The following letter is a brief description of my ultra light rowing/sailing skiff, the American Pie. It measures 14’ x 3’6” x 14” and weighs, including sailing rig, oars, etc., 140 lbs. In design, concept and size this boat rather closely resembles the light canoe yawls of the 1880's, as described by Eric Coleman in ‘Dinghies for All Waters’. However, it is constructed with state-of-the-art technology and is therefore considerably lighter and more portable than its counterparts of almost a century ago. Also, it incorporates what I feel is an important design innovation; a bracket that gives sturdy support to a single, pivoting leeboard. This leeboard probably considerably improves the windward performance over the older boats, and certainly increases the overall usefulness of the boat. I must agree with Mr. Coleman that boats of this type offer an interesting alternative to the type used by most members of the DCA.

Like all boats, the design of this one is the final compromise between several conflicting requirements. However, the following factors were given prime consideration. 1) It had to be as light as possible - light enough for one person to carry overhead if necessary, and for two people to carry full of equipment. 2) It had to be an excellent row boat and handle well in the surf. 3) The sailing arrangement had to be utterly simple and not interfere with the rowing qualities in any way. In other words, I wanted a boat that could get to beaches easily, as well as on and off them during moderate conditions.

Although this boat resembles the canoe yawls that originated in England, its lines are directly descended from boats known as Delaware Duckers, light lapstrake skiffs that were used for market gunning on the east coast of the United States about 100 years ago. The lines of the American Pie are 7/8ths scale of the original skiff published in American Small Sailing Craft, by Howard Chapelle. The lines were modified slightly during lofting to restore the original 14” depth amidships, and to make the bilge just very slightly more full. Incidentally, a great advantage of a true double ender like this one is the greatly reduced amount of lofting required. The lofting for this boat was easily done on a single piece of 4' x 8' x ¼" plywood.

The hull is conventionally strip planked "canoe style" from ¼" x 1" strips of Sitka spruce, edge glued with epoxy and sheathed inside and out with 6oz fiberglass in epoxy resin. In order to obtain the maximum space inside the hull there are no thwarts other than the mast partner and a similar strut in the stern. A moveable seat is used for rowing. For trimming purposes there are two rowing stations. The rowing seat fits over the spars, which are stowed on the midline. There is also a seat at each end of the boat. These seats have about a 6" gap in the middle, to accommodate the spars. These seats are supported with urethane foam to give about 40 lbs. of built in flotation. All the foam is sheathed in ⅛ th pine. A 15" square boat cushion easily bridges the 6" gap, and makes a comfortable seat.

The necessary stiffness athwartships is obtained by using graphite fiber-epoxy ribs. There are 7 of these ribs, each consisting of 7 "tows" (layers) of graphite fiber 1” wide. This boat was tested with only three ribs (one amidships and one towards each end) installed, and was found satisfactorily stiff for rowing only at this stage. The additional ribs were added to assure adequate stiffness for sailing. A substantial "hemi-rib" was constructed to give a solid point of attachment for the leeboard and its bracket. This rib extends from the left of the keelson up to the starboard gunwhale. This rib is a lamination consisting of 2 layers of 8" spruce, 8 tows of graphite fiber, (1" wide, side by side) and 2 more layers of ⅛" spruce. It is further reinforced for about 8" at the turn of the bilge with 8 more tows of graphite fiber.

My advice to those who have not had experience with graphite fiber is, unless you have a very good reason to use it, don't! Although for stiffness and lightness it is unbeatable, it is just about the most difficult and time consuming material that I have ever encountered. It is quite expensive, and I think the only place its use can be justified by an amateur builder is in a boat like this one where you are striving for the ultimate in lightness, and construction time and money are secondary.

The keelson is laminated from two pieces, ⅜” spruce on the inside, and ½” ash outside. It is 5 ¼” wide amidships. The inside of the keelson is flush with the inside of the planking. This leaves quite a heavy shoe on the outside which affords good protection when beaching, and a good place to step while getting into the boat.

