Building "Little Shaver" a Core Sound 15
I measured my proposed workspace and found it could realistically accommodate a 15-footer with a 5-foot beam.
Article and illustrations by Stu Whitcomb
Boats have held playful and challenging roles in my life, usually with a somewhat blurred distinction between them. Building one, however, was an endeavor I avoided and summarily excused away quoting lack of skill, lack of patience, and never enough time to devote to the project. After retiring, the picture began to change. Maybe there was a sailboat design that used a simple building technique, was fun to sail, and was affordable. Hesitantly, I took an initial step and began to explore my options.
Researching the project exposed me to a mind-boggling array of designs. I forced myself to relax, let the process unfold, and I discovered a few designs that actually appeared to match my questionable talents. One construction approach caught my attention: the popular stitch and glue building process. Armed with that in mind, I began investigating the performance of sailboats using that method. Several designs were very tempting, but Graham Byrnes’s Core Sound 17, a cat-ketch, narrowed my focus. She performed well in a wide variety of sailing conditions and proved herself by winning the 2006 Everglades Challenge. Eagerly, I went to Graham’s website, www.BandBYachtDesigns.com, to learn more about his designs. (See also, Small Craft Advisor, issues #47, #49, #51 and #53, “Building the Core Sound 17” by Jan Nicolaisen).
Reassured by my findings, I measured my proposed workspace and found it could realistically accommodate a 15-footer with a 5-foot beam. Next, I measured and tested my dinghy trailer. It could safely carry a 350-pound boat of equivalent dimensions. Now the moment of truth had arrived and I accepted the obvious; the Core Sound 17 did not meet either of these criteria. Thankfully, after a couple of e-mails, Graham reoriented my efforts and I selected his Core Sound 15, a shorter version of the CS-17. Optimally, it had been designed for a crew of one to two. Later, I discovered that it had a reasonable sailing capacity for four. Fortunately, the sail plan and construction techniques were similar to the CS-17. I had sailed larger yachts, schooners and yawls, and appreciated the safety and handling flexibility that these rigs offered. Now I had the opportunity to build and sail a small version of them, if I chose a Core Sound cat-ketch. With increased confidence, I ordered the plans for the CS-15.
The plans arrived in early December. The lofting process was simple enough for a novice builder to comprehend and execute. Cutting out the panels was a straightforward process, using portable electric saws and hand planes. It wasn’t long before I discovered who my friends were. Sage advice and an extra pair of hands are critical to a beginner. In this case, my friend John Bouwsma became my mentor. He also became a source for extraordinary tools and regularly provided a set of willing hands.
By the end of January, all the hull panels and bulkheads had been cut out and prepared for wiring together, but when the panels were laid out on the driveway, my first panic attack took hold. There was no way that I could fold this huge assembly alone. After several phone calls, John and several more good friends promised to lend a hand in a day or two. This gave me time to make a simple cardboard model, which I assembled according to Graham’s building instructions. The process proved simple enough to alleviate my fears. When the big day arrived, the panels folded together so simply that John and I had the hull wired and folded into shape in less than an hour. I had a boat …well almost!
They say you need to be an optimist to build a boat, but try being a naïve, optimistic, first-time boat builder! As the complexities of the building process unfolded, I began to feel I was losing ground relative to my estimated timeline. Troweling every joint with a fillet of thickened epoxy and taping the seams with fiberglass were the order of the day. My plodding efforts at fabricating the components to complete the hull, cockpit seats, deck frames and centerboard trunk were consuming more time than I dreamed possible. No job was too difficult; in fact, each step was very satisfying, but I fear that my novice approach toward building a boat added too many unnecessary hours to the projected timeline.
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