guide to make boat

Jim Foot launched his Didi Sport 15 (DS15) a few months ago. After initial photos and reports Jim went quiet. I suspect that he busied himself with regular sailing to learn the characteristics of his new boat, to understand how she likes to be handled in a range of conditions.

Today Jim has sent another report, detailing his sailing this past weekend. He sailed on Algoa Bay, off Port Elizabeth, sailing in sportboat mode with the lead bulb on the keel. Starting with light breezes, it rapidly changed to 35-40 knots, as happens pretty regularly in this part of the world. Unperturbed by the gale force conditions, Jim and his crew Thomas Ochabski put in a reef, left the big asymmetrical stowed in its bag and carried on sailing. Jim says that there was a keelboat in attendance in case of mishap, which gave him the bravado to carry on sailing.

DS15 "Bateleur" about to get wet for the first time.

 Here are extracts from Jim's own words about his experience with "Bateleur" in these conditions.

Beat back to harbour (from about 2 nm offshore) and then had a blast reaching around for about an hour or more.   Great fun.   Naah, understatement, awesome, awesome fun!

For the first time really felt that things were a step up on the speed stakes.   When I was building the boat I imagined a mini Volvo 60 with associated responsiveness and upwind speed. And this is what I felt the boat was achieving.

He promises some GoPro video by the end of the week.

And what about light wind speed? More words from Jim.

The other thing, the boat is incredibly fast in very light winds with weight forward. Everyone who has sailed her in light conditions (<6 kts) has remarked about this characteristic.  Thanks Dudley for a great design.

To see more of this and our other designs, visit our main website or  mobile website

In November 1997 we launched our Didi 38 "Black Cat" after 2 years of building, only 2000 hours for an amateur-built ocean-crossing sailboat. That boat launched a whole series of designs and new developments in plywood boat construction.

That was 20 years ago. I had video of the occasion that was recorded off the TV with a VCR. It was bad quality and it was recorded on the PAL system used in South Africa. Attempts to convert to the NTSC format used in USA were pretty disastrous, resulting in unusable files.

Today I have received a good copy of the video, in a usable format. Watching the video now reminds me just how long ago this all happened. I didn't even have much grey hair then, now it is totally silver.
This video shows the shape of "Black Cat" very clearly. So many people came to me at that time and would not believe that this beautifully rounded shape was a plywood boat. Nobody had seen a rounded plywood hull before and they would only believe that it was not fibreglass after going inside to look at the structure.

Now my radius chine plywood designs are well-known and have been built in many countries. "Black Cat" is no longer unique but she remains the leader of an exciting time for plywood boatbuilding.

To see more of our boat designs, visit http://dixdesign.com/ or http://dixdesign.com/mobile

Every now and then a boat catches my attention and I think "Hmm, I wouldn't mind owning that boat myself". Such a thought crossed my mind when I saw photos of "Day Dream". She is a Didi 40cr, essentially the same as the Didi 38 "Black Cat" that I built and sailed for so many thousands of miles, but with extended stern and a bit more accommodation space.

Fast as "Black Cat" is, "Day Dream" has the potential to be still faster. She has the same very slippery hull but her extended stern increases her speed potential. She has the same powerful but easily-handled rig, with a bit less draft, for better access to shallower cruising grounds.

"Day Dream" in the slings, showing off her clean lines

She was professionally-built in Antalya, Turkey, with CE certification. She has a radius chine plywood hull with fibreglass deck. She was a custom build, so the builder has made a few styling changes from my design but overall the boat looks really nice. I see European influences and features that are fine for local cruising in the Med. With my own preference for ocean voyages, I would modify the navigation and galley areas to better suit my own needs.

Nicely fitted out, with clean and comfortable saloon

Clean galley, styled for local cruising.

The asking price for "Day Dream" is not much more than the material cost of building such a boat, at US$60,000. If I had the cash available, I would be sorely tempted. If she rattles your cage enough to want to investigate further, contact me by email. I will put you in contact with the owner for more information.

Not the greatest sailing photo but the best that I have.

To view this and our other designs, visit http://dixdesign.com/.

The long-awaited day arrived this weekend. Jim Foot, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, launched his self-built DS15 at Algoa Bay Yacht Club. He started with a pre-cut plywood kit supplied by CKD Boats in Cape Town and took approximately 6 months of his spare time from start to launch.

DS15 "Bateleur" about to get wet for the first time.

 Despite the very light wind, they had good sailing and were impressed by performance. Jim's first comments are:-

She sails beautifully and she is fast. Beating into a chop in light wind this am going at about 3,7 kts felt happy. Then was told wind spd 4 kts by passing boat quite amazing.

