Looking for Nordic Pram Plans... Cheap

Hey all,

I'm looking to build a tender/sailing/rowing/motor dingy. I like this design... Is a small version of this practical for a tender?

I would build out of composite foam core and flotation foam... I like the looks of these and this boat would be practice for a building process for a larger boat down the road.




Any ideas would be helpful,

This is one in the running... but I am not sure that 8 feet would be large enough?

Black Fly 8 design - Geodesic AiroLITE Boats http://www.gaboats.com/boats/blackfly8_design.html

I was thinking 10 feet... could I just stretch the stations out?

Thanks,

 

Is an Auray punt any good for you? There's a Bolger version.
Also check out Hannus boatyard for free plans of small simple dinghies including some smaller Auray variations that you could probably stretch.

 

Ian Oughtred has several pram designs with somewhat of a Nordic design. The largest is 9' 6". All are glued lapstrake plywood construction. http://www.oughtredboats.com/

 

You have apparently chosen the Norse like dinghy because: "I like this design" and "I like the looks of these". Men often choose their women because of the same sort of notions. That is not always the most practical way to make selections.

I like the Auray style too. Nevertheless, I see no reason to build one. I can build a far more simple dinghy that will give every bit as good a service while investing much less time and money.

I mean no criticism of your taste or judgement. Please take no offense. I do wonder why we humans are so much influenced by appearances in spite of the often impractical nature of the decision.

Bolger's Auray punt is a nine foot nine inch boat with a 42 inch beam. It is not lap straked like the one in your picture. It will be a dead simple construct and might be much better suited to your preferred material of foam and FRP. If you want to see the plans, get Bolgers book: Boats With An Open Mind. You could actually build his boat from the sufficiently complete plans in the book. Page 18. That would not be a legitimate way to do it because the official plan set would be cheap enough and will not violate any of the gentlemens agreements for which we like to subscribe.

The characteristic design of boats of this style have one drawback worth considering. .....If you step into the forward part of the boat when no one else is sitting in the aft part.....the boat will send you swimming and may even land on top of you when it flips end over end.

 

Messabout... The reason that I like this design is because I want to build a 36 foot catamaran and thus this boat will be practice. The design for the cat will be multi chine and segmented construction. I am going to experiment with the construction process for the tender using a female mold and segmented construction as noted within my other thread. Thus this type of "plywood lap straked" design will be made into half a female mold for the composite layup. (The composite will not look lap straked as I will simply tweak the plans to make the female mold from plywood more of a multi-chine design.

I think that the small pram is what I want... As long as it is practical for using as a tender. I want to be able to row, sail and power (electric) the little boat and then crane it on deck when underway. I want the boat to be under a hundred pounds max empty.

I think that I am going to see about the length and ask around to see if there are any benefits to having a longer tender. I don't want to be over 10 feet and I don't want to be under 8 feet. I am debating... either just enlarge the 8 foot design by 125% to make the whole boat bigger... and heavier or maybe just stretch out the distance between the station frames to make the boat longer.

I will keep looking for input and asking questions.

Thanks,

 

I am totally surprised that no one mentioned the Chesapeake Light Craft boats... they have a few Prams.
For anyone looking into Prams in the future I'm adding in this link. I have found many others, but this seams to be the most popular.

Ultra-light Sailing and Rowing Dinghies -- 11-foot Norwegian-style Pram Under 100 pounds https://www.clcboats.com/shop/wooden-sailboat-kits/passagemaker/?jm=1

I still like the 8 foot Black Fly SOF (in the original post) because it is very light and it will be easy on and off when used as a tender.

Thanks

 

there is a list of 500 rowing boat designs. you can probably find one that suits there.

www.tackingoutrigger.com/rowboat3.html

 

Basic specs are on the web page. Study plans are $1. I've seen other builders who charge for study plans.

 

Round bilge? Does your 36' build have a round bottom?

 

I went back and saw they have it all on a single line. Was looking for a column is all, thanks.

 

What is the issue with round bilge? I am building skin on frame.
Thanks.

 

Round bilge is a mrginally more efficient in terms of rowing effort. Depending on the design features the rounded form can help stiffen the boat in the structural sense. A round bilged boat is less stable in the side to side direction than a hard chined boat of equal size. The round one will require a bit more draft than the flattie style but probably less than a vee bottomed hard chine design.

The rounded sections are likely to be more appropriate for skin on frame construction than flat panel types. Even if it is a more tiddly planform.

 

I built a nesting pram in 2017. You can see how clueless I was to start with here:
Please sanity-check my 5'6 dinghy design! https://www.boatdesign.net/threads/please-sanity-check-my-56-dinghy-design.58328/page-2#post-809446

I adopted some fairly extreme design constraints (small size: 3x7.5ft) to make it easy to transport. Although my boat works OK for it's purpose, I would suggest keeping the maximum displacement up for the sake of usability. The designs you are looking at seem good in this regard.

 

Mark... Thanks for the comment. I like that fact that you built it. I did read your post back then before you uploaded the picture of the work in progress. I can agree with your direction. You had to give it a go and I respect your courage. I'm also in the same boat with you... I have a direction and I'm just moving forward to gain experience.

Thanks,
BJD

 

Thanks... Messabout, I did think about this as well, but again, I am experimenting with the skin on frame and an established design for my first go. Like I said, I would prefer a nesting pram with a bit larger size, but since this is a first for me, this size is just right. If i don't like the final product, it will easily fit into the trash can... lol!

Thanks again for the comment.
BJD