Thread: Iain Oughtred designed Gannet Build

I love the Gannet design, but decided it would be too much work for me at present.

I believe that Iain Oughtred has written a book, Clinker Plywood Boatbuilding Manual. I am not personally familiar with this book, but I am lead to believe that it is very good and it may have the required information in it.

Brett,

12mm MDF I would brace, as it will flex/ ,.

I have just finished a sailing canoe using E-LITE ply, 9mm,. the canoe is 3.65Mt x 1.16Mt, and weighs in below 40Kg, See pic attached.

You can also use Gaboon, but cost is going to balloon drastically,.

The 9mm E-Lite weighs in at 10.5Kg per sheet 2440x1220x9mm .

being at Noosaville I take it you will be exploring the lakes etc, and the thicker ply would be a benefit, .The Ply is available from JANDEN PLYWOOD at Brendale, cost is about $35.00 per sheet,.


Jeff
vk4

Hi Brett, welcome aboard.

The Gannet is a great boat, and you will enjoy building her. Iain's plans are excellent so you should have no problems.

There is a guy just down the road from you at Caloundra who has built the decked version. I have actually seen this boat on the water as I was there on holiday recently and had a good chat with the builder/owner when he pulled up at the beach. There is a regular get together of wooden boats at Caloundra, so go down there and take a look.

The guy I am talking about has posted in the past in the Yahoo Oughtred builders group and he has a couple of photos there, but he hasn't posted for a while now. I don't have his contact details but you might be able to get in touch with him through that group. Make sure you come straight back here to this forum though because you will get a heap of good advice! (including that from a couple of professional builders)

My thoughts would be that if you leave the boat open rather than decked you might want to think about flotation chambers, which could double as storage for fishing gear etc. 15 ft is a lot of open boat to fill with water in a possible sailing misadventure.

I don't think 9mm is overkill for a 15 footer, sounds about right actually. I am currently doing a 16 footer in 9mm. What sort of ply are you looking at? Gaboon is the way to go.

Also, 12mm MDF will be fine for moulds. You could go heavier if you wanted to but you would still need bracing so why bother. I use 12mm construction plywood for moulds.

Report back soon with photos!

Cheers, Cameron.

Hi All

Thanks for your comments.

I have a copy of Iain Oughtreds, Clinker Plywood Boatbuilding Manual, and it is an excellent source of information and techniques.

I am planning on using 9mm Joubert BS1088 Gaboon Marine Plywood. It is quite costly but considering its reputation for quality, the amount of hours that will be spent building the boat, and all the other expenses that will be involved, I am looking at it as a worthwhile investment. It is still a fraction of the cost of the other timber that will be needed for completion of the boat.

I have seen pictures of the Gannet in Caloundra and will see if I can contact the builder/owner once the project gets into full swing.

Re flotation, I totally agree and this still requires a lot of thinking. I guess I have until turnover stage to come up with a plan. I may be left with no choice but to go for the half decked option.

Regards, Brett

Brett
For your moulds visit a cabinetmaker and ask if they have any packing sheets for sale they are from memory 18mm mdf and used when melamine is delivered should be only about $5 a sheet. The gannet is a nice boat just the right size here is a video of the one built at Golden Beach to get you motivated.

https://vimeo.com/36812564



Paul

Originally Posted by hinterlandbrett

Hi All

I have had the plans of an Iain Oughtred designed Gannet sitting in our home filling cabinet for almost three years now. Best intentions and all that. Well finally it looks like I am going to have a few hours to myself each week to actually take the plans from the filling cabinet and use them for what they were intended. To build a boat!

Gannet Vital Stats: LOA 4.40m, Beam 1.73m, Rigged Weight 118kg, Sail Area 10.96sqm

So why did I decide on a Gannet? I was looking for a family boat that could be used for both fishing and sailing and the Gannet seemed to tick all the right boxes. Like other Oughtred boat fans I love the look of the Tammie Norrie but felt the Gannet was more practical for my purposes. For this reason I am planning (unless someone convinces me otherwise) to leave the boat open and not go for the half deck option. On the plans it states to build the boat in 6mm ply or 8mm ply for a really strong hull. As the boat will not have the added strength of the half deck version I am considering using 8 or 9mm marine ply. Does anyone think that this might be overkill?

