Cape Henry 21 & Kits in Australia

The most recent Cape Henry 21 launch was in Adelaide, Australia. "Sealion" is beautiful, built by Ron Jesche, and painted a very pretty blue. Ron is a professional boatbuilder with other boatbuilding projects behind him but most boats to this design are built by amateurs. With more than 100 afloat or in build around the world, this is our most popular plywood traditional sailboat design.

Ron Jesche exhibiting "Sealion" at the Geelong Wooden Boat Festival.

 Ron made a lovely job of the build, both inside and out, with quality joinery. The bright-finished details against white surfaces are traditional finishes for classic boats and create a bright and airy interior.

Pretty detailing, nice finishes. The slatted liners are comfortable backrests for the settees.

The raised sheer and flush deck give a comfortable and spacious interior.

Afloat and waiting for her sails.

Ron made some custom changes to his boat. One of them was to add a small diesel motor under the front of the cockpit to replace the standard outboard motor in an outboard well. It fits in neatly, with access through hatches in the cockpit sole and bulkhead. Although the diesel motor is a bit heavier than the outboard that it replaces, it is closer to the centre of gravity of the boat, so has little effect on flotation.

Cockpit hatches to access engine and shaft seal.

Access openings in bulkheads around the engine.

Ron launched on Christmas eve and had the first sail as a Christmas present. Since then he has sailed her in a wide variety of conditions on all points of sail and tested her for heaving to. He had previously sailed the smaller sister, Cape Cutter 19, and declared them both to be fast, capable and without vices.

"Sealion" romping in a friendly summer breeze, sailing as a cutter with Yankee and staysail.

A few days ago he sent this photo, taken while sailing in light breeze. It was his first outing with Genoa and main, sailing as a sloop. He discovered just how fast these little boats are in light winds.

Reaching at 6.1 knots boat speed in 7.8 knots apparent breeze.

While building his Cape Henry 21, Ron Jesche agreed to work as our agent in Australia and since then we have expanded it to include CNC kits for our plywood designs. He is well placed to represent us at boat shows and in the plans and kit markets. To contact Ron Jesche, go to his Stainless Boatworks website at https://stainlessboatworks.com.au/.

To see more of this design or others in our wide range, go to our main website or our mobile website.

New Cape Henry 21 Launch in Australia

Ron Jesche in Adelaide, South Australia, has launched the newest build to our Cape Henry 21 design. Ron is a professional boatbuilder and owner of Stainless Boatworks. He produces high quality custom metal hardware for both power and sailing boats.

Ron bought the plans to build for his own use and has made a beautiful job of the build. He has enjoyed working with our well-detailed drawings so, part-way through the project, he took on the agency to sell our designs and plywood kits in Australia. He exhibited his nearly-complete boat at a local boat festival where it attracted considerable attention.

"Sealion" is finished in a very pretty blue, with cream decks. She was launched on Christmas Eve and went for her first sail on Christmas Day. Ron is delighted with the performance and good manners of his Christmas present to himself. His wife also enjoyed sailing on "Sealion" and feels safe on her, an important element of family boat enjoyment.

Ron's photos show what a great job he did of the build.

Nicely-detailed joinery for a pretty interior.

The work of a craftsman who is jusifiably proud of what he has produced.

Ron Jesche exhibiting "Sealion" at the boat festival.

Jon installed a small inboard diesel motor, tucked under the front of the cockpit.

Launch day, nearly ready to go sailing.

First sailing photos. Ron reported that she topped out at 5.8 knots in a 10 knot breeze.

Romping along under full cutter rig.

Ron's comments after sailing "Sealion"? What a great boat. Under 10 knots as we left and she sailed beautifully with jib and main, great steerage and control downwind in very light wind. As the wind picked up she accelerated beautifully. I am absolutely thrilled with this little boat, and can't wait to get out again tomorrow. I can't get over how well she sails. She heaves to very nicely also,and nicely mannered on all points of sail. 

