The game is afoot. Or possibly a Coot?

I've sent a cheque off to Andrew Wolstenhome for a set of Coot Plans. This little design ticks all the boxes in my wish list.

She is drop dead gorgeous, at 11ft just the right size for a single-hander like me, easy to handle on and off the water.

I particularly like the rig which Andrew describes as a Cat Gaff. The cat rig has the mast pushed right forward into the bow leaving lots of free space in the boat, The gaff has a proper goose neck and the lazy-jacks act like a topping lift which together keep the yard under control when the rig is dropped. Unlike the balanced lug rig which tends to come clattering down round your ears.

The hull can be built as strip plank, cold moulded or clinker ply. I'll go the clinker route as it doesn't involve nasty epoxy sheathing like strip plank, and cold moulding is just too labour intensive, and oh god all those staples!

So all I have to do now is start clearing the workshop and wait for the big tube to arrive through the post. Excited? Moi!

In the meantime here are a couple of pictures of Andrew's own boat at Beale Park, being expertly helmed by his daughter above, and below by Matt Newland of Swallow Boats fame indulging in a bit of Industrial Tourism no-doubt comparing her to his own little Trooper. Both photo's by Chris Perkins.