Plan Study: Micro 8

It’s fun to occasionally sit and daydream about what might have been. We’ve wondered where Harley Harlson (SCA Sep/Oct 2006 issue 41) would be now if his little eight-footer, Sea Biscuit, had been built instead to Paul Fisher’s Micro 8 plans. My guess is he’d have ridden the California Current down to somewhere around the Southern Islands and be bobbing along a bit north of the equator, in the general direction of New Guinea.

The Micro 8 is an unique boat designed for one purpose, really—to enable a sailor to survive in the open ocean, or maybe even circle the globe, in just about the smallest boat practical (or impractical, depending on one’s viewpoint). I don’t imagine a lot of Micro 8s actually get built. Those that do are probably a sort of seagoing status symbol. Like the Dodge Viper that can hit 190 miles an hour, the Micro 8 can probably take you across an ocean, but I’ll bet owners seldom put either to the test.

Nearly three feet longer than Hugo Vihlen’s record-setting Father’s Day, the Micro 8’s specifications more closely resemble Bill Dunlop’s Wind’s Will—which was 13" longer but nearly identical in terms of beam and draft. Dunlop and Wind’s Will survived a 78-day west-to-east crossing of the Atlantic, but were lost in the Pacific on a subsequent voyage.

Although such rigs have a successful ocean cruising history, Micro 8’s unstayed junk rig makes her somewhat unique among her peers, most of which are sloops that pole out both sails downwind. Latest plans now include Marconi rig and sliding hatch alternatives.

Micro 8’s construction consists of frames slotted into a beefy plywood fore and aft girder. This structure is then planked over with three layers of 1/4" plywood on the bottom and bilge, and two layers on hull sides. Planking is stitched together at all chines with wire, taped and epoxied. Finally epoxy fillets are created at all joints. The result is a strong boat that might just be up to the capsizing, rolling and pitchpoling she’d likely endure on a round-the-world attempt.

The empty Micro 8 weighs slightly over 1100 pounds, including her steel box keel containing 550 pounds of lead ballast carried at the bottom of her nearly three-foot draft. We could easily imagine that would-be adventurers searching for one record or another would be tempted—perhaps unwisely—to replace a portion of this fixed ballast with removable gear or stores.

Her wide 5' 4" beam allows plenty of room for stowage of MREs and even single- serving tubs of peanut butter—over 1400 pounds of them, in fact, less the weight of the skipper and other stores. Micro 8 is designed to have an all-up sailing weight of a bit over 2500 pounds.

This weight combined with the considerable wetted area of her relatively deep-draft full keel hull, on a waterline of under eight feet, means she’s not going to outrun any bad weather. Fortunately, all lines lead inside, including steering lines, enabling the captain to ride out the roughest conditions safely ensconced inside his rugged plywood cocoon. •SCA• (As published in issue #43)

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Micro 8 full plan is available in the U.S. via Duckworks here.

Or contact:

Selway Fisher Design

15 King Street,

Melksham, Wiltshire, SN12 6HB, UK

Tel/Fax UK 01225 705074

International +44 1225 705074

E-Mail: Selwayuk@AOL.com

Visit Selway Fisher Design on the Web at: www.selway-fisher.com/index.htm