Ron Jesche is well-qualified to represent us in Australia. He has general boatbuilding experience and also personal experience of building one of our most popular small cruisers, good qualities for advising potential builders about the build process and the quality of the designs that he represents. He can also supply kits for most of our plywood designs. Contact Ron via his website at Stainless Boatworks.

To date we have sold more than 100 sets of plans for the Cape Henry 21. To see our range of boat designs, go to our desktop website or our mobile website.

Cape Cutter 19 Developments

Following on my post of a few weeks ago with Cape Cutter 19 News, I have some more developments to report.

First is the CNC plywood kit. Years ago two plywood kits were cut by CKD Boats in Cape Town before the moulds for the GRP boats were sold to Honnor Marine, who rescinded the rights to cut kits. Now, with the moulds and GRP production under new ownership of Cape Cutter Marine, we are once again able to sell CNC plywood kits. I completed the new files, with jigsaw joints to all components that are too large for one sheet of plywood. The kit comprises bulkheads, centreplate casing and skin panels for hull, deck and cockpit. We will be able to supply kits in USA and they will also be available from our normal kit suppliers in various countries. Email me for more info.

Cape Cutter 19 being built from one of the two kits cut years ago. The new kits will be similar quality but with jigsaw joints to larger panels.

The other development with the Cape Cutter 19 is under the water. We have had a bilge keel (twin keel) option for the Cape Henry 21 for a few years. The first was launched in Cape Town in 2012. Sailing reports have been of good speed and handling characteristics, with the owner very happy with his boat and other observers impressed with her speed. There is not a similar boat with centreplate nearby to allow comparative sailing to tell us the differences but that will happen sometime in the future, when the opportunity arises.

Cape Henry 21 with bilge keels, being launched in Cape Town, South Africa.

We have not had the bilge keel option for the Cape Cutter 19. A few people have asked when we will have this option and it has now happened. Today I have completed the drawings and will add it to our pricelist in the next few days. The first boat with this option will be built by an amateur builder in the Philippines. This version is able to dry out on shallow moorings, standing upright on the twin keels and skeg.

To see our full range of designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.

Cape Cutter 19 News

The Cape Cutter 19 design was commissioned by Nick Voorhoeve, for GRP construction from moulds in South Africa. From there they were exported to UK, where they sold very well. After a few years they sold the company to Honnor Marine and production was moved to UK.

Two fiberglass Cape Cutter 19s waiting for the tide.

Honnor Marine has recently been sold due to the retirement of the owners. The Cape Cutter 19 moulds have changed ownership to a new company, Cape Cutter Marine, which has moved production to new premises in Driffield, Yorshire. The website has been totally redesigned, offering the same services plus a lot more. The new owner has plans to improve production and expand marketing to reach buyers world-wide.

Under Nick Voorhoeve we were able to sell CNC plywood kits but Honnor Marine took away those rights. Now we have reached agreement with Cape Cutter Marine that we can sell CNC plywood kits worldwide. This will be done through the same companies that currently sell kits for our Cape Henry 21 design.

"Tiptoe", Cape Cutter 19 beautifully built by Ian Allen from a kit supplied by CKD Boats, our South African kit supplier.

Included in the expansion plans of Cape Cutter Marine  is the introduction of a GRP version of the Cape Henry 21. That should happen once all is sorted out with the Cape Cutter 19 production.

"Elvee", Cape Henry 21 built from a kit supplied by Big Pond Boat Shop, our Canadian Supplier.

We look forward to a long and mutually satisfying relationship with Cape Cutter Marine.

The Cape Cutter 19 Association is based in UK and has an annual rally. The 2018 rally will be in Scotland in May. More info.

See our kits page for a full list of our kit suppliers, with contact links.

New Photos of Dix Designs

Photos of boats that I have designed often come into my hands through various routes. Sometimes it is the owner proudly showing the boat that he had created with his own hands, sometimes it is a friend who took the photo from an interesting perspective or for some special reason. When I can I show some of those photos. Here are a few recent ones.

