFF in Maine. "We enjoyed the building
process and overall challenge. Your plans were accurate and
well thought out."
Robert Griggs, M.D. from New York has this to say about his
11-1/2' POWER-ROW SKIFF above: "It was fun to
build and the plans were excellent."
Dennis Breed's 15-1/2' WIDE BOTTOM POWER-ROW
SKIFF (below) is a real eye-catcher on the Massachusetts
shoreline. Says Dennis, "You can
see that I added some "personal" touches including
the console which works out quite well. This was my
first boat building effort and I found the project quite fun
and the plans easy to follow."
Nice job, Dennis, and thanks for the feedback and sharing
the photos.
2021