Plans for dinghies, dayboats, sail and oar craft
Small sail plan shown on the multi-chine hull on the left, whilst the clinker hull on the right has the standard larger sail plan.
IO 11-12: geneally along the lines of Iota, but much beamier and more burdensome, and with a raked transom, too, all to give considerably more room. For 7 plank glued clinker or multi-chine construction. Stable yet fast, attractive and able, light yet strong, the seven plank aside hull goes together reasonably quickly to give a satisfying traditional appearance with modern materials. Two separate sealed tanks run under the side seats for a good part of the hull to provide buoyancy and strength
The multi-chine version takes just 5 sheets of ply for the hull, transom, centreboard case and buoyancy tanks, while the glued clinker requires one additional sheet. There is no guess work or trial and error in the lining out of the planks for the clinker version as the position of the plank edges is clearly defined on the moulds. although you can of course do your own lofting and lining out of planks, as Dennis Marshall chose to do for his version, if you so wish.
Photo of Dennis Marshall's recently launched version, still unnamed. Dennis modified the design extensively to suit his requirements, the most obvious being the change to an 8 plank hull with heavier strakes and an open layout without the built-in buoyancy. Dennis is very pleased with her rough water capability as she remains well-controlled and dry with the larger main. As he says in his own words: "I can sail in 20mph winds without reefing. I've had her slogging to windward in that much wind and 2 ft waves and have been very comfortable and relatively dry. The boat takes on very little spray, although I have gotten a face full of water a time or two. But this happens when motor boat chop adds to the confusion of waves. She does not like to get her rail down to the water. She reaches a point where it would take an awful lot of effort to get her rail under or to capsize her. She is a boat that inspires confidence and I have enjoyed sailing her in conditions that stretch my sailing abilities. When planing off, she is a delight to sail. She goes very well to windward and is fast on all points of sail. She is a good ghoster, but I try not to get out in those conditions much as motor boat bobble can make one's life a misery." One of his sailing grounds is Portage Lake, Onekema, Michigan, another is Lake Macatawa. Photo courtesy of Dennis Marshall.
Below is the Iota, her predecessor, in a club race and sporting the smaller sail plan.