The stems are laminated from 16 layers of ⅛" x ⅞" spruce. They extend above the sheer. I am now very glad that I did not cut off the stems like I had originally intended. In the first place the stem protects the kick-up rudder when the boat is upside down. Because I use a Norse style push-pull tiller the high stem does not interfere with the tiller. Secondly, these long stems hold one gunwhale high off the ground when the boat is upside down. This makes it very easy to crawl under the boat. By letting the stems take most of the weight, the boat can be carefully balanced on ones shoulders and back preparatory to lifting it. Being able to adjust the boat perfectly before actually lifting it takes a lot of strain out of carrying it. I am not sure that I could "power lift" this boat into a carrying position like one does with a canoe. The boat is carried with the rudder and leeboard in place, and as such weighs 104 lbs. Because the long stems hold the gunwhale high off the ground, the boat is a ready made shelter for camping, with sitting headroom on the high side. Although I have not worked out the details, it seems that between the boat and the sail, a very substantial arrangement for camping could be quickly put together.

As previously mentioned, this boat uses a single, pivoting leeboard. Single leeboards that operate on either the lee or weather sides have been sporadically used by a variety of boats. These include some types of sailing canoes, some of the original Delaware Duckers, and even some large sailing scows. Several recent designs by Phil Bolger have also employed single leeboards so using this type of leeboard can hardly be considered novel. However, I do believe the method of attachment is. This bracket was perfected through no less than 6 generations on a previous boat. It has proven itself to be very practical because it gives good support when on either tack, and does so over the entire arc through which the leeboard pivots.

The bracket for the leeboard is actually quite simple (Figure 1). It consists of about 100° of an annulus with an outside radius of and inside radius of 7". This is made from ⅛” stainless steel. The aft end of this attaches to the gunwhale, while the forward end is fastened to the "hemi-rib" previously described. A spacer around the ⅜" bolt that goes through the end of the bracket and the "hemi-rib" keeps the bottom of the bracket about 2" away from the hull. The bracket is positioned so that the bolt of which the leeboard pivots is also the center of the annulus. A second bracket is located on the inside of the leeboard. This bracket forms a lip about ½” x 2" that engages the annulus so the leeboard cannot pull away from the hull when it is on the weather side. Although this is a simple arrangement, the dimensions are critical. It is especially important that the plane of rotation of the leeboard be parallel to the fore and aft axis of the boat. Otherwise, the leeboard will toe in or out when rotated downwards. Incidentally, one advantage of this design is that the small bulk of the bracket coupled with the leeboard standing well away from the hull just about eliminates the problem of "scooping" water inboard that happens with some leeboards.

Although the metal work in this design may immediately discourage a lot of folks, it really shouldn't. The only tools used in fabricating this bracket were a hacksaw, a few good blades, and a heavy duty ¼” electric drill.

The leeboard was designed according to principles set forth in the book ‘Rudders’ by Eyes. The leading edge (3") is oak, and the rest spruce. It is reinforced with 8 tows of graphite fiber on each side, let into the surface-about 3/16”. It is covered with 6 oz glass. The weight of the leeboard, brackets and other fittings is just over 7 lbs, and I would guess the weight of the "hemi-rib" to be about 3 - 4 lbs. I feel this is a very reasonable weight penalty to pay for an effective leeway preventing device.

In regards to small boats in general, and small cruising boats in particular, I have never understood why leeboards are not used more frequently. Of all the boats in which space is at a premium, it is in the small cruiser. Yet most of these are virtually eviscerated by the centerboard case, which is often itself a source of problems. These problems include most frequently leaking cases and jammed centerboards. Also the centerboard slot contributes greatly to the overall drag of the boat. Daggerboards are better in this regard, but Mr. McClellan’s account in the spring 1980 DCA bulletin (086/11B) is a graphic illustration of what can happen with daggerboards in shoal waters.

Some people are put off by the use of single leeboards because the design lacks "symmetry". However, I feel these objections are based more on aesthetic prejudice than practical considerations. After all, the underwater section of any boat is asymmetrical as soon as it heels, and nobody complains about that. Especially in a narrow boat such as the American Pie, which is sailed as upright as possible, there is little change in depth of board on different tacks, and hence little difference in performance. In fact, like Phil Bolger, I feel the single leeboard may actually work a little better when on the weather side, perhaps because it is operating in less disturbed water.

