Ebihen 16 Clinker

Product Description

A 15′ 9″ traditional sailing boat with stitch-and-glue clinker planking. It has a choice of four sailing rigs and an outboard motor well.

She is a seaworthy, stable boat with good carrying capacity. The boat offers a large and pleasant cockpit, suitable for family sailing or fishing. Ebihen 16 is fitted with a metal centreboard and a 180 litre water ballast tank that allows excellent stability and good windward ability.

Designed by François Vivier, a French Naval Architect with a passion for traditional sail and oars boats that can be built at home. The Ebihen 16 was inspired both by the fishing boats of Northern Brittany, especially Saint Jacut (the Ebihens are the islands in front of that port), and by the boats of Basse-Normandie, which were clinker built.

There are four different sailing rigs to choose from, ranging from the very simple lug sail to the well-canvassed gaff cutter (see drawings). The other options are a lug yawl rig and a gaff sloop rig.

Aft of the cockpit is a well for the outboard motor, placing the motor handle within easy reach for the helmsman. The propeller is just ahead of the rudder for good manoeuvrability, steering with the rudder rather than the motor. The propeller is protected by the keel and causes minimal drag, so there is no need to raise the motor while sailing. The motor well will fit a 4-stroke outboard motor (3-6 HP), but many owners will now opt for an electric outboard.

Ebihen 16 can be built and stored in most garages and can be launched from a trailer.

The first boat of the Ebihen series was strip-planked, with laminated frames and backbone and almost no plywood. It is a beautiful wooden construction. The clinker version is mainly made of plywood, which cuts the build time and makes it much easier to build at home. Plans for the strip planked version and a slightly shorter Ebihen 15 are also available.

Please note that this boat can't be built from the plans alone. It requires the CNC-cut plywood kit or a set of full-size templates.