After countless hours trawling the internet for other peoples build of this boat its seems that information is very limited, so I will be learning and figuring things out as I go along. For this reason I am hoping fellow forum members can point me in the right direction as I embark on this build journey. Please feel free to question and criticise anything that I do as this is what I am looking for. After all some times I even learn from my mistakes..........

Today I bought some timber for the building frame and will hopefully have this together in the next couple of days. I will post some pictures when I have the building frame together.

Lastly, I am planning on building the moulds out of 12mm MDF as it is readily available, flat, and above all I can reuse it for jigs, patterns etc. Does 12mm sound thick enough? I could always brace it if necessary.


Regards
Brett

20.07.2012
Dear Brett

I'm pleased to hear that you are about to build a Gannet. My friend Paul alerted me to your posting. I, like you, thought the Gannet was an ideal boat, not too big and not too small. After much thought I bought the plans and then tried to find other builders. To my surprise there are not many, but all those I found spoke well of their choice. (There is a question as to the validity of this advise as all builders speak well of their baby) I can't understand why so few have been built.

I have set up my boat for sail and am very happy with the result. I can sail it by myself and comfortably take an adult mate or 2 grandchildren. 3 adults would be a bit tight, but it is best with one or two. Up to 10Kn it is great solo. 10 to 20 Kn it is best with 2. Over 25 Kn it is best to stay home.
I could easily fit an outboard motor but haven't yet.
The boat is too wide to row comfortably.

I used 6mm ply which with strengthening of the laps between the 8 planks makes the boat quite rigid. I did consider 9mm ply but I'm pleased I didn't.
I used 12mm MDF for the moulds, This was sufficient 18mm would be a bit better as there would be more edge to screw into when necessary. Paul's idea of getting shipping MDF from a cabinet maker is good

I finished my boat differently to the two options in the plans. I have a small enclosed fore deck for bouyancy and dry storage with a space between the deck and the front thwart.

I'd be happy to talk to you about the process.
You'll enjoy the build. I'm not an expert. The Gannet is my first boat after building a kayak.

My email address is [email protected].
phone 07 5492 2727

best wishes

Ian

Ps This is my first post in this site . I'd include a photo if i knew how.

As the other guys have said - really nice boat to build and sail. 12mm for the molds is fine with bracing but whatever is cheap and stable will work. The 9mm ply will bend "fairly" and would be a good choice too.

The gunter rig on these small boats performs really well and you will have a lot of fun building and sailing her. Make sure that you post plenty of pictures as there is lots of good advice here.

Good luck with the build.

AD

Pictures next week.........................I hope

Thank you everyone for all of your input and suggestions.

Ian – thanks for your post. It is great to know that there is someone so close by that has both built and is sailing a Gannet. I am sure I will have many specific questions for you as the build progresses.

Well a week has flown by and I have little to show for it, that is not to say I haven't been busy. The building frame is almost complete and just needs bracing and leveling. However as I began work on this I soon realised that if I don't start sourcing some materials and glue up (epoxy) the transom and laminate the apron and stem I am soon going to be scratching my head waiting for things to arrive and then for epoxy to go off. This obviously led to a lot of decision making and sourcing.

Epoxy
I have opted for West System as this is what I have used extensively in the past and am familiar and comfortable with. I will be using 206 Slow Hardner both to give me adequate glue up time and also it will not go off to fast once the temperature and humidity start to rise in the garage.

Timber
Well as many of you will know if you have ever tried to source specific cabinet quality timber locally and you don't live in the right area this can be a nightmare. Anyway to cut a very long story short I am currently talking to Lazarides in Brisbane about what my best options would be. Initially to save on transport costs I gave them a complete cutting list (the one that came with the plans). After I picked myself up off the floor at the total price for enough sawn timber boards to be able to break down to fulfil the cutting list I decided to break the order down into stages. Anyway this is a good thing as I have since noticed that the cutting list that came with the plans quite often varies to what is on the actual plans. Also, I am hoping to be more frugal this way and only order exactly what I need and be able to use offcuts from previous stages where possible.

Timber Selection – stage one
At this time I am ordering all the timber to get me to turnover stage.

For the Stem, Transom, Keel, Gunwales, Gunwale Rubbing Strake, and Bilge Runners I have opted for select grade rough sawn Spotted Gum based on suitability, price, availability etc.

