“The smaller the boat, the more the fun !”

Puffin is my “would-be” Around-in-Ten entry. The 2009 around the world race for 10 foot sailing boats never happened. Sadly, all of the entrants one by one dropped out. Illness, injury and lack of funds being the main reasons. I was and still have familly comitments that for the time being keep me in harbor. If the situation changes, Me and My Boat will be ready!  

I designed the hull using PC CAD software. A number of 1/3rd scale radio controlled models have been built and Puffin has been well and truly tested under all weather conditions. The hull is good and sails well. Puffin is self-righting. She rights quickly if knocked down by a rogue wave or wind. The  full-size boat cabin should have adequate space for food & water for many months. Compared to some of the other AiT designs, she is is actually quite spacious! Inside the cabin is a generous single berth, small galley, navigation/radio area and a 100 Watt pedal generator to generate 12 volts and also for exercise!.

I feel that she should have just one sail. A simple lugsail with the minimum of lines, plus simple but effective reefing too.

She is very easy to build, extremely light in weight and a very capable. versatile craft. Oh and light on the pocket too!

Puffin

Below . . . .

The final Radio Controlled Model. I have a number of new sails which will be tested, hopefully under light winds and also gales. The model boating lake is situated alongside the River Blackwater, where weather conditions are always changing!