my new boat

Our 2015 calendar is ready and our first stocks arrived today. If you are a lover of our designs then this calendar will be a great piece of art to fill that empty space on the wall of your office, home or workshop.

The cover photo (also November) is a beautiful sunset photo sent by Phil Semenov of his self-built Didi 34, sailing in Ukraine.
Here are a few other sample pages.

June is a collage of photos showing the Cape Henry 21 built by Roeboats of Co Cork in Ireland. They used some interesting and very pretty detailing in this boat, built for a customer from France.
August is the Didi Sport 15 project of Hunter Gall in Virginia Beach, USA. She is named "Scallywag", which is what Hunter's grandfather called him as a child. The main photo is an interesting view during construction and has a somewhat spiritual feel.
December is Petr Muzik's Shearwater 39 "Shoestring III" sailing in St Helena Bay, South Africa. Petr circumnavigated on this boat when well into his seventies.
Order your calendar from our website via the link on our homepage at http://dixdesign.com/ and we will mail it to you.

Alternatively, click here to order from our  publisher, Lulu. They will print and ship one copy, or as many as you want, from their closest affiliate to your delivery address.

Either way, get yours now to be ready for January 2015.

If you have one of our boats and would like to see it featured in one of our calendars, please send me some nice high resolution photos of her. The pics need to show her in pretty surroundings or to be interesting in some other way. Now is a good time to start with the 2016 calendar.

And if you want to see more about our designs, please visit our website at http://dixdesign.com/.

Tiernan Roe is a professional boatbuilder in County Cork, Ireland. His company, Roeboats, specialises in building quality wooden boats. Mostly of classic styling, they build for sail, power or rowing. Roeboats recently launched a Cape Henry 21 that they built for a customer from France.Tiernan sent me these photos, which show some interesting details brought into one of our most popular small cruisers.

Cape Henry 21 ready to get wet.

Launched in a pretty setting.

First sail of the new boat.

The mainsail has still to be fully set up in these photos.

Compact sink & cooker unit, neatly executed.

Other side of the galley. Nice detailing.

Looking aft from the double forward berth.

You can follow the construction of this boat on the Roeboats news blog, from start through to launch.

After launch, Tiernan Roe sent me these comments. "She sails very nicely and I found her easy to single hand from the get go. The interior is pretty snazzy with frame and panel oak fronted drawers and a gas stove with tank fed sink.  Also the centreboard was a lot easier to operate than I thought. It's an awkward shape out of the boat to try and move alone."

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

Until now I have only shown the DS15 prototype, being built in Virginia Beach, USA, by Aussie Hunter Gall. Hunter's project is currently stalled due to circumstances but one of the the other builds is steaming ahead apace. This one is being built by Jim Foot in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. This weekend Jim applied the last coat of epoxy to the outside of his hull and is preparing to paint it.

This series of photos shows the basics of Jim's project up to this stage. This is a radius chine plywood design, with hard chine along the topsides. It is the same family of designs as the Didi Mini Mk3 and Didi 950.

Frames set up on building stocks, with stringers going on.

Stringers all done and bottom panels fitted.

Same stage, showing stringers running into forefoot.

Side panels fitted and first layer of radius progressing.

Stitch-&-glue detail of topside chine.

Second layer of radius going over first layer.

Completed radius chine, running smoothly into flat panels.

Glass taping centreline seam. Jigsaw joints of bottom panel can be seen.

Epoxy coatings started.

Nice finish starting to show.

Clean stern and nice finish.

Final coat of epoxy, ready for sanding and painting.

I will show more of Jim Foot's project as it progresses toward launch date. I tend to show the projects for which I receive the best photos, so please send me your best pics if you want to see your project on this blog or the Dudley Dix Yacht Design main website.

"Black Cat" is the prototype of my Didi 38 design, built in my back garden in Hout Bay, South Africa. She was also the experiment that developed into my radius chine plywood range of designs, all under the Didi name. Today is her birthday, it is 19 years since we launched "Black Cat" at Royal Cape Yacht Club in Cape Town.

Didi 38 "Black Cat" at the start of the 1996 Cape to Rio Race.

Much has happened since then. She has 70 sisters in the water or in build around the world, in the Didi 38/40/40cr design series. She also has hundreds of smaller radius chine plywood monohull sisters being built or in the water, from the Didi Sport 15 through to the Didi 34. She has also spawned catamaran designs in the Dix 470 and DH550.

When I designed her, I did not imagine how popular this construction method would become. The Didi 38 design was for my own use. After that I drew the Didi 34 for a design competition that was run by South African Yachting magazine, now part of Richard Crockett's Sailing for Southern Africa magazine. Since then I have always had at least one other concept waiting in line for me to draw it for this method of construction. Now is no different, I have a commission for a 38ft big sister to the Didi 950 and have many people asking for smaller sisters to the two catamarans, in various sizes. All that I need is the time to draw them.

"Black Cat" in Brazil's Bay of Islands.

Happy Birthday "Black Cat", you have been very good to us.

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