Bolger June Bug as SUP

I have a simple question: Can the hull of the Bolger June Bug (Bolger June Bug - Google Search https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=Bolger+June+Bug#vhid=ieilWfmf-vcu2M&vssid=l) be used as a SUP if it were empty?

I ask because I own a lightweight flat-bottomed Paulownia sailboat and notice how SUP people traveling with a child or two on our lake look at me with great interest - the boat. Some would probably like to have the option of traveling with two people standing on one "thing" or carrying luggage or having the child with them under a small parasol etc. So:

Can a boat like the June-Bug, which would then have no transverse frames etc. and vertical side planks, be moved like a SUP? Weight with my design maybe 20 kg max. 4 m long and 1 meter wide.
I have never stood and paddled a SUP, only sailed surfboards 40-50 years ago.

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Hey Dieter,

why not give it a try with your sailboat if it's a boat like the June Bug?

For your new design:
A 20 kg boat should be light enough. I guess you could even go a bit heavier, also keeping in mind that a standing person drastically raises the centre of gravity. That said you want a relatively stable boat, a wide beam contributes to this. But I'm scared that 1 m is slightly too wide and the paddler has to move to the side to reach the water in an ergonomical way.

 

No reason why not. I have stood on the bow of my Nordic Folkboat and used a long shaft paddle to move her when there is zero wind. June Bug is a very usefull all-round boat. How easy it is to paddle depends on how tall you are, and the length of your paddle. SUPs are better moved with a canoe type stroke, rather than a wider kayak paddle. No reason you could not sit in the bow and use either type of paddle, but you get a good core work out on a SUP.

 

My boat is currently here in the garden and won't be on the lake until May. A flat bottomed boat.

The initial stability of this boat is high, but under sail you are also quickly in the water. I wouldn't want to go any narrower than 0.85 m.

It would probably be best to paddle from the narrow bow, as someone else wrote here. But I really have to try that out.

I was thinking of a self-build boat that you can use as a SUP or rowing boat first and then expand into a sailing boat with little effort.

The best way to do this is with a flat-bottomed boat and a 5 sqm spritsail. My boat ist 15% to big in all dimensions, but I can give it a try.

 

Row, paddle, sail...



Chautauqua Printed Plans (duckworks.com)

I built one of these, as the plywood equivalent was too heavy for me to man handle onto the car. He also has 2 SUP in skin-on-frame also.

 

Yes

 

Thank you for your replies!!

 

I thought it was three but he now has four paddleboards listed. Here is Dave Gentry's website.
Catalog http://gentrycustomboats.com/NewHomebuilderplans.html

 

I can’t speak to whether or not your boat would make a good SUP, but thought I would mention that Party Paddle boards are a thing:

 

The SUP people are jealous that you are sitting comfortably and sailing and are not paddling...
To be sure, the sailboat used as a SUP will not perform like a better SUP. If you get/make a SUP paddle you can try it.

Die SUP-Leute sind neidisch darauf, dass Sie bequem sitzten und segeln und nicht paddeln...
Natürlich wird das als SUP verwendete Segelboot nicht die gleiche Leistung erbringen wie ein besseres SUP. Wenn Sie ein SUP-Paddel bekommen/bauen, können Sie es ausprobieren.

am meistens mit Google Uebersetztung

 

Interesting replies, never seen a SUP-Party-Vessel

 

Getting back to the original question of the June Bug as a stand-up paddleboard, I built and own a June Bug though it's been stored in a barn for years. It's certainly quite stable but I don't know if the height of the side would be problematic using it that way. You might also take a look at the push rowing option (rowing standing up, facing forward) as they used to do in Maine and elsewhere when navigating among the rocks.

 

Thank you Matthew,

I have a boat, 15 % to big in all dimensions, I think, so I've been thinking about building an MPV out of paulownia, a very light wood. In other words, a multi-purpose vehicle. Not for me, but as a suggestion for others who would like a boat for the roof of their car that they can use many times. For rowing, sailing, trolling or even as a SUP - with the little family on board.

What are the sailing characteristics of JuneBug? Actually, you only hear good things, fast, stable, etc. Is that your impression?

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Sorry, Dieter, but I never fitted mine with a sail, it was only used as a rowboat, so I can't really speak to that. I expect that it would be very pleasant and pretty stable under sail but perhaps not the best in very light winds. The sailing rig used is the standard Instant Boats rig from the Bolger/Payson collaborations (Cartopper, Elegant Punt, Gypsy, June Bug, Rubens Nymph, Surf, Sweet Pea, Teal, etc.). Some of those are substantially smaller than June Bug. Now that I think about it, you might take a look at some of those Bolger designs first built by Payson, whose family still offers plans. Honestly, though, I think for the use you describe weight is going to be the critical factor and it will come down to how lightly you can build one of these designs to make cartopping less of a chore.

 

Good enough for this chap.

Jagular Goes Everywhere: (mis)Adventures in a $300 Sailboat: Tom Pamperin, Kate Haas, Eric D. Bott: 9780991461714: Amazon.com: Books