The use of the leeboard on the American Pie certainly makes the difference between a cramped boat and a commodious one. It may also make the difference between a safe boat and a dangerous one. The latter is true because the absence of thwarts allows one to sit very low in the boat, on the 15" square by 3" boat cushions, and trim the boat perfectly by placing one’s weight exactly where it is needed. The push-pull tiller greatly aids this because when sailing alone one can sit far enough forward to achieve optimum fore and aft trim.

My original intention for sailing was to use a 72 ft spritsail rig from a previous boat. However, my first flotation test in a neighbour’s swimming pool cured me of that illusion. Setting and striking the spritsail in this rather tippy boat would have occasioned a lot of unscheduled swims. About that time I happened on a copy of ‘Spritsails and Lugsails’ by John Leather. This book was invaluable to me because lugsails are virtually unknown, even historically, in the United States. I was particularly interested to hear the lugsails were traditionally used in many boats with low initial stability because of the ease with which they were handled and reefed. One lugsail described in this book was the Scottish version of the standing lugsail. This sail is characterized by a strongly raked mast which makes the yard relatively easy to dip, (if desired) when coming about, and has the additional advantage of allowing the mast to be rather far forward, giving more interior room. Inasmuch as I had designed the boat to stow the 10' 8" spars from the sprit rig, I decided to design a lugsail using these spars, with the sprit becoming the yard.

It is often stated that a disadvantage that lugsails have relative to spritsails is that lugsails need longer spars to set the same area. Upon closely examining this, it appeared that this is primarily due to a longer mast being used on the lugsail. The longer mast is needed because usually the halyard is made fast to the hull, which prevents the mast from rotating. This in turn necessitates an appreciable distance between the mast and yard to prevent the yard from binding. However, if the halyard is made fast to the mast, and the mast is allowed to rotate, the yard can be brought very close to the top of the mast, and a relatively short mast can be used. In the case of the lugsail I designed for the American Pie, the same 10' 8" spars that set 72 ft as a sprit sail, set 67' as a standing lugsail. This area is quite sufficient for such a narrow and slippery boat as this.

Another advantage of a lugsail in this type of boat is the degree to which the sail can be adjusted to the limited sheeting options available instead of vice-versa. Between changing the rake of the mast and the attachment of the halyard to the yard, considerable adjustments can be made. In order to assure the mast rotates easily, and to make the rake easy to adjust, the mast step is made from a solid block of teflon with 6 ⅜" holes about ⅜" apart in it. A bronze pin about 14" long in the end of the mast engages one of these holes in the mast step. Friction and wear on the mast is further reduced by a teflon bearing in the mast partner. A mast gate makes stepping the mast a very easy operation.

All in all I am very happy with this boat. She is highly portable and I can get her to beaches not frequented by other boats She is an excellent rowboat and rows at hull speed with little effort using 7' oars. I have been pleasantly surprised with her performance under sail. Although she does not point as high as a Bermudian rigged racing dinghy, she is blazing fast in light to moderate winds with the sheets started a bit. It is always fun to blow by a class dinghy with its maze of running and standing rigging, while leaving virtually no wake. Her worst point of sailing is dead downwind, especially with a cross sea. She can set up a horrible rolling with the yard swinging about, and an accidental jibe is just a matter of time. Fortunately, with a loose footed sail, this is not so bad as it could be otherwise.

Her lack of initial stability is disconcerting to people whom are used to rectangular boats - but they learn to keep their weight down. I have never capsized her, however, and she stiffens up considerably when heeled. Although I would not want to slug it out in heavy seas with this boat, she does have the advantage that once under oars, (which only takes a few minutes) she is very seaworthy. What she could survive then would be largely dependant upon the skill of the oarsman. She could be swamped, of course, and I never go offshore without adequate flotation aboard. She does have the advantage of being able to seek shelter on beaches that most boats could not.

I realise this is not the type of boat that will appeal to everybody, especially those brought up on heavy, beamy dinghies with great freeboard. But it should not be discarded as a toy boat or a mere canoe. It is a seaworthy little boat, and there is definitely a niche for this general type to fill. It is so easily cartopped, carried and launched that it allows one to explore places inaccessible to others. Mr. Coleman has stated this type of boat is still used infrequently in Britain. I would be very interested in hearing from anyone using a similar boat.

Note: Apologies for the quality of the following drawings and photos - unfortunately, the originals have not lasted too well....