Plans for Araminta

I have been reading "Lofting" by Allan H. Vaitses and he uses L. Francis Herreshoff's design for Araminta to illustrate the lofting of a round bottom sail boat. I would like to build that boat, but I have not been able to find the plans for sale. Can they be purchased anywhere?

 

Contact Mystic Seaport

Catalog number 38.143

Good luck, Tad

 

Thankyou for the tip

Hey Tad,

Thanks for the help. I had looked at the Mystic website several times before and couldn't figure out how to find the information I wanted. I ordered my plans today. I have never taken on a project this big before. Have you ever built Araminta or anything on that scale?

I am just curious to find out if this is too ambitious for one person to atempt.

Tim

 

Tim;

Nope, can't say I've built an Araminta. But I have worked at building boats larger and smaller than Araminta, and a house. Which is probably a similar amount of labor. Too ambitious? Who knows, that depends, you could spend as much time as want on that boat, or you could crank her out and go sailing.

There is a good article on making the frames and setting her up in WoodenBoat #137.

All the best, Tad

 

Araminta is a sweet boat, though not an easy build. How much boat building experience do you have? This will require a great deal of effort, time and materials, but is surely not to ambitious for a reasonably seasoned builder. I have a 50'er and a 23'er in the works currently. The 23'er is for now as I'll have her done by summer or maybe the fall. It'll be some years yet before the 50 is ready, everyone else's work keeps getting in the way.

 

I have only built one small boat so far. It was a vee bottom and not very complex. Do you have any suggestions for a round bottom day sailor that would give me the experience I need and also be good to learn to sail in?

 

Man, is that a loaded question. The boating market in this country is comprised of 80% of craft 20' or less in length. This means most every design out there is geared for your size range.

If your experience is limited, the Araminta is a boat for another day and a stepping stone or two may be necessary for you to gain the skills, building and sailing both.

There are so many to choose from, you'll have to narrow your search down a bit with some specific needs, likes, dislikes and requirements. The easiest way to do this is to look at lots of different designs. You can start here:
Karl Stambaugh at www.CMDBOATS.com,
Harold Payson at www.instantboats.com,
Jay Benford at www.benford.us,
Paul Gartside at www.gartsideboats.com,
and others at www.glen-l.com,
www.clarkcraft.com

Once you have a head full of designs, you'll also have a head full of questions, like which one can I build, which one is faster, which is cheaper to build and other near impossible to answer things like that, but we'll try.

I'm kind of old now and my ideas of a nice round bilge boat to learn to build and sail on is different then when I was a young man interested in getting my Star to go as fast as possible. You'll soon see several designs that pull at your heart strings and the materials list is within you budget. Let us know what you've narrowed it down to and we can give you the pros and cons and pats on the back you'll need to finish off your first round bellied boat.

 

Tim;

Par has given you some good pointers to look over, any of Paul Gartside's designs would be a fine project, he's alive and will help you through your construction problems.

If you like Herreshoff, have a look at Joel White's design, the "Haven", this is an adaptation of a design by NG Herreshoff, L Francis's father. Plans are available from WoodenBoat. WoodenBoat

 

Wow! You have given me a lot to think about. The decision to go with wood constuction was really the first hurdle. There are probably lots of good reasons to do a steel or fiberglass hull, but I just like wood.

My ultimate goal is to do some long range cruises. A lot of the literature refers to Araminta as a daysailor. Has this to do with a lack of seawothiness or a lack of interior accommodations?

How do you feel about the boatbuilding classes at Mystic Seaport or other museum based schools?

 

You and Par have been most kind. It's nice to know there are boat builders out there who are so generous with there time and knowledge. Thanks to both of you.

 

Tim440, she's a reasonably lightly constructed boat with little to what would be acceptable as accommodations by today's standards. For coastal work she would make a fine boat. Most sailing is done near shore and she is well suited for it.

An offshore yacht is quite different then sweet little Araminta. Everything is bigger and heavier, except the sail area which usually goes down for trade wind work. There are different types of offshore boats, ones that are capable of handling most of what mother nature can dish out, designs intended for blue water regattas of varying levels of intensity, passage makers (ocean crossers) and others. These can be had in forms that are lumbering loafs to all out race.

This is not to say you could do some long voyages in her. Sure you could and in fine style, though the ride may be a bit lively from time to time and interior volume is sparse. LFH has many designs you'll like, most well suited for long passage making.

You'll find the older designs haven't the headroom, nor the interior volume we come to expect from yachts currently. The designs are sound, but new techniques and materials have made great strides in boat design. Women and marketing have had a equal effect on yachts, not all for the good. The net result is lighter boats that can sleep a platoon in under 40' with very limited access to the engine and forget about getting at the tankage or a leak.

Mystic's classes are first rate from what I hear, but to me it's sort of the yuppie way of saying "I can plank a boat" You'd have to spend a lot of time on classes there to really learn how to build boats. Personally, I think the fastest way and best way is to get a job helping someone build boats. Now you're going to say there just aren't any of those any more, but I have three guys learning every day here.

Look around and narrow down your quest for a round bellied boat design and let us know what you find . . .

 

I suppose you have seen this link with its pictures: http://www.48north.com/jun99/araminta.htm

You might do a little research about Joel White's designs for the Brooklin Boatyard. Some were derived from Araminta (or similar LFH designs). You can read about them in "Unit of Time, Unit of Water." If I were choosing a traditionally-styled boat for long coastal cruising, I would check out William Garden's designs, especially the fin keel schooner (24' lwl? 27' lwl?) shown in one of his "Yacht Design" books.

 

I have just recieved a copy of "Sensible Cruising Designs" and I may have some more questions for you after I have had a chance to study it. Just leafing through the book, the first boat that jumped out at me was a 15' Narraganset Bay boat. All his designs are really beautiful. I'll let you know when I have narrowed down the search a little more.

 

I had not seen that picture, although I have read a few articles about Legendary Yachts, Inc. That is the kind of picture that made me fall in love with Araminta. Thankyou for sharing it with me.

 

me too

hello, tim i search also a plan of araminta , if i have a good news for us i'm telling you !!!! do it the samefor me please sebastien