clearly canoe sailing is increasingly popular
but canoes are designed to paddle - not to sail
now that I have owned and sailed a duck punt for a year I feel genuinely sorry for the canoe sailor who has to contrive leeboards and rudders
I have tested the purity of the hard chine and oar
I know what it is to gently heel the boat and feel it come up towards the wind
steering the boat with the smallest movement of a leg
I have also experienced the pleasure of fine reaching in four inches of water
and felt the bow wave lift me over a sandy spit.
I have even enjoyed paddling occasionally
so lads....
Duck punting is the best fun an old bloke can have on his back
you can build a three 6mm sheet punt using 1x2 for all the other timbers for under $150
you can assemble one in 18 hours using cascamite and self driving screws
buy an opti training rig for $150
or borrow one
by next weekend you could be a duck punter
load it onto the roof of your car
become the envy of your friends
no-one has ever kicked sand in the face of a duck punter
but don't take my word for it
believe this brilliant boat builders
http://duckpunt.wordpress.com/
believe these hard drinking East Coast sailors
http://www.duckpunt.org.uk/
believe bill
http://bills-log.blogspot.co.uk/2009/12/duck-punts.html
this boat designer
http://forum.woodenboat.com/showthread.php?140673-West-Mersea-Duck-Punt-simple-S-T-version-first-studies-and-paper-model
utterly free plans here
Here are some pdfs of the plans courtesy of the Duck Punters of West Mersea.
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/keepturningleft/WestMerseaDuckPuntSheet1.pdf
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/keepturningleft/WestMerseaDuckPuntSheet2.pdf
.
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/keepturningleft/WestMerseaDuckPuntSheet3.pdf
.
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/keepturningleft/WestMerseaDuckPuntSheet4.pdf
.
https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/keepturningleft/WestMerseaDuckPuntSheet5.pdf
yours
the Supreme Punter
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
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
Thanks Dylan I got plans from that lovely man in the Shell Bungalow.Regads Mike
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?
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!
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
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
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
But does an A3 print give you the proper scaling? One sheet says FS i.e. full size.
Hello!
Being inspired by your experience I started to build a smaller (12 feet) version of this great boat. My progress is not so fast as yours (I am in the 6th week) but I hope to be soon on water. See a pictorial story of the build here: https://www.facebook.com/gheorghe.tolan.9/media_set?set=a.982138035256577.1073741845.100003811708294&type=3&pnref=story
Hi Dylan,
Just to let you know – I have at last completed my W.M Duck Punt (though still tinkering with rigging options etc).
You may recall in the dim and distant past that you offered to lend me your punt to attempt my dream of being the first to navigate from Shefford (Bedfordshire) to Kings Lynn since the Ivel Navigation was abandoned on 13th July 1876?
Stunning vessel – almost floats out of the water.
Just wanted to say a big and sincere ‘thank you’ for promoting, and making available this amazing craft.
This is my first ever boat build, so cock-ups a’plenty. But she looks pretty cool, and paddles and sails indecently well.
You’re a star, thank you!
https://sheffordduckpunt.blogspot.com/
SL
Dylan
good to be talking again.
I’m a bit puzzled as to why all the WMD punts I see on the net, although claiming to use Opti rigs appear to be rigged wrong (compared to the Optimist instruction manual) in many, many ways.
Everyone I’ve seen sailing their WMDP do not use any sail ties at all on the foot of the sail, and I don’t see any boom or halyard preventers?
Is there a WMDP rigging guide?
The Opti rig, given that it’s designed to teach kids to sail, seems very ‘fiddly’.
Lots of people sailing WMDPs hyper successfully, so I’m beginning to realise that slavishly following the Optimist rigging guide puts me on a hiding to nothing.
Too much high priced stupidly thin bits of string (with impressively technical names).
REAL duck punters appear to use fairly ‘ornery’ rope, way on the ‘thick side’, and lots of it!!!
I’d appreciate your take on all this (strongly suspect I’m trying much too hard).
Would appreciate a reality check!
Regards
Steve Lines
Clearly, a duck punt is not an Optimist.
So where do I draw the lines rigging-wise?
yu re overthinking it
the oppy sailors race in fleets of 100 boats where one per cent of drive is a massive amount, The kids weigh 6 stone in a tiny dinghy with foils. You are a 12 stone man in a wooden box. Think tiny barge sail rather than racing oppy.
Regarding steering, how do you think these punts would go in a catamaran arrangement. Would a rudder be needed? Has anyone tried this?
Hello! So excited to start his project! I’d like to put together a duck punt that also serves as a canoe. I was wondering if it would be helpful to put in a keel strip to keep the boat steady (is it necessary, would it help down river canoeing, but maybe hinder sailing?)? also i was wondering if anyone has tips for reducing weight without overly compromising structural integrity? Thanks!
I woould keep it as it is – it paddles reallly well. As for the weight… I used light weather proof ply and pine 2×2 plus a bit of architrave here and there. It is the easiest boat to build I have ever tried.
Thank you! what length would you suggest for the boat? by 2×2 do you mean cm or inches? i’ve noticed the designs show a bit of rocker in the bow and flatish stern, is that accurate or do you want rocker on both?
hello from Brittany!
I have meant to build one of those for some time, now that I have plenty of time on my hands I was wondering how much plywood and timber would I need?
I’m just finishing a build now. I only needed to buy 2 4×8 sheets of 1/4inch exterior ply, but that’s because I had a biggish scrap from an earlier build. So I’d say 3 sheets is more than enough.
I was able to rip enough to do chine logs and gunnels from 2 1×8 lengths of clear-ish pine board. Pine is softer than most use for gunnels but I’ve use it in 3 previous lumberyard boats and as long as I give it a spit coat of epoxy, it holds up — one of my exterior ply sailboats has weathered 4 years of being stored outside, upside down, in New England winters — that’s snowy and long.
I’m using a few odds and ends I had around for frames, etc., so plan for that too. Good luck!