Nick Kulenkampff, of Cape Town, bought plans from us in November 2013 for the Cape Cutter 19, to be built in lapstrake plywood. I only received one question from him and that was on choice of plywood for the build. A few days ago I received another email from him, with launch photos attached. He launched his boat, named "Mimi", at Royal Cape Yacht Club, in February.

In his email, Nick said "thank you for a beautiful design and also for a set of plans that were spot on. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire process." From the photos it appears that he made a pretty good job of the build, which was also quicker than most at about 15 months.

This boat is available in GRP from Cape Cutter Yachts in UK. It is the smaller sister to our popular Cape Henry 21 design.

Here are some of Nick's build photos, with explanations

Making bulkheads. These are cut from full-size Mylar patterns, included in the plans.

Transom, laminated from multiple layers of plywood.

Bulkheads and transom set up on building stocks.

Bottom skin going on. Plenty of clamps needed.

Bilge panel gong on. Keel deadwood and wood bilge keels fitted. This bilge keel is to protect the hull when aground, serving purely as a support to keep the hull skin clear of pebbles.

Forward bottom panel. Fitting this panel is the most difficult part of the build, due to the amount of twist in the panel. The twist is what forms the fine bow for good performance.

Hull epoxy-coated, primed and ready for paint.

Building the cockpit. Nick's work is very neat.

Interior, looking forward, built  before fitting the deck.

Interior, looking aft. Painting in progress.

Deck stringers glued into pre-cut slots

Painted and brightwork being done. Almost ready to get wet.

This view shows why these little boats are so quick. That fine bow works vvery well.

Launch day. The yellow boat below the bow is "Black Cat", the Didi 38 that I built.

Afloat and waiting for her rig to be set up.

Thank you, Nick, for the set of photos. She looks good and I am sure you will have many good times sailing her.

To see more of this and out other designs, visit http://dixdesign.com/.

Bruce Mierke is building a Didi 29 Retro in Murphy, North Carolina. Bruce is a professional boatbuilder, building her for himself and progressing nicely. He has now completed the hull and it will be turned over in a few weeks.

This design is based on the Didi 26, modified to create a more classic image. Carrying a choice of rigs, the squaretop Marconi rig below and two gaff rigs further down the page. It is a radius chine plywood design, round bilge from plywood and can be built from plans or a CNC kit. Although Bruce is a professional builder, I developed this construction method primarily for amateurs and they have built many boats to this range of designs.

Marconi rig of Didi 29 Retro

Here are the latest photos from Bruce, showing the beautiful standard of finish that he has achieved.

Beautiful hull finish.

Two gaff rigs, racing at left and cruising at right.

For more info on this and our other designs, visit http://dixdesign.com/

Followers of this blog have read about the DS15 being built by Jim Foot in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. His project is nearly done and is looking great. He is into the rigging stages and should launch in a few weeks.

Foredeck and mast deck panels fitted.

Foredeck almost complete. Spinnaker chute on right of centreline.

Jim's DS15 tries her dolly for size, showing her clean, modern hull.

DS15 shows her bottom and her performance potential.

Clean lines and powerful stern.

Mast and standing rigging, waiting for her sails.

Next instalment should be launching and sea trials in a few weeks. Until then, see more at http://dixdesign.com.

The Saints are the people who live on St Helena Island, a remote island in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. They live on a mountain of rock that comes straight up out of the ocean, with steep cliffs all round and nary a beach to be seen. The terrain is very convoluted, with deep valleys and mountain passes. Until now, the only way to reach St Helena has been by boat or ship but soon an airport will be completed, making the island more accessible to others and opening up the world to the islanders. This is an interesting place to visit on Google Earth, to see how remote and inhospitable it is. The new airport can also be seen; consider the mammoth task that it must be taking to create it with the minimal resources available on the island. I imagine that much equipment and material has been shipped in over the past few years to accomplish this.

Saloon view of "Black Cat". Photo courtesy of What The Saints Did Next.

St Helena is the finishing point for the Governors Cup Yacht Race, sailed from False Bay Yacht Club in Simonstown on the western side of False Bay, South Africa, every two years. It was also the place to which Napoleon Bonaparte was banished for his second imprisonment. It was far enough away from anywhere else that he was not able to get up to any more mischief.

What The Saints Did Next is the blog for the island, which helps to keep the world up to date with whatever is happening on the island. The blog has a great post about "Black Cat" and her win in the most recent edition of the race. It includes an interview with the crew about the race and life aboard, as well as a bunch of really nice photos of "Black Cat" and crew.

