Jump to content

Mike, any thoughts on new boat designs?


Stuart Benbow

Recommended Posts

Just wondering ... Are there any thoughts at Stevenson Projects on making other boat designs, or other designs at all for that matter?

I'd love to see something in a bigger boat, but you guys come up with such great stuff that I'd like to see pretty much anything that you guys think might work for the masses.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Peter just did the first new sailboat he's designed since the Wing-Dinghy. We tested it out a little a couple of weeks ago. He's not convinced about it, but I thought it was fun. It pointed much better than we expected, and was pretty quick feeling, but very tender. It's a lot like a sailing canoe. We need to do some work to the seating position and maybe add a hiking stick or something.

I'm afraid we most likely will not do any larger boats, as our personal tastes are running to the smaller size lately. That was the reason he wanted to try a smaller boat; the Weekender has been seeming like too much boat for what we needed. After this test though, I think he's going to go back to working on getting the Weekender usable again. We were trying to make a 14' boat which we could get inside our Explorer. No trailer, no cartopping, just put it in the back. It does row well, and I think I'll keep going on the boat a bit, as it was fun. I wanted something to hand launch and be usable where people sea-kayak, but not have to paddle (I dislike paddling

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hell, I can think of all KINDS of new things for you to design:

We've already talked about a scaled down aircraft carrier that we could do R/C airplanes off of. (That's still my favorite idea) What about a Stevenson's Coffin? Laugh if you must, but have you priced a coffin lately?!? :x :roll:

What about a hovercraft? I know you guys fooled around with one and really trashed up your pool when the motor puked, but that would be a good project. With all the high-output, lightweight engines these days, it'd be do-able.

The original low-speed bouyancy-assisted wet bike type thing that you've shown pix of is also intrigueing to me. What about a plywood fax machine? A Stevenson's underground tunneling machine? Or a SUBMARINE.... An electric dog washer? A fur-lined sink. The list is virtually endless!

Maybe we need to take up a collection to fund the R&D? :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Andrew Butchart

Mike - you may want to turn your brain trust onto the problem that you mentioned. The issue doesn't seem to be that you can't have the "right" boat, but rather that you can't get it to and from where you want it conveniently.

An excellent product would be a mix between the loaders like the ones at http://www.aceboatloader.com/products.htm , http://www.goeztop.com and the one I have on my jeep. I've been dreaming of a system where I have the boat strapped to the dolly and then I can winch it, dolly and all on top of the Jeep. If it were able to handle about 175lbs of boat and be run by smaller, more delicate people I think you'd have a marketable product.

Just my 2cents Canadian.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When we were considering cartopping over the Exploder, I started thinking about using a Harken traveller car to guide one end up and over the top. It's usually more a control problem than a lift problem.

The choice to do a small boat was not just a launching consideration, but that we wanted a small sailable and rowable machine to try out again.

Mike

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

Supporting Members

Supporting Members can create Clubs, photo Galleries, don't see ads and make messing-about.com possible! Become a Supporting Member - only $12 for the next year. Pay by PayPal or credit card.




×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.