Hi folks!

I'm getting going on a project to build a sailing canoe based on the Quick Canoe design. I'm intending this to be a beater boat that I can produce quickly and cheaply, then sail until it falls apart. Cost, storage, and portability are big concerns, but durability is not. I am living in Sydney for another 20-ish months and then returning to the US; the canoe will not come with me. My wife and I own a tiny car with a roof rack. She may build an identical boat, and we want to be able to cartop both if she does. I'd love to build Beth instead, but by the time I could have her put together, it would be time to leave the country. I want to maximize my sailing time.

A few years ago I built a Goat Island Skiff, which is in storage in Wisconsin. I like Mik's focus on light weight, simple rigging, low cost, and high performance.

Here's the plan:
- Cut the back 900mm off the Quick Canoe (I originally thought about down-scaling the design, but realized I'd lose a lot of buoyancy by reducing the length of the "fat" part.)
- This will have cut off most of the aft rocker, so to keep the transom from dragging I intend to tweak the hull panels to add about 50mm of rocker toward the rear (some of this will be accomplished by altering the lines, the rest by twisting the side panels more tightly, due to the redrawn lines).
- Add an ozracer centerboard
- Add a down-scaled ozracer main mast, and a further down-scaled ozracer mast as a mizzen
- Add bulkheads (to stiffen the hull and make flotation chambers
- Add flat decks
- Add a kayak-type rudder (controlled by a tiller, though)
- Main sail: scaled ozracer balanced lug, roughly 54 sq. ft
- Mizzen: about 27 sq ft, probably a sprit sail, maybe a lug.
- Construction methods: epoxy fillets for hull and bulkheads, minimal framing
- Fit and finish: workboat. Latex paint without epoxy encapsulation.

I'll keep you all informed of my progress. Goal this weekend is to acquire tools, prepare a workspace, and use cardboard models to settle on a hull shape. I am considering just removing the aft 900mm without otherwise altering the shape - we'll see. If you squint hard enough, this project looks similar to a RAID. Chime in if you have any special insights, or just to sound off.

-W