This first one is the steel Dix 43 Pilot "Sea Bird" that was owner-built by Andre Siebert in South Africa. She is on her maiden cruise on the West Coast of South Africa.

Dix 43 Pilot "Sea Bird" in Port Owen marina.

Ryerson and Annie Clark had Big Pond Boat Shop in Nova Scotia build a Cape Henry 21 for them and did the finishing work themselves. They launched earlier this year and have been doing short cruises as they learn to sail their new boat, named "Elvee".

Cape Henry 21 "Elvee" enjoying a beautiful Nova Scotia sunset.

David Edmiston owner-built his Didi 40cr2 "Passion X" in Sydney, Australia. It differs from the standard Didi 40cr by having a wider stern, deeper keel and more powerful rig. This photo of Passion X" was submitted to the Greenwich Flying Squadron photo competition.

Didi 40cr2 "Passion X" in Sydney, Australia.

Joop Mars built his Didi 26 "Black-Out" in Netherlands. In the photo below he is racing her single-handed and loves her sailing characteristics.

Didi 26 "Black-Out" sailing in Netherlands.

Michael Baccellieri of Portland, Oregon, bought an owner-built Cape Henry 21 that had some builder-created problems. Michael fixed the issues, did what he could to get her closer to the original design, refinished her under the new name of "Slough Coot" and went sailing. He and a friend cruised Puget Sound for 2 weeks, then exhibited her on the Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend WA

Cape Henry 21 "Slough Coot" relaxing on Puget Sound.

To see more of these and our other designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.

New Agent & Kit Supplier in Australia

We have a new agent in Australia. In future we will be represented by Ron Jesche of Stainless Boatworks in Adelaide, South Australia. Ron is an accomplished boatbuilder, working to a high standard. He is currently building a Cape Henry 21 for his own use.

Ron's current boat "Lioness" was his own build, to a custom pilothouse design. He saw a similar boat at the Wooden Boat Festival in Tasmania, which put him on the path that ended with him building "Lioness" for himself and wife "Carole".

"Lioness" on the hard recently for maintenance.

Nicely finished pilothouse of "Lioness".

Stainless Boatworks is able to sell plans for any of our range of designs, which will be printed and shipped by our office here in USA. They can also supply CNC kits for our plywood designs.

Ron Jesche's Cape Henry 21 build, fairing and deck in progress.

Interior of Ron's Cape Henry 21, showing nice detailing.

Ron does nice work. He has built the Cape Henry 21 from scratch. That has given him good knowledge of how our designs work, as well as the experience of building one of our designs. That makes him well-suited to represent our designs in Australia. Whether you want to build from plans or a kit, Ron can supply.

Also, if you want one of these boats and don't have the time or inclination to build it, maybe Ron will build one for you if you speak to him very nicely.

We look forward to a long and mutually satisfying relationship with Ron Jesche.

To see more about our boat designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.

Wooden Boat Festival, Port Townsend

The Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend WA ended a week ago. Two days of off-and-on light drizzle washed the smoke from the wild fires out of the air and Sunday turned into a gorgeous day with lots of visitors. There were three boat of our design on display.

The Didi Cruise-Mini "Segue" has been at the Festival many times. Her owners, David and Nancy Blessing, have become good friends of mine over the past few years and hosted me in their beautiful home in Port Ludlow. Their boat was built by the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building in Port Hadlock. The Festival gave me the opportunity to view some of the beautiful boats built by the school and also on display. I also spent a few pleasant hours in the company of Executive Director Betsy Davis and some of the many people who make this school a valuable resource of the boating community. The school may be available to build our smaller designs, up to about 21ft, but the bigger boats would not fit into the requirements of their programs.

Didi Cruise-Mini "Segue".

