C-Boot—Concept Boat Design

A simple 15-foot micro motorsailer.

- Rob Marean

My intent with this design—strictly a concept at this stage—is to squeeze maximum cruising accommodations out of a minimum-sized vessel. Although the concept is intended to be simple, there are always a thousand and one details to work out in a new design. The hull sides are just two pieces of 4' x 8' plywood ripped to 3' wide, then butt joined. You can use whatever grade ply you choose, but in my experience if you’re going to take the time and expense to build something, it’s worth using quality materials. The entire exterior hull and cabin are made up from just ten assemblies butt or edge-glued to form a modified dory hull.

Because of its several advantages, this concept may add something to the world of small-boat design, so I want to give full credit to its originator, Patrick Cotton of Lopez Island, Washington, who came up with the original idea more than 30 years ago. Patrick has designed and built a number of vessels, including a 50-foot ketch, Harmony, that he and his wife spent several years aboard while cruising the Pacific.

Since I’m not a designer, this project requires using one’s intuition or a process we might call “If it looks right, it must be right.”

I would consider using plastic (polymer composite) staples or nails The staples can be driven with plastic staple hammers or staple guns designed for plastic, but the nails require a particular air gun to drive. They break off clean, don’t rust, are reputed to have twice the holding power of metal fasteners and—big advantage—can be cut or sanded without damage to tooling. “Pike,” the figure in the model, is six feet tall to scale. (He’s a former Star Ship Commander who doesn’t know dink about yacht design or construction, so any problems you may find are all his fault. You can’t get good help these days!)