Outer Banks 20 - preliminary questions

[Slats]

Hello

I'm new to the forum and I am very keen on the Outer Banks 20.

I have a few of questions that I hope don't sound silly!

 

The Outer Banks 20 boat shown on the B&B Yacht webpage called the "Princess" is simply stunning.  I was wondering how many hours was put into this boats construction?

I do realise boat building time is a bit like the "how long is a piece of string", but an idea as to the labour involved would be good, as if I proceed I'll be going the costly way of putting this in the hands of a professional.  A rough idea of building time will let me do some basic math on the labour.

I have already one estimate of time back, I'd be happy for others to jump in with their experience.

 

Next was wondering about the height of the boat on a trailer?  I have some storage height issues to tackle. hence the question.

 

Next - not overly crucial but related to my storage issue, is there any issue with the boats performance if the boat was scaled down by around 10%?

 

 

Many thanks

 

John

 

John Slater

Sydney, Australia

 

 

[Chick Ludwig]

Hello Slats,

I built Princess over a period of about a year. A rough estimate of the time actually spent building is about 700 hours. I have previously built several other boats including the prototype of the Princess Sharpie 22, so I am faster than someone of less experience, but slower than a commercial shop. I'm sure that Graham can help you out with this. He could probably provide the cutting cutting program to a commercial builder that would save a lot of time laying out panels. The OB 20 was also a prototype, and the plans I used were very basic, so I had to work a lot out for myself. Because of the "Carolina flair" in the hull, she cant be built in flat panels and then folded and stitched into place like B ans B's other boats. The forward hull sides and bottom are double-diagonally planked and this adds time to the build. 

 

I no longer own her, so can't measure height on the trailer---of course this also depends on how she is set-up on the trailer. As far as deducing size by 10%, you would have to talk to Graham about that, but it would require a total redraw of all of the parts, unless you just "cut-off" the back end. I don't think a 10% size reduction would be the answer to your storage problem.

 

I'm sure you would be happy with the OB 20's performance if you can solve your storage issue. I think I would look into a pre-fab extra tall carport with partial side to solve this. They are readily available here for under $1000, and I would assume they are there also. Something like this: http://www.carport.com/

[Slats]

Hi Chick

thanks for the reply.

 

It looks  like I have a couple of builders interested here.  I have sent off an e-mail to Carla re height on trailer.  Its not a simple matter unfortunately of a new pre fab carport.  I already have a carport and its a fixed part of the house and no where else to keep her other than this carport.

 

I guess what I'm asking is can this be built as an Outer Banks 18?  The slightly reduced size - 10% less will make life a lot easier to deal with storage logistics and be a little easier and lighter to tow.  Down here we have state restrictions on the beam of boats and trailers and as she is now she'd be a fair bit wider than my car, and on the limit of what's legal.

I have posed the 10% size reduction to Carla, for Graham.  I am wondering if the plans can come scaled down too. I am thinking if everything is 10% smaller it should still retains the proportional shapes right through the boat. I know other boat plan makers say consistent slight scaling of no more than +/- 10% is ok, but I guess its a question for Graham.

 

Thanks

 

John

[Oyster]

I am not sure how much downsizing the boat will take, especially in the beam of the boat. You can however shorten the cabin a bit by just doing a small trunk, which is done in many boats. But of course you also loose the interior goodies. The Ningret comes to mind.

[Designer]

John,

 

I have spent the last week on the OB20 Princess. I snapped it up when Chick offered her to me.

 

I agree with Oyster, you would not want to scale her down proportionally. You can't scale people down and it is the height that is your main concern. I am not tall and I feel that the inside heights are about as low as I would want them. The beam is well under Australia's limit.

 

The overall height from the bottom or the keel to the top of the pilot house is 2.01 meters or 6' 7 1/8". You can check your available trailer heights for the overall height.