The Cape Henry 21 "Slough Coot" is owned by Michael and Jody Baccellieri of Portland OR. Their boat attracted an endless stream of visitors to visit aboard and talk about her. Michael and Jody had spent the previous 2 weeks cruising the beautiful islands and anchorages of Puget Sound and were very happy to chat about their capable little vessel.

Michael and Jody aboard their Cape Henry 21 "Slough Coot".

The Didi Mini Mk3 "Voodoo Child" was built by amateur Mark Paterson in Vancouver BC, to an extremely high standard that rivals the best produced by many professional boatyards. Visitors who talked to me after being aboard "Voodoo Child" all spoke of the incredible standard of finish and the many features that Mark built into his boat. She is very well-equipped, including carbon mast, boom and sprit. We took her out to sail in the Friday race, unfortunately into the worst possible conditions for a Mini 650 to show her paces. We had a boat, designed for windy downwind racing and trans-ocean passage-making, in a sometimes windless around-the-cans race where contrary current was at times faster than boat speed. I will have to sail on her another time to experience her speed in her own conditions.

Didi Mini Mk3 "Voodoo Child".

I had flown to the Pacific Northwest via Portland so that I could visit friends in that area. One was the owner of a Lotus Europa similar to my own, to help him to sort out some problems. That done, we took it for a spin on Vancouver WA roads, giving me even more appreciation for my own car, which I had resurrected from a lifeless wreck over a 5-year rebuild. Just a few more jobs to do to complete the total body-off restoration. People wonder when I walk up to this tiny car how a tall guy like me can fit into a car with the roof below waist level. The saying is that you don't get into a Lotus, you put it on like a pair of trousers, one leg at a time. 😊

The roof of my Lotus comes only to the bottom of the windows of my wife's Chev Sonic compact.  Seen here with my Ford Windstar and son-in-law's jacked SUV for contrast with my "toy" car.

To see our full range of boat designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.

Wooden Boat Festival, Port Townsend

That season is coming around again, time for the Wooden Boat Festival in the beautiful little Pacific Northwest town of Port Townsend, WA. This is the 41st edition of one of the most popular wooden boat events in the world, with hundreds of wooden boats on show and dozens of presentations on a wide range of subjects of interest to boating people. Dates are 8th to 10th September 2017. The festival website is not yet fully functional but that will come soon.

Among those many boats will be three of our 21ft plywood sailboats, all different, which can be visited on the docks.

David Blessing's Didi Cruise-Mini "Segue". This is the detuned cruising version of our Didi Mini single-handed trans-Atlantic raceboat.

Michael Baccellieri's Cape Henry 21, "Slough Coot". She was built with some deviations from our design but the current owner is working to get her closer to the original drawings.

Mark Paterson's Didi Mini Mk3 "Voodoo Child". This is the full racing version of our Mini-Transat racer, with the newer hull shape and rig. 

I will also be taking part in the presentations. I will participate in the Designers' Forum, along with other boat designers, moderated by Jay Benford. This is from 12h00 to 13h00 on Friday 8th in the Cascade Room. Bring your boat design and construction questions to this session and observe how diverse the range of opinions and solutions can be among designers with different backgrounds and design styles. This is normally a very interesting gathering.

I will have my own session in the Cascade Room from 09h30 to 10h30 on Sunday 10th. My presentation is titled "Surviving a Capsize on the Ocean". Nobody can guarantee who will survive an ocean capsize but this presentation is aimed at making boaters aware of the many factors that are working together to reduce their chances of escaping alive from a capsized boat. Armed with that knowledge, they will be better prepared to choose the best options if they do ever have the misfortune of being inside or under an inverted boat.

To see our range of boat designs, go to our main website or our mobile website.

Upgrades to a Cape Henry 21

"Slough Coot" is a Cape Henry 21 that was built by an amateur builder in Michigan for his own use. He named her "Margo" and sailed her a few seasons then sold her. He trailed her to the new owner, Michael Baccellieri, in Oregon. Michael is a talented woodworker and boatbuilder, among a host of other worthy accomplishments. He had bought his new boat based on the great reputation of the design as a seaworthy little boat.

