Hout Bay and the St Ayles Skiff

The first meeting, which was  open to the general public, was held in the HBYC last night, such was the interest that I think some sixty people turned up to see the promo on the design.

Paul the HBYC Commodore opened the meeting and explained why he was giving his full support t a rowing boat class in the club.

There was a lot of interest in the production that was put up on the big screen, build and launch pictures, racing too.

The club has allocated the  ground floor area of the club to members who want to build their own boats.

The basic costing are now known please contact myself or the HBYC for more information.

Roy

The St Ayles skiff to be produced in South Africa

Plans are well under way to produce both kit sets and completed boats here in Cape Town, South Africa.

We are working with the HBYC in Hout Bay to start the class and use the boats here in our local bay.

Kits will sell starting at R40,000, which is about U$3100, or Pounds 2350, we can ship country or Worldwide.

Please contact me for further information.

Roy.

Cape Henry 21 for sale

This Cape Henry 21 was built in 2012 by a local boat builder to a high standard  and from one of our CNC kit sets, it is now for sale.

The boat has bilge keels so can move and park in shallow water, the boat sails really well with those keels which has now become a standard option.

The boat has full safety gear for local waters, a VHF and a Chart plotter, also a 15hp inboard diesel engine which will give the boat many options when motoring.

The boat is in Cape Town, South Africa and could be shipped Worldwide.

The price is R425,000 or U$35,166 .

Contact me for more details,

Roy

Viola 14 car topper

Designed to be light and fast!

The idea of the Viola 14 is to mesh an easy to transport canoe planform with the stability and planing speed of a racing dinghy hullshape

It is meant to appeal to dinghy sailors that are tired of lugging big heavy boats around and find the RS Aero just too expensive. It has three rigs for sailors of different weights and genders. We make the sails at very reasonable prices.

The boat has participated in the Dorestad RAID in the Netherlands where it proved to be one of the fastest boats and surprisingly for a virtually open canoe it was able to keep going when the bigger boats were not and decided to pull into shore.

It is 75lbs stitch and glue and comes from four sheets of 4mm ply. Quite a lot of filleting is used so the timber list is much smaller than many similar boats.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuZ62Sz1i1o

Contact me for prices .

Roy

Cape Cutter 19 kit news

We have the good news that we can start offering the Dix Design Cape Cutter 19 kit once more.

CKD Boats cc were the first company to CNC produce this design.

The  picture above  shows boat number one being built in Cape Town, South Africa.

This Cape Cutter 19 was built from one of our plywood boat kits, we also supplied the mast and spars, plus the CNC shaped steel drop keel.

Contact me for pricing, we have recent prices showing the plans fee, the plywoods options which offer a range of prices to suit your pocket.

Shipping Worldwide is an option.

Roy

Hitia 17 materials kit

James Wharrams Hitia 17 catamaran has a materials list which we were asked to supply, the kit includes the plywoods, meranti and white ash wood, epoxy , glass cloth and the various application tools, such as brushes and rollers for the epoxy application.

We have supplied Joubert okoume marine plywood which is made in France, the pine ply we see in the picture is 12mm thick top and bottom and as a packer only.

Pictures from the James Wharram web site.

Couriers will collect the kit today and transport it to the buyer in Johannesburg 1000 miles away, we can ship similar kits Worldwide.

Roy

Export Optimist dinghy kit sets

We have exported great many plywood boat kits, the Optimist is a popular choice.

That kit was developed when the Knysna Yacht Club on the South African East coast placed and order for five Optimist kits, they later extended the order to eight kits.

This Optimist kit set includes the North sail and a Harken deck package, also the meranti wood and a builders jig which can be used a number of times should you want to build more the the one kit.

The white envelope contains the fourteen page building instructions, we developed the kit and the plans at the same time, so we know the plans are correct, also supplied are the four pages of measuring sizes so that you can check your build as you assemble.

A North sail is an option that is often chosen, you can have spinnaker cloth in colours added if you want.

This kit will be shipped to Texas, USA, we arrange the shipping for the customer.

Contact me for more information.

Optimist dinghy kit packing

This one is shipping this week and to Huston port, USA, the customer will then collect himself and take it by road to his home which is a town South East of Dallas, Texas.

My job this morning is to create a packing grate that the parts and extras will fit into, the crate is then steel banded for extra security.

In the picture is the builders jig, templates, spacers, meranti wood, mast block, North sail and a Harken deck pack, missing is the CNC cut plys to the bottom of the boat, the sides and front and back of the boat.

Also included is a fourteen page builders guide and the class measurement sheets.

