my new boat

Wrap-up of Georgetown Wooden Boat Show

Last weekend we exhibited our Paper Jet on the Georgetown Wooden Boat Show in South Carolina. This was our 2nd time at this show, having been there in 2009 and won a special award for our Paper Jet. This time she wasn't lonely and was in the company of two sisters from the area. The show was on Saturday 19th October, on the Georgetown waterfront.

Three Paper Jets at Georgetown Wooden Boat Show

In the photo above, the yellow boat in the middle is my prototype, which you have probably seen many times before. The turquoise boat on the right belongs to Ted Bullock of Barrier Island Boatbuilders in Charleston. His boat is not yet complete and was displayed with the mast free-standing and no sails. The white boat in the background belongs to Bob Turner of Pawleys Island and was completed the week before the show, with the mainsail being set for the first time at the show.

Bob's Mylar sails were supplied by i-Sails . My sails are Dacron and supplied by Baxter Sails but they also offer them in Mylar. For those who are interested, you can compare the two sails in the photos. Mine is a fathead sail shaped to my original design. Bob's Mylar sail is a more modern squaretop sail to the i-Sails design that is being used in Europe. It has a marginally wider head and considerably less roach.

It will be interesting to compare the efficiency of the two sails when we can sail against each other. We intended to do that the evening before the show but heavy rain washed that plan away.



As always, my good wife, Dehlia, was at the show with me. Over the years she has become very competent and knowledgeable of our designs. She is a big help to me for talking to existing and potential builders of our boats and only has to refer the more technical questions to me.

Dehlia chatting to a visitor at the show.

We had a good flow of visitors all day. We were pleased to be visited by a few people who are already building our boats, including one who is building the Didi 29 Retro with cruising rig in North Carolina. Thanks to all who came to chat, we will be back again in a few years.

To see our full range of designs, please visit http://dixdesign.com/.