Quality Metal Boat Kits

Robert Christinger is the man behind  Alumar Yachts. His first experience of our designs was when he bought plans for the Dix 43 Pilot, to have one built for himself. He converted our 2-dimensional paper plans into a very detailed 3-dimensional computer model, complete with every piece of metal that was to go into the boat structure.

Then he converted the entire structure into interlocking pieces, nested them onto aluminium plates and had them cut by a metal supplier with CNC equipment. That is the process of creating a kit that can be built by a professional boatbuilder, or any suitably experienced amateur.

The pieces were delivered to the builder and the boat in the photo below was the result.

That was the first of a series. Since then Robert has designed similar CNC kits for a few of our other designs. Alumar Yachts can supply cutting files for a kit to be cut by a supplier near to the builder or can arrange for supply of a pre-cut kit to be delivered. Robert can also customise the model and cutting files to suit the owner's needs.

One of the people for whom Robert supplied cutting files is Brian Russell in Tennessee. Brian is a very skilled metal sculptor who has taken to boatbuilding. He is building the Dix 43 Pilot for himself and producing a high quality boat.

Brian's company is Odyssey Yachts, with a great blog illustrating every step of his building process. Odyssey Yachts is also the agent for Alumar Yachts in North America, able to supply pre-cut kits for our metal designs.

If you are considering building a metal boat, contact Robert or Brian via the contact pages on their websites. They can help to reduce the time and effort needed to build a quality boat.

See our full range of designs at http://dixdesign.com/ .

WOOD Regatta

The WOOD Regatta is approaching fast. It will be sailed on 20-22 May at the  Rock Hall Yacht Club in Maryland, just across Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis.

This looks like being a memorable racing and social event. A wide range of wooden boat types have already entered and the Rock Hall Yacht Club has a reputation for laying on excellent racing, with good facilities both on and off the water. Organisation is by Carl Cramer and his able staff at Wooden Boat Magazine.

You can read more about the regatta at http://www.woodenboat.com/woodregatta.php and keep up to date on developments through the WOOD Regatta thread on the Wooden Boat Forum .

Wooden sailboats up to 30ft on deck are eligible, so whether you have an Argie 10 or a Didi 26, you are able to sail in the regatta.  I have entered my Paper Jet #001 and hope to meet owners of some of our other wooden boats there as well.

Don't wait too long, entries close on May 5th.