Gwen 12 with plans drawn by Iain Oughtred!

[woodeneye]

GWEN 12 WOODEN SAILING BOAT & PLANS I. OUTHRED 1964 (eBay item 320638869966 end time 15-Jan-11 15:57:24 AEDST) : Cars, Bikes, Boats


The ad says this:

Gwen 12 Sailboat 1964

Includes full set of sails jib, main and spinnacker

Just requires some TLC and it has a small bit of wood rot in stem as photo which will need to be fixed



Boat Trailer - registered til Feb 2011 (no work to be done) no inspections to be done- just pay $50 per year



Gwen 12 Boat Plans by I. Outhred (original & collectable) in excellent condition



We are listing the boat as our children are getting to big to all fit in together with us!

[Rik]

Ahh she's a pretty thing. If only my wife would let me have four boats. I might have to convince a friend to buy her so that I can still see her now and then. Thanks for that Bruce. Thanks also for the Goat Island Skiff pages. You've really built a dream boat there: quite an inspiration.

[woodeneye]

The Goat is a great boat to sail. It can take the family when you want and it has excellent performance for solo sailing too. easy to build as well!

If the weather holds, I'll be sailing it in the company of the designer today

[cmidgley]

I ended up purchasing this boat. Live in warrnambool and the road trip to South Coast NSW and back was an advernture in itself.

I grew up around Gwens in the 1970's in New Guinea and have always wanted on. So the road trip was worth it.

It is in very average condition, but resurectable. I am in the process of rebuilding the bow and removing some considerable rot. Also stripping back the deck, and will probably paint rather than revarnish - it is a bit far gone I think.

HAve three young children who can't wait to get out on it. I would be interested in talking to anyone else with a Gwen, or who has an old one wanting some TLC.

[tpb03]

Hi cmidgley,

Did you purchase the plans as well? When I was Jnr Gwens were big at St George sailing club, and I have been keeping my eye out for one in Sydney but they are rare as hens teeth. I am sure there are a few people on the forum who would consider building a Gwen 12 if the measurements or original plans were available that could be reinterpreted for building a boat using modern techniques such as epoxy coating and stitch and glue.

[cmidgley]

tpb03

No, I didn't manage to persuade them to part with the plans. I suspect there was something else to the story there, but there was no convincing them. I did try!. They seemed to think they were breaching copyright, but I also suspect they were looking to do something else with them or had committed elsewhere. If there is any advice on the copyright, I could give them another call/email and see whether they can still be persuaded. I am not informed when it comes to knowledge of copyright - just unapologetically opportunistic. Not that it got me very far! I would love to have a crack at building one too. I managed to get the Gwen at a fair price though, so that kept me happy. I know they are rare - I look each week and this is the first one I have seen in years and knew from the comments of this forum that there is still a lot of interest out there. I figured the road trip to the South Coast of NSW was the only way I was going to get it, so I just bit the bullet and told a few white lies and went. It had a flat bow, which apart from being full of rot, looked particularly ugly. I have stabilised the rot and reshaped the front to look more like a conventional Gwen from photos I have sourced. I am just about there and it is looking good. I hope to have it on the water in a month or so - no hurry as have waited this long, a bit more won't do any harm and I (along with the kids) enjoy the restoration process. I am heading off to a family reunion in the school holidays and have a few long lost relatives on the wife’s side that also have a Gwen or two hidden somewhere. I see them every three years and this will be the fourth reunion I have attended, so that gives an indication of how long I have been looking. I will try and see whether they might be interested in parting with them, but they go very vague when the 'big ask' happens, so have not pushed it too far to date.



Cheers.

[Chris 249]

If anyone's interested in building one, I have photocopies of an article my dad (first NSW Gwen 12 champ) wrote about about Gwenda construction for Seacraft magazine, many years ago. There's plenty of former G12 hands who could also give advice.

If by the tiniest of chances anyone ever finds Gwen 12 249, Radiant, I'd love to know.

[Boatmik]

Great Story!

There is no breach of copyright if the plans are passed onto someone else. There is only a possible breach if someone builds from the plans.

If you do chase it up also suggest that they might like to send the plans or a copy of them to the Australian Maritime Museum. They could ring or email the museum and speak to David Payne who would know the significance of the plans.

I would not be surprised if the Museum would pay for copies to be made and then the originals to be sent back to the owners.

Not only history of the Gwen, but history of one of the most important figures in the Wooden Boat movement.

Best wishes
Michael

[cmidgley]

Chris 249

Thanks for your response - I certainly would be interested in the article your Dad wrote. If you can email to me at [email protected] that would be really appreciated.

[cmidgley]

Thanks Michael

Your advice is greatly appreciated. I have emailed them with a pitch, so will see how it goes. Can only try. Will let you know if I get a response.

Craig

[keyhavenpotter]

I contacted the seller as well and tried to convince them that the plans should go to Iain Oughtred. They were very sceptical about my approach and did not seem to believe me that I just wanted Iain to have them. All to no avail.

Brian

[cmidgley]

No response to the email approach after a week, so am leaving it at that. I don't see any point in taking it any further. I will just have to be content with the boat.

[tpb03]

No response to the email approach after a week, so am leaving it at that. I don't see any point in taking it any further. I will just have to be content with the boat.

Thanks for the efforts cmidgley. If you ever get around to measuring up your gwen, I'd be pretty keen to get my hands on some offsets.

Some basic panel offsets and transom and bulkhead measurements would be a step in the right direction.... Maybe MIK can base his SoG on a similar hullplan?

[Boatmik]

Howdy TPB,

The SOG will be completely different from the Gwen. There have been a lot of developments in hullshape over the last (eek) 60 years - a lot of it prompted by boats like the Gwen.

Things have moved on - as they say.

Best wishes
MIK

[cmidgley]

Here she is now, for those who are interested. (hopefully the upload works!)

About to hit the water on schedule over Easter.