Welcome to my story about building a sailboat at home. I am underway on a project to build a Welsford Pathfinder, and although there are many excellent blogs already published with far more details about the build than I would be able to write, along the way I have learned things that may be helpful for the next builder.
First, I wanted to mention a couple of the other designs I looked at because, frankly, they are all incredible and I wish I had time to build them all.
After reading online about various boats that can be built from plans at home, I narrowed my choices to three designs. My requirements were:
Approximately 17 feet in length. This is the largest I can fit in my garage during the build.
Easy to trailer, which to me means under about 1200 lbs and a shallow draft given my vehicle towing capacity.
Option for a small cabin or cuddy, both to create a dry area to escape the cold SF bay spray, and for an enclosed area for “biobreaks” during a daylong sail.
I initially had a requirement to have an orderable CNC plywood kit to jumpstart the build, but eventually abandoned that idea.
Here was the shortlist:
B and B Yachts Core Sound 17 mark III
Kees Prins / Iain Oughtred modified Fulmar, “FarFetch”
John Welsford Pathfinder
The others I considered included “Able” by Selway-Fisher, “Ebihen 16” or "Ilur" by Francois Vivier, the Willow Bay “Shilling”, and JW’s smaller Navigator. Able and Ebihen do not have cabin plans available, Shilling’s listed weight is more than I was planning and there is limited information about builds available online, and the Navigator vs Pathfinder decision came down to having enough space forward for a small cabin and possibly a drier boat with the larger size of the Pathfinder.
B and B Yachts Core Sound 17 mark III
Image: B&B Yacht Designs http://bandbyachtdesigns.com
This is a wonderfully engineered boat in my opinion, a cat ketch design which is well suited to singlehanded sailors. Use of the 17 foot space is close to ideal with a decent cockpit and roomy enough cabin for sleeping. The boat is self-righting (check out this test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObO_0BdYeMU ), mast tabernacles are part of the plans for quick launching from a trailer, solar panel and battery placement are already indicated on the plans, and there is even a windvane design. I was an email away from ordering the kit, and I still think this would be a fantastic choice meeting all of my needs. But there was one problem I couldn’t overcome. I just couldn’t get used to some aspects of what I saw as a boxy appearance. Coming home to see my boat on the trailer every night, it has to be an emotional connection that wasn’t there.
I even used a CAD program to draw some alternate deck shapes and considered making alterations on my own (see below for an example), but after realizing that the mast support is integral to the deck shape because of the thoughtful engineering in the CS 17 mk3, I realized I was in over my head and decided to move on.
Kees Prins / Iain Oughtred modified Fulmar, “FarFetch”
Image: Wooden Boat Magazine, Kees Prins in the original Fetch https://www.facebook.com/WoodenBoatPub/posts/fetch-adapting-a-small-daysailer-for-cruising-read-tom-jacksons-article-in-wb-no/10153618587220603/
I am really taken by the lines of this boat, based on Iain Oughtred’s Fulmar, a 16’7” clinker plywood planing dinghy. Kees Prins created his own cabin cruiser adaptation which, by all reports, is seaworthy and comfortable. At the request of a prospective builder he drafted plans for FarFetch, a widened Fulmar with drawings for a cabin similar to Fetch. If I were an expert builder, this would be my ideal boat. A couple of slight drawbacks for my needs were the stayed cutter design of FarFetch (different from the original Fetch, which is a yawl), as it would be slower to rig on the boatramp. The projected weight of around 1500-1600 lbs would push it over the towing capacity of my small crossover vehicle. But more important was that a combination of Oughtred’s and Prins’ designs are needed to complete the build, adding to the complexity of an already years+ long project, and I wasn’t confident enough to be the first builder to undertake this one.
John Welsford / Pathfinder
Image: duckworks.com
I came to the Pathfinder next. Frankly, I started out with the Pathfinder and was initially put off by the lack of availability of a CNC kit. It is described as relatively easy to build, trailerable, with cabin modifications available online. Great traditional lines with a plucky curve to the sheer and just enough coaming to keep out some spray and define the active area of the cockpit. People have sailed Pathfinders in quite varied conditions, so although it will be challenging to sail a flat bottom design on San Francisco bay, I believe the boat-- well-sailed -- will be suitable.
For those of us new boatbuilders, the extensive community available online (numerous builds well-documented in blogs and forum threads and JW’s active Facebook group) provides reassurance that if I get stuck, I can find someone else who has solved the same problem.
My perspective in writing this is after having started the project (sourced key materials, cut out the frames and starting gluing them). Having initially planned to jumpstart my build with a CNC kit, I would suggest to any prospective builders not to limit yourself to kit-available plans. The Welsford plans have a series of drawings of the frames with measured setbacks for the curves, so it isn’t necessary to do the start-to-finish full lofting process I was worried about. And it did not take as much time as I feared - working only on weekends and one day during the week, I had the frames cut out (ie., the starting point of a CNC kit) in about 8 weeks. And I’m slow. It takes that long to order a CNC kit and have it dropped on your driveway anyway.
