Build Your Own Plank-Constructed Pond Yacht

The WoodenBoat School, Brooklin, ME, is offering a class this summer for those interested in building their own pond yacht. The course will be offered September 9–14, 2018.

Build a Vintage Marblehead class pond yacht designed for radio control. In this course each student will build his/her own pond yacht. This type of small boat originated in 1932 using minimal design requirements of 50 in LOA and 800 in2 of sail. The class is still actively sailed today under the guidance of the US Vintage Model Yacht Group. When fully rigged, the boat is over 7 ft tall, which makes it quite impressive from shore. The boat can be dismantled easily for transport.

The course boat Norumbega was designed by Thom McLaughlin; its name is derived from the Downeast area of Maine where WoodenBoat School is located. Construction of this pond yacht will pleasantly challenge and inform students in planking practices similar to those used in building full-sized boats. Students will make decisions based on blueprints and develop an eye for form. During the week, the boat will be planked and faired, and the fin and rudder will be fabricated. Thom will also discuss the steps that follow to complete the boat—decking, rigging, electronic installation, and painting.

Students who have started construction of their model in previous years at WoodenBoat School are also welcome to participate in this course to finish their boat. This week will be an excellent opportunity for further guidance. This will also allow those just beginning their boat to view firsthand the final steps in construction.

Tuition: $850.00. Materials: Pond Yacht I – $310.00, includes CNC cut molds, strongback, keelson, planking, fin, and rudder. Pond Yacht II – $160.00, includes material to finish the boat other than sails, fittings, and electronics.

Located on the beautiful coast of Maine, in the small community of Brooklin, WoodenBoat School is a meeting place where people of all ages, backgrounds, and experience levels can gather to meet, live, and work among others who share similar interests. The school has been offering 1- and 2-week courses designed around the arts of boatbuilding, woodworking, seamanship, and related crafts for the past 37 years. Courses on pond yacht construction and elements of sailing these radio-controlled boats have been offered at WoodenBoat School since 1999.

Landlocked in the Midwest, Thom McLaughlin grew up working on farms and having the cycles of nature deeply rooted under his skin. After finishing a graduate degree in visual arts (sculpture), he found himself surrounded by water as an art professor at the University of South Florida. In 1993, while searching for an art form that could more directly inspire an awe of nature, he stumbled onto pond yachts. Since then he has written articles on, investigated the history of, and made many vintage pond yachts. He is currently the Southeast regional vice-president of the US Vintage Model Yacht Group. In the last seven Vintage Marblehead National Regattas, boats of Thom’s design had third or better placing in final standings. In the 2011 National Regatta, he placed first overall in class and also received the Craftsmanship Award.

For more information contact:
Rich Hilsinger, Director
rich@woodenboat.com
207-359-4651
https://www.thewoodenboatschool.com/