my new boat

Ed Mahoney of Orland, Maine, has built a Didi 38 for himself and it looks like he has made a really nice job of it. He launched a few days ago in Belfast.

Beautiful finish on the hull of Ed Mahoney's Didi 38

Waiting for her rig

Ed Mahoney's newly launched Didi 38

Ed plans to take her for her first sail tomorrow. We wish him pleasant sailing. Ed, enjoy the wonderful feelings of bringing to life this boat that you created with your own hands.

See out full range of designs at http://dixdesign.com/

My previous post was about having my Paper Jet at OkoumeFest on Kent Island, near to Annapolis. After that I received requests for the opportunity to sail her with the Turbo rig as well. I have arranged to have another Paper Jet at the event, which will allow us to have both rigs available for sailing. My own boat, the prototype will have the Turbo rig. The 2nd boat is being loaned to me by my friend, boatbuilder Howdy Bailey, and will have the Standard rig.

PJ 007 with Standard rig and PJ 001 with Turbo rig.

The two boats in the photo are the ones that we will have at OkoumeFest. This happens from 10am on Saturday 18th May on the beach at Matapeake State Park on Kent Island, south of the eastern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on US Route 50.

This is a boating rendezvous, so there will be many CLC boats on the water. If you have one of our plywood boats and live within reach of Kents Island, I am sure that you will be welcome to bring your boat and to join us for a day of sailing.

To see our full range of designs, go to http://dixdesign.com/ .

OkoumeFest is an annual event held by Chesapeake Light Craft in the Annapolis area of Chesapeake Bay. It mixes an Open Day at the Chesapeake Light Craft business premises on the Friday demonstrating products, building procedures etc and a day of opportunities to test a wide range of boats on sheltered water.

CLC recently started cutting our kits in USA and have invited us to bring our Paper Jet prototype to the Saturday part of the 2013 event. This happens on May 18th at the beach of the Matapeake State Park on Kent Island, south of the eastern end of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on US Route 50.

Read more about this event and how to participate on the CLC OkoumeFest page .

Paper Jet sailing in light conditions

We will be there, weather permitting. If you want to see it or if you would like to test sail her then please come along. I think that we will have the Standard rig on her, same as in the photo above. That will give more people the opportunity to sail her than if we use the more demanding Turbo rig.

CLC have cut and shipped three Paper Jet kits since taking over cutting. One of them went to South Carolina and two to the Pacific Northwest. This brings the total of these boats in USA to 30, out of 70 world-wide.

To see sailing and build photos for the Paper Jet, go to http://dixdesign.com/paperjet.htm and to see our other designs go to http://dixdesign.com/.

In a post in May 2012 we announced the new Didi 29 Retro design. The first CNC plywood kit for this design was cut in South Africa by CKD Boats and construction will soon be started by the owner/builder.

This boat has a large gaff rig but it is very versatile, able to be reduced to much more compact proportions by sail selection and reefing. Still, it is an imposing rig that is aimed primarily at racing in the Caribbean classic style races. We are accustomed to seeing photos of gaff-riggers carrying very impressive clouds of sail but, for those who are more cruising-oriented, this big rig has way too much sail for comfort. One such builder approached me to ask if it is possible to use a smaller gaff rig on her. I have drawn a cruising gaff rig and that drawing is now included as part of the stock design.

Didi 29 Retro Cruising Gaff Rig

This one is more compact, with shorter spars all round. The inboard foretriangle and the deck hardware layout are the only parts of the rig that are unchanged. The shorter bowsprit and lower masthead have given smaller asymmetrical spinnaker and outboard headsails. These are balanced by a smaller mainsail with shorter foot and head on the same luff length.

Didi 29 Retro Gaff Rigs

For comparison, the racing rig has 24% more area in the main and Genoa, 17% more in the Yankee and 27% more in the asymmetrical. Overall, this will be an easier rig to handle and it will be able to carry each sail combination into stronger winds. That is without sacrificing any of the features and versatility of the bigger rig.

To see more of this design, watch the video of my PechaKucha presentation on how it was developed from the Didi 26 design.

For more info on this and our other designs, go to http://dixdesign.com/