build a duck punt – the best fun an old man can have lying down

14 Responses to “build a duck punt – the best fun an old man can have lying down”

1. Reply
   5 February, 2013 at 6:59 pmRusty Knorr says:

   Well, I got a pic in at least! My punt is done and I have had it on the water twice so far. Brilliant little boats! Build one folks, you won’t be sorry!!! -Rusty
   Builders blog (with crappy video) at http://www.ridingonadonkey.blogspot.com

2. Reply
   20 March, 2013 at 4:15 pmmichael greenwood says:

   can anyone sell me decent sized plans of the Mersey duck punt . have tried printing them off the screen but they are illegible. help will be very welcome as I am stuck. will reply with address and phone number

   • Reply
     20 March, 2013 at 4:23 pmdylan winter says:

     if you download the pdfs and take them into your local print shop they will run off A3 versions for you at a very low price

     • Reply
       14 June, 2016 at 5:44 pmKelvin Sykes says:

       But does an A3 print give you the proper scaling? One sheet says FS i.e. full size.

3. Reply
   2 September, 2013 at 4:44 pmmike greenwood says:

   Thanks Dylan I got plans from that lovely man in the Shell Bungalow.Regads Mike

4. Reply
   17 February, 2016 at 12:51 pmMarc Fovargue-Davies says:

   It’s finally dawned on me that I too, need to build a Duck Punt; be fore I do that though, I’d like to find out a bit more about them – and there seem to be few, if any, sources of information about the various boats from the past. Aside from estuaries on the east coast, I have in mind using mine to explore some of the fenland rivers around where I live, so ideally the boat I end up with would need to row or paddle reasonably well too. Any thoughts?

   • Reply
     17 February, 2016 at 1:49 pmdylan winter says:

     It does both brilliantly

     in west mersea they paddle two up in races

     

     

     However, I discovered that by turning the boat around- sitting on the mast step she paddles beautifully with the kayak paddle

     the fastest build was 18 hours

     v happy to help with info in anyway that I can

     they are bloody brilliant little boats

     D

5. Reply
   18 February, 2016 at 11:13 amMarc says:

   Well, that’s certainly one issue resolved; the rivers here range from narrow to absurdly narrow – which really means that rowing, paddling or poling is literally the only way forward – especially with a foul wind (not just that supplied by the dog…). The sprit rig might well help deal with the various low bridges round here, too.

   It won’t be all fen rivers though, as I’d like to explore some of my old haunts on the Deben, Orwell and Stour again. The Milgate shape looks a bit simpler at first glance than some of the Lucas boats I’ve seen in the past. Not only did they appear to have a bit of hollow in the bow, but they also had a bit of a curve in the bottom athwart ships – as well as a bit of rocker; I think I recall being told that this was to stop the hull sticking, when being slid over mud. There also seems to be some debate on the subject of de King and buoyancy tanks.

   Then of course, there’s the question of steering with a hick; aside from whether or not a thole pin is necessary, I’ve seen punts being raced at Stour SC – and have often wondered about how on earth you can sit out – and still reach the hick to leeward…? The boats appeared not to be crewed by gibbons, but it was blowing quite hard, and my International Canoe was getting distinctly frisky, so I never got the chance to look too closely!

   • Reply
     18 February, 2016 at 11:29 amdylan winter says:

     If you look at the films from west mersea punters they sail in really strong winds

     14 stone in the bottom of a 3 foot wide flat bottom boat and an optimist rig

     uber ballast

     because the mast is unstayed you can feather the sail right off the wind

     so just let the mainsheet go and all drive drops out of the sail

     it really is the most wonderful

     boat to sail

     my advice is to build it as light as you can

     4mm ply and 2 x 1

     exterior grade ply is fine

     D

     PS – duck punts can handle any amount of wind but they do need flat water – they slam like a shed door in any sort of chop

6. Reply
   19 May, 2016 at 2:23 pmJeff Haggerty says:

   Just got wind of these Punts. looks so much fun, as I have had knee probs and now back issues from dinghy sailing, I took to sailing an Illusion great boat and great racing but moving such a heavy boat has played havoc with my back. A W M Punt looks like I could cope with ashore and on the water movement. Is it about time that a Class association was formed, and organised some racing, that would really make me build one. Incidentally my Illusion is now up for sale and its called ‘Dylan.
   Keep up the good work
   JH

7. Reply
   5 June, 2016 at 11:51 amMarc Fovargue-Davies says:

   By the way, I forgot to mention that I’m a fairly regular contributor to Water Craft, Classic Sailor and so on – and have received a commission to put something together on the Duck Punt for a US title; do you fancy getting involved with that?

   Cheers,

   Marc

   • Reply
     5 June, 2016 at 9:22 pmdylan winter says:

     v happy to chip in – feel free to lift any images from ktl or any words -v happy to knock out 400 on what I think of the little beauties

8. Reply
   6 June, 2016 at 9:29 pmMarc Fovargue-Davies says:

   That’s great – do you have a direct email address, so that I can give you a bit more background about what they want for the magazine? It would also be really good if we could organise a photo shoot.

   Cheers,

   Marc

   • Reply
     7 June, 2016 at 11:22 amdylan winter says:

     [email protected]