Caledonia Yawl
The Caledonia Yawl was inspired by the Shetland Sixerns, which themselves were developed from the beautiful Norwegian open boats. It is very adaptable design; the boat is easily rigged and sailed single-handed, and is also spacious, stable, and comfortable for family sailing. With the generous sail area, efficiently set up, she will perform well in sheltered waters, and will keep sailing when many other boats will be hassling with the outboard or taking to the oars. And with her great reserve buoyancy, full ends and strong sheer, she is an exceptionally sea kindly little vessel, quite capable of serious coastal cruising (in experienced hands of course), and will stand up to a bit of heavy weather with relative comfort and safety. The construction is a simplified form of lapstrake plywood, without frames or stringers. It forms a strong tight hull with a clean interior. It is planked upside-down over temporary moulds, and is actually less work, and contains many fewer parts than a conventional chine plywood hull; and it turns out a much better-looking shape.
SPECS:
Length: 19′ 6″
Beam: 6’2″
Draft: 25.5″
Weight: 500lbs
Sail Area: 164 sq ft (lug) 170 sq ft (mizzen)
Time to build (estimate): 360 hours
- ½” sheet stock moulds cut to size and notched for the planking
- Planking clamps
- Marine okoume plywood
- 9mm planking cut to size and machined traditional sloped end scarfs
- 9mm centerboard case
- Full size Mylar templates for the inner and outer stem & stern
- Marine okoume plywood
- 9mm bulkheads
- 6mm decking
- Three pieces of 12mm meranti for the centerboard, with milled foils on both sides
- Rudder is 2 pieces of 12mm and one piece of 6mm meranti
- Rudder cheeks and filler pieces are from 9mm okoume
Top Questions
If you can't find the answer to your question fill out the contact form below.
Why don’t blueprints come with the kit?
Typically, builders spend some time with a variety blueprints, before settling on a design to build. The various designers choose how they sell their blueprints, either keeping it in-house or using resellers such as WoodenBoat and Duckworks.
How complete are the kits?
Each designer chooses how complete he wants to make the kit. All include building moulds and planks; some include many more parts and patterns. A picture of the parts included in each kit is found under the dropdown list for each designer.
How complete are the kits?
What tools do I need?
Table saw, chop saw, cordless drill, sharp hand planes and chisels, jig saw, and an assortment of hand tools.
How skilled do I need to be to build a kit boat?
What kind of plywood do you use?
Most kits are made from European 1088 okoume plywood. We use Bruynzeel, Joubert (both manufactured in France) and occasionally Compensati Toro (Italian).
Where specified by the designer, we use sapele and meranti.
Can I upgrade my kit to sapele?
Yes, but it may add time to the order. We keep okoume in stock; there is sometimes a wait to get sapele ordered
Can you change or alter a kit design?
No, we are specifically prohibited from altering a designer’s work, without his express written consent
Are your kits approved by the designers?
Yes, we have signed agreements with all of our designers and pay royalties on all kits sold. We have no ‘in-house’ designs.
Is lumber included?
No, we have not found it cost-effective to have long lengths of lumber shipped to us and then shipped out to the customer. Most builders can locally source their own lumber. We have on occasion sourced the lumber, but for most kits, I do not have enough information to supply the lumber
Can I include extra sheets of plywood in the order?
Yes
Do you include masts, sails, epoxy, paint, sandpaper, fasteners, and oars?
No
What is the lead time?
Four weeks on a standard kit.
How do I pay?
You can call in a credit card or mail us a check
Is there sales tax?
No sales tax is charged on orders shipped out of state by common carrier (freight or UPS) Order shipped within state or picked up at our shop are accessed a 5.5% Maine sales tax.
Can I just get the CAD files and mill the parts myself?
We are specifically prohibited by license from sharing the designer’s CAD drawings with another party.
I’m looking for a kit that you don’t list.
We list every Oughtred kit that has been worked up into CAD drawings. If it is a Vivier kit that is listed on his website, we can cut it. We do not cut the Ilur, Morbic, or Jewell, as another machinist holds the exclusive license for those designs.
I have paper blueprints for a kit that I would like?
We cannot machine parts from paper prints. They need to be turned into CAD drawings, which is possible, but not inexpensive.
