Product Description
The Skerry combines excellent rowing and sailing qualities. The perfect boat for sheltered water: sailing when the wind blows and rowing when it does not.
This Skerry is a beautiful boat... There is not an ugly line on this boat. The sheer is beautiful and accented by the lines of the chines. The chines add interest and eye candy to an already appealing boat.
Sailing, June 2003
The hull is stable and buoyant, whether you're running in choppy water or lifting over motorboat wakes. The flaring sides make the Skerry stable and dry under sail.
With a long, easy glide and excellent tracking a cruise under oars alone can be contemplated, averaging 3.5 knots for hours at a time. Two rowing positions permit the Skerry to be rowed with one, two, or three adults on board.
It's an ideal first boatbuilding project and a good boat in which to learn to sail or row. The Skerry will take you for a relaxing afternoon sail or it has the capacity and performance to go ‘beachcruising’ – sailing or rowing by day and pulling up on a secluded beach each evening to camp. The Skerry's feather-light weight and shallow draft mean that you can poke into quiet waters, pull the boat over a sandbar, and explore that hidden cove.
Although designed to be rowed or sailed, the Skerry can also be powered by an outboard motor. A motor mount will be needed because the boat has no transom.
The Skerry is designed in a clinker style which produces a beautiful boat that achieves maximum strength with a minimum of weight, using CLC's patented LapStitch™ technique.
The sides are 6mm Okoume, while the bottom is 9mm, sheathed with glass fabric for those hard beach landings – the rudder kicks up easily for landings. The interior includes 9mm Okoume frames and sealed air tanks at the bow and stern for integral buoyancy – as with most of our boats, there is no need for buoyancy bags.
On our forum you can read a detailed build log of the Skerry, with lots of photos of the process.
We recommend 2.4 m (8 ft) oars for this boat.
The rowing hull kit includes:
- Pre-cut wooden panels with pre-cut joints
- Pre-cut solid wood components with pre-cut joints
- Epoxy resin and activator
- Epoxy fillers
- Copper ties
- Woven glass fabric
- Woven glass tape
- A pair of silicon bronze rowlocks and sockets
- Daggerboard case, built-in for future sailing upgrade
- Comprehensive building manual and plans
- Free technical support from a competent builder
Note that, if you intend to use the second rowing position, you will need an additional pair of bronze side sockets.
Wood only
This option contains only the pre-cut plywood and solid wood components plus the necessary plans and building manual.
Broken inwales option
Broken inwales add elegance to any boat by mimicking the ends of the ribs in traditional frame-built boats. This option includes everything you need to install broken inwales in the Skerry:
- Pre-cut breasthooks
- Rowlock riser blocks
- Inwales
- Spacer block material
Some trimming and fitting will be necessary. Broken inwales take longer to install because each block has to be carefully positioned and glued in place. Sanding and varnishing are also made more complex. We recommend reading the installation instructions before deciding to install broken inwales.
Plans and manual
This describes all of the techniques used during the building and also a step by step guide to construction. Scale drawings are used throughout as well as photographs of critical jobs.
This contains the plans of the panels with the cutting instructions so it is possible to build the boat from scratch using these plans and manual.
Study manual
This is intended for pre-build study or to help with the decision to purchase. Reading this manual will help you decide whether or not you can build the boat. It is the manual that accompanies the kits. It describes all of the techniques that will be used during the building and also a step by step guide to construction. Scale drawings are used throughout as well as photographs of critical jobs.
If, later, you decide to purchase the kit the cost of this printed manual will be deducted from the kit price.
This manual does not contain the plans of the panels with the cutting instructions so it is not possible to build the boat from scratch using only this manual.
PDF study manual
The construction manual for the boat is also available as a PDF download. After credit card authorisation a download link will be sent to the email address put on the order form.
PDF study plans
These study plans are intended to give you an overview of the construction of the boat. They are in PDF format that can be viewed using Adobe Reader. There are two pages and they measure 279 × 216 mm (11″ × 8½″). They can be printed for carrying around.
After credit card authorisation the plans will be sent to the email address put on the order form.
When you have studied the plans, your next step might be to order the printed instruction manual, which will walk you through the project step-by-step.
Sailing upgrades
A sailing upgrade can be retrospectively fitted and it turns the Skerry hull into an able sailing boat. There is a sprit rig sailing upgrade and an alternative lug rig. Either sailing rig can be added to the boat at any time, even years after the rowing version is complete. Both rigs are easy to set up and handle and stow inside the hull when not in use. Please note that the base kit (or a completed hull) is needed in addition to the sailing upgrade.
The sprit rig is powerful for its size and windward performance is excellent. The boom is out of the way of the crew and the boat can be rowed with the sail up. This is such an important and practical feature for small boat handling that it's bizarre not to find it in more smallcraft.
The balanced lug rig is very nicely matched to the weight, balance and style of the Skerry. Balanced lug sails offer self-vanging geometry for offwind performance.
The sailing upgrades include:
- Sprit sail or lug sail
- Wooden mast blank
- Wooden boom blank
- Wooden sprit (sprit rig) or yard (lug rig) blank
- Mast step
- Daggerboard blank
- Rudder blank
- Tiller blank
- Blocks and cleats
The sailing upgrades do not include the warp – it is in the rope packages.
Sailing rope packages
The rope packages contain the warp. The sprit rig rope package includes sail lacing, main sheet, downhaul and snotter. The lug rig rope package includes sail lacing, main sheet and halyard.