David Edmiston, amateur builder of the Didi 120 “Passion XI”, is getting as much of the work done as he can while the hull is upside-down. Each time that I have turned the hull of one of my own big boat build projects it has rained the next day, turning my hull into a paddling pool. That possibility encourages a builder who doesn’t have a workshop large enough to house the new build to do much work that might otherwise have been left for when the boat was upright. I once visited a builder of a Didi 34, with the hull still inverted. He had the interior almost fully complete, including all paint ..read more

 JJ Provoyeur and Richard Bertie, with a team of artisans, built the DH550 "Friends Forever" on a golf estate in Devon Valley, near Cape Town South Africa. She travelled on a boat transporter along 30 miles of country roads and highways to her launch at Royal Cape Yacht Club into Cape Town Docks. Richard "Thirsty" Bertie with "Friends Forever" as she nears completion. Loaded and ready for the road. A very wide load. Under the gantry crane at Royal cape Yacht Club. After launch parties and sea trials on Table Bay, "Friends Forever" went cruising, with JJ and fr ..read more

This is the 4th of a series of posts that follow David Edmiston's build of the prototype of the Didi 120. To follow the series, start with "Didi 120, Bringing the Didi 38 into 2022", then follow through chronologically. This post shows preparation for and fitting the hull skin. This changes the skeletal framework into what looks like a boat. Photo numbering continues sequentially from post to post. Photo 22. This view of the bottom structure of the hull shows the keel support grid, comprising backbone and keel floors. All have to be shaped by means of planes and belt sanders to form ..read more

 I designed the Explorer 18 for Sentinel Boats in Cape Town, South Africa, for series production in fibreglass, from moulds. The plug from which the moulds were made was built from plywood and until now that is the only plywood one that exists. All of the drawings were for the GRP construction method. I have now detailed this design for building from plywood, with build methods suitable for amateur builders. It is fairly standard lapstrake plywood detailing with fibreglass tape to reinforce the longitudinal joints between panels. This boat is a very capable family day-sailer, able to car ..read more

This is the 3rd of a series of posts that follow David Edmiston's build of the prototype of the Didi 120. To follow the series, start with "Didi 120, Bringing the Didi 38 into 2022", then follow through chronologically. This post shows building the grid structure that supports the ballast keel and distributes the large loads that result from sailing in wild conditions and, if navigation is not as good as it should be, hitting the bottom. Photo numbering continues sequentially from post to post. Photo 12. The ballast keel loads are carried by laminated timber floors, which are beams that cross ..read more

The previous post, "Didi 120, Bringing the Didi 38 into 2022", described the development of the Didi 120 design from its predecessors in this design series, the Didi 38 and Didi 40cr. “Passion XI” is the working name of the prototype of the new design and is being built by amateur builder David Edmiston alongside his house in the suburbs of Sydney. We are going to follow his project, from the start through to completion, In a series of articles or photo essays. Thanks to David for providing the hi-res photos. Although very modern in concept, this design uses a fairly traditional longitudi ..read more

The Australian magazine Australasian Amateur Boatbuilder & Kitboats (AABB) was running a series of articles about the construction of the Didi 120 prototype, by amateur builder David Edmiston. The magazine published its final issue a few months ago, with David's boat half-built. This is the first of a series of posts that will duplicate the articles that were published by AABB and then will follow the rest of the build through to launch. This one describes the development of the Didi 120 from the Didi 38, on which all of our radius chine plywood designs are based. These articles show the b ..read more

 In years gone by a few metal boats built to our designs have cruised in high latitudes, including the Arctic, Antarctic and Patagonia. Visits to those areas have been on the Dix 38 Pilot, Dix 43 Pilot and Vickers 45AC. The most recent was the Dix 38 Pilot "Spailpin", that visited Antarctica two years running, in 2018 and 2019. Read about her voyages. There is another steel Dix 38 Pilot cruising Patagonia and sending me beautiful photos from their sailing. This one was built in Wales in 2007, bought by the current owners and renamed "Madogwy" (meaning Freedom Lover). N ..read more

 I drew Fast Eddy in 2017 for Seaforth Expeditions in Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada. Her purpose is adventure cruising in the desolate wilderness waters of Eastern British Columbia. These waters are mostly sheltered by the many islands but can be wild and treacherous, with strong tides and unchartered rocks. They are also known for the massive logs that litter the shores, having escaped from the logging companies. Those that have not yet found a beach are a danger to boaters, particularly when they are nearly waterlogged and floating vertical, with only a few inches of one end above t ..read more

 Our Cape range of lapstrake cruiser designs started with the Cape Cutter 19 about 20 years ago. Commissions came in periodically, always pushing upward from what we had before. They grew to the Cape Henry 21, Cape May 25, Cape Charles 32 and now the Cape Deseada 36TC. So, why is this one titled a "TC" and not the others? This one has a trunk cabin deck configuration, whereas all of the others have a raised sheer and flush deck. It was commissioned by two amateur builders on different continents but both wanting similar features in a bigger boat than we could offer with the Cape Charles 3 ..read more