I hope that I can be on "Black Cat" for her next voyage in this race. Visiting St Helena is on my bucket list as a place to visit. An ancestor of mine and the first Dix to settle in Cape Town arrived from St Helena. What he was doing there I don't know, possibly a soldier guarding Napoleon.

"Black Cat" is the prototype of my Didi 38 design and forerunner of all of my radius chine plywood designs. Visit our website at http://dixdesign.com for more info on my designs.

Yesterday "Black Cat", the Didi 38 prototype that I built in my back garden in 1994/95, finished the 1720 mile Governor's Cup Race from South Africa to St Helena. At the time we had not yet seen any photos of her finish. Now some nice photos, taken by Trevor Wilkins Photography, have been posted on the Governor's Cup Facebook page. Here is one of them, see the others on the Governor's Cup pages.

"Black Cat" finishing the Governor's Cup Race. Photo courtesy of What The Saints Did Next.

When I wrote my piece yesterday I was still seeing the breaking news about "Black Cat" being the true line-honours winner instead of "Avanti", which finished ahead of her. I was concerned that there may have been a measure of speculation in the reports and that they may prove untrue. Now we know that the reports were correct and "Black Cat" is the true line-honours winner in the racing division and likely handicap winner as well. We won't know for a few days yet if "Iechyd Da" can catch her on handicap.

Don't let the small size of the racing fleet at the finish detract from the achievement of Dave Immelman and crew. All boats in the original racing fleet were well behind them and most jumped ship when the breeze went light and their sailing progress became too slow, deciding to change to the cruising class and motor through the calm patches. The NOR, as amended, did allow the racing class boats to do this but they had to notify Race Control of having motored at the "earliest opportunity" as well as in their declaration at the finish.

"Black Cat" was committed to racing and that is what they did, battling through the calms. It must have been soul-destroying to see another competitor in their class sail around them, apparently in stronger breeze, then continue to take line-honours in monohulls and racing class. Declaring hours after finishing that they had in fact motored and then being allowed at that late stage to drop down to cruising class is just wrong on all levels.

Did they in fact advise race control in the next daily position report after motoring and race control forgot to move them into the cruising class? This would seem odd because they would have seen themselves still in the racing class in the daily results and should have again told Race Control of the change that they had made. If they didn't tell race control then the act of motoring was an immediate DSQ from the racing class. If they didn't transfer correctly into the cruising class in the way permitted by the amended NOR then they should not be allowed to do so after finishing the race either. My opinion is that they are DSQ in the racing fleet and did not join the cruising fleet because they did not act according to the amended NOR. It follows that they didn't complete the race even though they completed the course.

Their continued listing as apparent leader of the racing fleet added interest to the race but skewed the daily results of both monohull fleets. It also had considerable effect on the moral of other competitors. I believe in absolute fairness and sportsmanship in yacht racing and all other sports but there appears to be something lacking in that regard with this situation.

I will watch with interest to see the final results.

In my last post I wrote about how well the Didi 38 "Black Cat" was faring in the Governor's Cup Race to the South Atlantic island of St Helena. I am writing this post based on information that I have read on the official web sites of the race and False Bay Yacht Club.

They were going like a train in showing the way to all of the monohulls. Then they sailed into a hole in the otherwise good tradewind sailing breezes. This was created by a rather odd shape to the South Atlantic high, as an elongated sausage running east/west and in two parallel bands of calm not far apart.

Skipper Dave (Wavy) Immelman was kicking himself for having missed a crucial weather download that may have helped him evade the holes. They sailed slowly through the first calm then the winds started to pick up and they thought they were through, only to be trapped by the second calm.

"Black Cat" rounding the Cape of Good Hope en-route to St Helena.

We watched in dismay as the Vickers 41 "Avanti" sailed a big arc that took her right around the hole in which "Black Cat" languished, at pretty much twice the speed. We despaired for the chances of "Black Cat" even catching "Avanti" before the finish line, let alone getting far enough ahead to beat her on handicap. In the end "Avanti" crossed the finish line about 7 hours 10 minutes ahead of "Black Cat".

I went to bed last night feeling sad that the hard sailing done by Wavy and his crew for so much of the race was thwarted by the fickle winds. I woke this morning to the news that the skipper of "Avanti" declared some time after finishing that they had motored and were dropping down to the cruising division. That leaves "Black Cat" as the likely winner of the racing division, with only "Iechyd Da" with a very distant chance of beating her on handicap.