Roy

The Navigator by John Welsford

We can supply you a marine plywood bulkhead, set plus the dagger board casing and the bottom of the boat.

Our kit is tested and we have a boat sailing from our work.

We can sell you the plans also.

The plywood is imported and from France.

This kit will soon be packed and shipped to Australia.

Contact me for more details and pricing.

Roy

Argie 15 as a kit boat

This is one of our more popular large sized dinghy, a similar size to say a Mirror but less complicated to build and has none of the class rules that come with the mirror.

As we can see the Argie 15 has great size and stability.

This is a good project for a camper sailer too.

Roy

The Hout Bay Yacht Club

They built the new club close to the beach, what remains of the original club is under the sand behind the car.

A Roy McBride image.

The car is a 1967 Singer Chamois ( Hillman Imp based) with a sport engine conversion.

What happened to the HBYC? well we had one of the best beach sailing clubs in the cape, then the CSIR came and proposed that some tuffts of sea grass could be planted on the beach to try and have the area become more natural.

The HBYC were asked to give their permission which they did, that turned out to be one very big mistake and bit by bit the sand dunes grew, so much so that the once perfect sea views from the clubs ground floor vanished.

Sorry end to a once fine beach sailing club.

July 2012

HBYC still exists, as we moved to a site inside the harbour!

Roy

Sport fishing boat from Dix Design

This one is for Kevin Agee, who also commissioned and built the prototype of the Inlet Runner 16 garvey powerboat. The previous design was for inshore fishing to catch bait for more serious business on his bigger boat out on the bay. He recently sold that bigger boat and commissioned me to draw the replacement, a 26ft centre-console sportfisherman with Carolina-style hull, with heavily-flared bow and break in the sheer.

More will be added on this new design and as it progresses from the drawing board and into the actual build.

The design is for inshore and offshore use in conditions where steep wind against tides may be found.

This is a fisherman's fishing boat but it does give a nod to the ladies. Michelle (Kevin's wife and my daughter) specified that his next boat must have a toilet. So this boat has a small cabin under the covered foredeck, with toilet and seats for two people to shelter from bad weather if needed.


Words are by Dudley Dix the designer.

Roy

Cape Henry 21 kit build

Found on the SA Yacht Blog.

The rig is a gaff with two headsails, both on roller-furlers, to be flown either/or - it is not actually a cutter rig - but offers great flexibility and offers a very traditional appearance.

How do they sail?

In nearly all conditions, astonishingly well. In light airs they fly like dinghies. In moderate winds they handle well, and in strong winds they manage much better than you'd expect.Lots of this is due to the very flexible sail plan, and the generous beam. 

While sailing a very large cat recently in Table bay, a CH21 crept up on us from a few miles behind. At first we couldn't see what it was, with many comments about how an old boat with a gaff rig could be moving that fast. Well in fact an old boat with a gaff rig simply can't go that fast - I then realised it must be a new boat and likely the new CH21 launched in Cape Town recently.  Well it was - I snapped a pic of it near Sunset Beach. This particular one was built by Peter Randle, and has bilge-keels. It was doing a steady 6 knots in about 10 knots of wind on the beam, and slowly it slipped past us!

My thanks to Justin Philips for the words and his picture.

http://sayachts.blogspot.co.za/2013/05/cape-cutter-19-cape-henry-21.html

You can read justins full story at the link above.

This Cape Cutter was built using one of our plywood kits.

Roy

Sails by North Sails in Cape Town

We have long had an agreement to sell North Sails with our boat kits, from a small dinghy to a large yacht.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

This is an Optimist sail, one that we shipped with an Optimist kit to Zurich in Switzerland.

The buyer has the option to buy the North Sail with the boat kit order, or at a later stage when the boat has been built if that suits better.

Roy

Packing and shipping our kit orders

We have shipped World wide, it is to some thirty four countries now.

The orders are processed then either packed between two sheets of packing plywood and steel band strapped for full security or we make a crate and pack the order in that, still with the steel band straps of course.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

This is a multi kit order and to Zurich in Switzerland, in the order was an Argie 15 and two Optimists.

With these kits we also supplied the North Sails and Harken deck equipment plus selected meranti wood cut and machined to size.

Okoume marine plywood CNC shaped to size, the kit is for one of the Optimists.

An Optimist panel before loading.

 Each Optimist kit we sell is sold with a fourteen page printed  A4 sized builders guide, with pictures, plus the class measurement forms.

Another Optimist being packed, check the solid sides to the crate we shipped in.

Roy