Looking for sharpie plans

Can anyone suggest a sharpie plan other than the Bolger state boats. Something in that 45ft range but perhaps a little bit more beam. Maybe closer to 10ft beam. I know it falls out of the preferred LxW ratio, but I have a few accommodation ideas that would benefit from the extra beam. I have been looking at a bunch of different styles of boats from boxy barges to trawlers and even cats, but in the end it appears that a sharpie has almost all of the qualities that I will need for a retirement boat. I hope that I can find an actual set of plans to work from as I do not believe that I have the proper knowledge to design one from scratch. I always look forward to the input from you folks.
Thanks!
Russ

 

Check out Ted Brewer's Mystic Sharpie; the plans are sold by WoodenBoat. At 32' with an 8' beam, it's smaller than what you're thinking of, but it's a lot of boat for a sharpie-style hull.


For sharpies 45 feet long, take a look at the traditional North Carolina sharpie schooners. Or Reuel Parker's Ibis....

 

You might review the sharpie work of Thomas Colvin

http://www.thomasecolvin.com/sharpies.htm

 

This book is very informative:
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...k_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwADgU

 

Loading and fitting the interior ideas may be a lot handy'r
leaving one side of the hull of till all is fitted out
A sharpy sett up well can have that, hows that for a plan

 

Lots of info and plans in Howard Chapelle's "American Small Sailing Craft. Nothing over 36" I think, but you could expand on what's there.

The Smithsonian has a lot of his plans in full sized format, and probably other sharpies as well, maybe some at 45".

You can get the book here;

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sea...hapelle&sts=t&tn=American Small Sailing Craft

Also in Chapelle's book there are plans for a few sailing scows.

 

Bolger had a number of power boat designs, not just the state series. Sitka Explorer, Tiger Lily (10' wide), the 40' diesel cruiser, and Tahiti all come to mind, for boats the size you are looking for - but I'm sure there are many others. Some might be more difficult to build than others . . . .
http://www.hallman.org/bolger/isometrics to peruse some of the more widely known Bolger designs.

Mik Storer has a 35' liveaboard power sharpie, too: http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/storer/tc35/index.htm

Good luck!

 

Hmmm.... I just proved I'm not as familiar with Bolger's work as I thought I was. I generally think of sailboats when I think of sharpies, and wasn't that aware of his power sharpies (except for Sneakeasy).

You might contact PAR (Paul Riccelli) on this forum. He designed Egress/Cindy Lou, the 28' x 7'6" riverboat I'm preparing to build, and its hull is a kissing cousin to sharpies. She's the smallest in a series of riverboats Paul has designed, and I'm pretty sure at least one of them will be in the size range you indicated.

 

I did a quick sketch of a 45' mid section and didn't like it.

Below is the midsection of a 49' cruiser sharpie. It could be gotten down to 47', but the aesthetics would suffer. The board, if you had no skeg, would be most of a 5.5' x 13' rectangle and the housing would be about 13" thick. The board drawn is got up from 6 x 8 and would be cross drilled every foot or so for rods. It could be smaller with a skeg, but then it shifts forward and is usually more in the way. As it is, there is room for a bunk on the off side.

A sharpie has to be three things-

It needs to look like and be proportioned like a sharpie.
It needs to have the structure that is specific to a sharpie.
It needs to have the order of build of a sharpie.

If you change any of these, you loose the benefit of 10,000 of them being built within sight of each other over a 40 year period around New Haven and you are basically back to square one with a custom design. Nothing at all wrong with that, but I see no reason to build a sharpie using techniques that can build better boats. The hull is the easy part anyway. Keep in mind that the relative costs of different items have changed during the past century-and-a-half. If they started again in New Haven today, things would shake out differently due to costs. This boat could be built for $500 dollars a century ago. You can buy a decent used boat today for $500- $1000 and move on to it.

 

Depending on your definition of a sharpie.. you might have a look at Herreshoffs , mud lark, Meadow Lark, Marco Polo, Goldenball.. leeboard, shoal draft, designs.

http:// upload foto

 

Herreshoff's boat's have the reputation of being very challenging to build for the home builder. The meadowlarks are fantastic, though. I've tried to buy several of them and considered building one. Beware the meadowlark plans adapted for Rudder. His boats were so well integrated that you really had to understand everything to get them to work. The problem with that is it is almost impossible to change the scale of his boats even a small amount. In a sharpie, there's a whole lot less to understand, but it's important to do the research. You need to resist the urge to get creative either case, and no 45' boat is simple.

 

Thanks for all the ideas! I love the Wyoming, the Mark V39, the Mondoo Cruisers and similar. Definetly going with power.

Question: Using the Wyoming as an example, what happens to the performance numbers as the beam is increased. Not trying to redesign it, just curious as to how much economy and performance suffer as the waistline grows.

Given your druthers would you build like bolger , building a complete bottom to finish then build on top, or go ply over frame on a strongback.
My taste runs to simple plumb sides and outboard power. Utility finishes and the like.

All ideas are welcome. Thanks again for the suggestions.
Russ

 

From Howard Chapelle's Boatbuilding.....





Also Ruel Parker's Commuter 50......

http://www.parker-marine.com/com50page.html

 

Greetings,

Really like the lines of the Chappelle boat. Also try Chris Morejohn H37 - a little smaller lenghth wise but still has plenty of room. Tanton made bigger version of AS39. Bolger Fiji-Tahiti-Sitka Explorer-Solution-Resolute-Illinois-AS55. Golden Ball is one of my favorites and think it would be even more seaworthy than the designer gives it credit.

This is something I had saved but your dimensions are almost the same so will post it here. Seats and counters less than 36" high for spaciousness (plus lower cg). Full standing hdrm only at galley area, the head is by itself forward-shower at curtained off area where bilge grate is shown (this is only area above 36" so you can neatly close off when not in use). Most concrete/rebar ballast extended throughout below midship sole, and balance left BLW at counters, will protect wood and deaden noise. If preferred you can put a wheel directly over the rudder shaft with a right angle gear reduction available at Surpluscenter. Cockpit top is open 24" directly above sole which can be closed off with simple snaps or a more extensive closure by tarp over to life lines, to get forward the hatch would have to be slid shut.

Still think you can build for $1.25/pound (up from $1.00 due to inflation) materials only. Bolger proved through many of his designs that ocean going boats can be both shallow and safe.

Peace.

 

The problem with sharpies in these sizes is the CG has to remain low. The drawing above shows a 47' hull with 16" (or so) of hull draft, on a skimpy beam, with what appears ridiculously massive planking scantlings. 1 7/8" planking on this boat is frankly absurd, even for George Buehler.

Sharpie's need to remain light and low or you're better off going with a skiff or other type of hull form. Most of Parker's "sharpie" designs are actually skiffs with sharpie styling clues.