The builder made some changes from my design, including increasing headroom and fitting used sails that changed the gaff cutter rig to gaff sloop.

Cape Henry 21 "Margo" as built and rigged by her original builder.

Her new owner expected to make mostly cosmetic improvements to bring her finishes up to his personal high standard. Once he started work he found that there was more work needed than he had anticipated because the builder had made incorrect material and finishing choices at times that impacted on the durability of the boat. Michael has gone through the boat meticulously over the past few months to bring her up to standard and get her back toward the designed configuration, as much as was practical.

In that process he has replaced the out-of-character windows with round portholes, modified the rig to gaff cutter and replaced the clear-finished timber of dubious specie and their corroding fasteners with Douglas fir, properly fastened and finished. He has also replaced some framing that was rotting due to incorrect timber and finishing choices, as well as generally upgrading finishes throughout the boat.

New paint, portholes and bright-finished timberwork and the
addition of an inner forestay to the stemhead.

Refinished interior. White for a bright and airy interior, with teal trim and fabric.

Comfortable and roomy interior in a 21 footer.

"Slough Coot" and a new friend, in comfy accommodations for the winter.

The most recent news from Michael about "Slough Coot" is that he has added a composting toilet to her inventory. This is an environmentally friendly solution for a small boat that is becoming popular in the Pacific Northwest. In a small boat this is essentially a big bucket, with a lid, in which waste is layered with sawdust and peat to cause it to decompose aerobically for later use as compost. "Slough Coot" has two buckets, one serving as the toilet and the other containing the material for layering.

Composting toilet stowed under the companionway step.

I wish Micheal happy cruising in his Cape Henry 21. He expects to have her at the 2017 Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend, where she will keep company with a sister that is currently being built in Mill Creek, WA.

Visit Michael's boatyard website, Welcome Slough Boatworks.

See this and other designs on our desktop website or our mobile website.

Cape Henry 21 Trailer-Sailer Cruising

Richard Hunter lives in Czech Republic and bought himself a Cape Henry 21 that was built in UK by amateur builder Gary Wallis. He sails it mostly on Berzdorfer See in Germany. He recently towed it 1200km to Croatia with a 1.9 litre VW Transporter to cruise in the waters of Croatia. With his wife and three teenagers on the trip, they used the van and boat as overnight accommodation en-route.

Cape Henry 21 "Ruby" reaching in great sailing conditions

Once in the water, they set off with everything needed by the 5 people and cruised for a week, without having to put into harbour to stock up. Their little cruiser took it all very well, allowing them to anchor close to shore in private spots that are inaccessible to the much bigger charter boats. Their boat is quick in the conditions normal to that area in summer, even with the big load that she was carrying. They found themselves enjoying great sailing while the big charter boats went by, motoring port-to-port.

Stowage nets for stores for 5 people.

 Richard sent me a video and photos recording their holiday, as well as some nice writing about the experience. He sums it all up in a few sentences.
 
We spent five days circumnavigating Šolta. Maybe that sounds like a long time given the size of the place, but as the years pass I find myself focussing less on what I have done, and more on the doing itself. This is the opposite of bucket listing. How many hours have we spent on a really nice tack, not how much ground have we covered, we literally couldn’t care less. If we ended up only a couple of bays along the coast, so be it. To us they were new, unexplored bays, just as lovely as any other.

Tucked in close to the shore, well away from the charter crowds.

 Richard also sent a nice video to record their holiday and has shared it with us.

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Richard shows that bigger is not always better. a comfortable little boat like this can get you to many places that are inaccessible to bigger boats. It is also much more affordable to most people and can be taken home in the off-season to minimise ownership costs. A big benefit is being able to sail waters far from home without having to sail for days to get there. Instead, cruise the highways to the cruising grounds, then cruise the lakes, seas or lagoons of your choice at a relaxed pace, before cruising home again at highway speeds.

Thank you Richard Hunter.

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