Posted by Mike Field. on January 31, 2003 at 09:05:09 from 203.26.98.4 user mikefield.
In Ros3s' thread on camping on Wild Cat Island, mention was made of two newly-built-but-old-fashioned dinghies, Skylark and Aileen Louisa, photos of both of which appear on Stu Wier's website "The Boats of Swallows and Amazons." Jonathan wondered if perhaps plans for building these boats were available.
Plans for Skylark most certainly are. Skylark was designed by Paul Gartside, a first-class small-boat designer in Sidney, British Columbia. She is 14' long with a 5'-8" beam, and quite like Swallow to look at. However, unlike Swallow, (but like Amazon,) she carries a centreboard. Her plans are available for purchase through Paul's website (at the link below.)
Skylark is not a boat for a beginner to build though, so if you're intent on having your own Skylark you might be well advised to contract a professional boatbuilder to build her for you.
There are several photos of Skylark at http://media5.hypernet.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=002341 including the photo shown above (from Pauls website) and the two on Stuart's website. (Sorry, but you'll have to copy and paste this address into your browser's address panel to view them.)
Aileen Louisa is a one-off. No plans exist for her, except inside the builder's head and on a couple of scraps of paper. She was designed and built by Tom Whitifield, an ex-Devonian boatwright now living in Melbourne, Australia. At 15' overall, she is a foot longer than Skylark, but she has only a 5' beam. She also has a much narrower transom, because she was designed primarily as a pulling boat, not for sail. As a sailing dinghy, Aileen Louisa is also a centreboarder, and she carries about a quarter more canvas again than Skylark.
Although the boats are quite similar, they "came to be" from opposite ends of the spectrum. Skylark was designed, and her plans drawn, before she was built. This is because Paul is a designer first and foremost, and a builder only secondly. On the other hand, Tom is a boatbuilder first, last, and always. He builds his boats the old-fashioned way, by eye. It is only after the event, and if you're fortunate, that he can be induced to make any sketches at all (and then they'll be only rough ones) of what he has built. A boatbuilder as experienced as Tom could build another boat from Tom's sketches and get it right. Anyone else would be left scratching his head from the outset.
Skylark rightly deserves to become a very popular traditional-style sailing dinghy. In due course there might well be a whole class of Skylarks, with many identical boats being built all around the world from Paul's plans. I for one would love to see that happen.
Aileen Louisa however is, and will remain, unique.