For the Apron and Keelson I am using clear grade rough sawn Hoop Pine

Plywood Selection – HELP!
Now this is where I need some guidance. Part of me is telling me to use the best quality ply I can get (definitely not the wallet part). Around the 9mm mark this is about $150 per sheet (either Hoop or Joubert). However, I have also been to a local plywood supplier and they have both BS1088 and also a Malaysian Marine Ply that is not stamped. The Malaysian marine ply looks fantastic both in face veneers and no voids along the edges. The BS1088 stuff they have looks no where near as good. Above all the Malaysian stuff is around $60 per sheet. Logic tells me that as the boat will be painted that the Malaysian stuff should be fine, however the other part of my brain is telling me I need to use BS1088 (even though the quality mightn't be as good) as if I ever need to sell the boat to make way for the next one that it is better to say it is made of BS1088 than some unidentified Malaysian marine ply. Also, there is a little bit of nervousness that the Malaysian stuff my not hold up as well. What are your thoughts?

Regards
Brett

Brett
The cost of good quality ply is worth it when you compare the cost to the overall cost of your project. Even ply marked with the British Standard can be dodgy.
Back in June last year I came across a horror story about a ply kit boat here in Brisbane it was a Core sound 17
http://messing-about.com/forums/topi...asian-plywood/

When I built my Phoenix III I used 6mm Hoop from Sharps. Whatever you use get it from a reputable supplier and it will be worth every cent.

Cheers Paul

BS1088 ply has been discussed extensively and the summary is thus:

BS1088 is a British standard, and as such, means nothing if sold outside of Britain, and furthermore doesn't need to go there to get stamped. Buying a 1088 stamped ply is a matter of assessing the individual quality of each sheet, and getting the malay marine may not be worse, and indeed may be better.

Hoop pine is heavy, compared to other ply.

Your best option is obviously the gaboon (joubert through denman marine), but that's a matter for the wallet I guess.

In my boat, I went the route of Fakestamped b***s****1088 Pacific Maple Marine Ply, but I chose individual sheets, when I needed them. I'm happy with my choice, the ply is sound, stiff, strong and all I'd want it to be, for $52 a sheet. Would I be happier with hoop ply or gaboon? Not really.

Denman now is importing Brynzeel from Holland instead of Joubert but the quality is very high. I recently got some 6mm which I think was about 150 per sheet. For some reason the sheets are 2500 long so if that suits it might be better. The freight charges from Tassie are pretty fAir too. Very well packed and easy to deal with. It is Gaboon which is lighter, apparently doesn't check as badly as hoop and bends better. I have nothing to do with Denamn except a happy customer. See if your Malaysian co will give you a sample to boil, although I'm not sure on the specs, should be able to find it on net somewhere.

Well the building frame is now complete. Just need to add a couple pieces of timber to attach the centre line. The bearers are F17 Hardwood from the Big Green Shed. I sorted through their stock and got the two straightest pieces they had. They needed very little planning and took no time at all with a combination of my grandfathers old Stanley 4 1/2 and my Veritas Bevel Up Jointer.

The frame is firmly attached to the floor and level and square.

Next step is to get some 18mm MDF to start cutting out the moulds. I will take Paul's advice and see if I can chase down some packing sheets from a cabinet maker.

And yes, that is a 3/4 finished router table in the background. It will be finished shortly............or at least when I need to use it.

Brett

Brett the other place you might pick up packing sheets is at a wood sheet supplier for cabinet makers
Andrew

Hi Brett,

Good luck with the build. I'm part way through the smaller Shearwater design, but most elements are similar. It has been an enjoyable project...slower than I expected but have learned a lot along the way. The build is being filmed (periodically) as part of a documentary we are making about Iain. Sadly the dock is probably six months away from completion so perhaps a little late for your build. I opted for the 6mm Joubert ply from Denman and it's wonderful stuff. If Andrew has changed supplier from Joubert to Bruynzeel then I'd be inclined to think the quality is equal to or better than the Joubert. Denman Marine haven't put a foot wrong in my experience. Solid timbers for our build are a mix of Australian & Western Red Cedar, Mahogany and Huon Pine.

Iain's plans are a joy to work from. Having done only Mirrors and strip kayaks previously the glued lapstrake thing takes a few more skills but there's nothing that can't be solved by referencing a few key books (Iain's Clinker Plywood Manual, Greg Rossel's Building Small Boats and John Brook's Glued Lapstrake Wooden Boats). If you aren't an expert at rolling bevels then you will be in a few short months!

Look forward to seeing a few pics as she takes shape.

Fair winds,

Andy Mac

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