Congratulations to Wavy and crew. You sailed an honest and honourable race. You didn't deserve the heartache that came from watching your opposition apparently sailing right around you when they had actually motored into a more favourable position.

This brings up two questions that need clarification.

1. Why did "Avanti" wait until after the finish of the race to declare that they motored? They should have done so immediately that the motor was started. That action disqualified them from the racing division. They didn't declare at the time that they were dropping to the cruising division, so can they be considered to have been racing in that division? None of the other cruisers knew that they were racing against "Avanti" so they couldn't take her into consideration in their tactical decisions. The knowledge may not have had any effect but it should have been open knowledge throughout the fleet within hours of "Avanti" starting her motor.
2. What is the sense of allowing boats to change their racing division on the water? It may have seemed a good idea at the time that the rules were written but has created a very unfair situation on the water, unfair to those boats that were in the cruising division at the start of the race. The entry list shows 9 boats in the racing division and 4 in cruising. As the race has progressed and the boats ran out of wind, racing boats have chosen to motor and change from racing to cruising division. The leading boat in cruising division changed class after finishing and the 2nd boat changed very late in the race. The whole balance of the event has changed, with the original 9 racers reduced to 3 and the original 4 cruisers swelled to 10 boats. Three of those 4 cruisers have retired and "Tallulah" should get the trophy. Instead she is lying 3rd, with "Avanti" and "Strumpet" having jumped in ahead of her. Maybe the rules of the race have not been broken but I don't agree that this is the right way to do it, in the interests of fairness to all on the water.

OK, I am getting off my soapbox now.Once again, congratulations to Wavy and crew on sticking it out in racing division when it looked like you had been beaten but could have had a clear win in the cruising division by simply starting your motor and changing classes.

See more about the Didi 38 and our other designs on our website at http://dixdesign.com/.

We all learn in school about the "ship of the desert", the much maligned camel. These animals and their owners are totally adapted to living on and cruising the undulating surface of the desert. We also know of the traditional boats of the Arab world, the dhows that are seen in both power and sail versions. These are very seaworthy boats and have done extensive voyages.

Not heard of nearly as often in that part of the world is the construction of a modern high performance yacht. Such a construction project is the Didi Mini Mk3 of Hugo Vanderschaegh, proceeding apace in Dubai. This is a Mini 650 racer that is built from plywood. Designed primarily for amateur builders, this one is being built by professionals. The photos below show the hull with all flat sheets fitted and the radius skin starting, through to hull turning.

This boat is being built from a CNC kit that was supplied by our Cape Town kit supplier, CKD Boats. They are able to supply kits for most of our radius chine plywood designs as well as the classically-styled lapstrake designs.

Didi Mini Mk3, flat panels completed and 1st layer of radius starting.

2nd layer of radius almost finished.

Didi Mini Mk3 hull skin completed.

Clean and powerful stern sections.

Completed hull ready to turn over.

They turned Hugo's hull right-way-up last week and recorded it on time-lapse video. They accomplished it with plenty of helping hands and no mechanical equipment. This is a wide boat, at 3m beam, so it towers above the men providing the muscle power. It worked in their situation with lots of hands but "don't try this at home". For the average builder it is better and safer to use mechanical equipment to raise one side under control then lower it again on the other side.

You can see more of his Didi Mini Mk3 project on Hugo's website and follow future progress. Also visit our website at http://dixdesign.com/ to read more about our range of designs and available kits for our plywood boats.

Tiernan Roe is a professional boatbuilder in County Cork, Ireland. His company, Roeboats, specialises in building quality wooden boats. Mostly of classic styling, they build for sail, power or rowing. Roeboats recently launched a Cape Henry 21 that they built for a customer from France.Tiernan sent me these photos, which show some interesting details brought into one of our most popular small cruisers.

Cape Henry 21 ready to get wet.

Launched in a pretty setting.

First sail of the new boat.

The mainsail has still to be fully set up in these photos.

Compact sink & cooker unit, neatly executed.

Other side of the galley. Nice detailing.

Looking aft from the double forward berth.

You can follow the construction of this boat on the Roeboats news blog, from start through to launch.

After launch, Tiernan Roe sent me these comments. "She sails very nicely and I found her easy to single hand from the get go. The interior is pretty snazzy with frame and panel oak fronted drawers and a gas stove with tank fed sink.  Also the centreboard was a lot easier to operate than I thought. It's an awkward shape out of the boat to try and move alone."

To see our full range of designs, please visit http://dixdesign.com/