PassageMaker

Product Description

A handy boat that can be rowed, sailed and powered with up to three large adults and can ‘nest’ to take up less space.

I like just about everything about this design... It's a shippy looking little pram that would be a great way to introduce your kids to boatbuilding.

Robert H Perry, Sailing Magazine.

This boat is available as a standard version or a take-apart version.

The Passagemaker Dinghy is easy to build but looks great and performs beautifully. A smooth glide when rowing, spirited performance when sailing, and steady handling with an outboard mark this build-it-yourself boat kit.

This is the perfect dinghy for those with larger boats. Are you tired of moving heavy, traditional dinghies that weigh 200 lb, or struggling with a limp, awkward inflatable that can't be rowed or sailed? This elegant, Norwegian-styled pram weighs only about 90 lbs (41 kg), but can survive real abuse in the dinghy park. With a 650 lb (294 kg) payload, the Passagemaker can haul the entire crew in one go, or gear from the quayside to the mothership. The sailing rig components store flat inside the hull; fasten three shrouds and the mainsheet, hoist up the mainsail and jib, and you've got a fast, fun, stable sailing dinghy that will please even the most ardent and discriminating sailing enthusiast.

If you have a long harbour to cross, a 2, 3, or 4 horsepower outboard will drive the Passagemaker to harbour speed limits and beyond. An electric outboard for fishing lakes will work great, too. If you don't want to lug around a smelly outboard and fuel you'll be delighted to discover how well the Passagemaker rows: there's plenty of rocker for low wetted surface and the transom won't drag in the water to slow you down.

While many Passagemaker builders will be using their boat as a tender to a yacht even more people will be drawn to the design as a fun boat for messing about in. Spend Saturday afternoons gliding around the lake or bay. When you're done, the Passagemaker can be leaned up against the side of the house or wedged into the far corner of the garage.

The Passagemaker Dinghy is built in a clinker style, which yields a rigid, durable, beautiful hull without resorting to complex moulds. The kit consists of okoume marine plywood panels-computer cut for accuracy, dark wood trim, and all of the epoxy, fibreglass and hardware you'll need. Begin by stitching the hull panels together with copper wire. Then fill the joint with thickened epoxy, and reinforce the bottom with glass fabric on the inside and outside. Add rails and glue the seats into the interior (they form airtight tanks for safety). Standard bottom skids and a big skeg protect the bottom for dragging across gravel beaches. Finish by coating the entire hull in several layers of clear epoxy for a durability and low maintenance, then sand and apply paint and varnish.

The panels on this kit are pre-drilled and the bulkhead positions are pre-marked so that it is possible build the boat without having to measure for locations.

The Passagemaker Dinghy is well within the reach of first-time boatbuilders. There are no tricky steps and no special tools are needed. Completion will average 100 hours for the sailing version. The daggerboard case is included in the base kit, so you can upgrade to the sailing option at any time in the future.

The rowing hull kit includes:

Pre-cut wooden panels with pre-cut joints
Pre-drilled tie holes
Panel location marks
Epoxy resin
Epoxy activator
Epoxy fillers
Woven glass fabric
Woven glass tape
Ties
Comprehensive building manual
A pair of silicon bronze sockets and rowlocks
Free technical support from a competent builder

What is in a boat kit.

Study Manual

This is intended for pre-build study or to help with the decision to purchase. Reading this manual will help you decide whether or not you can build the boat. It is the manual that accompanies the kits. It describes all of the techniques that will be used during the building and also a step by step guide to construction. Scale drawings are used throughout as well as photographs of critical jobs.

If, later, you decide to purchase the kit the cost of this printed manual will be deducted from the kit price.

This does not contain the plans of the panels with the cutting instructions so it is not possible to build the boat from scratch using only this.

Full Plans and Manual

This describes all of the techniques used during the building and also a step by step guide to construction. Scale drawings are used throughout as well as photographs of critical jobs.

This contains full sized drawings of the panels with the cutting instructions so it is possible to build the boat from scratch using these plans and manual. Note that these are large drawings.

Take-Apart Version

Take-apart or ‘nesting’ dinghies can be disassembled to take up less space when stored on the deck of a yacht or in the garage. This Passagemaker Take-Apart kit is identical to the standard kit, except that the front 45″ unbolts and stows in the rear 93″. The interiors of both standard and take-apart versions are identical; there are no compromises made to rowing, sailing, powering, or towing ability in the take-apart design, although the take-apart weighs about four pounds more. Outwardly it's actually difficult to tell the difference between them.