Captain Cook Dinghy.

 

About ten years ago, Gary Underwood designed and built himself a replica of one of Captain Cook's deck boats, as a life boat for his yacht. I really loved the look of it and decided it would make a great father and sons project. So the boys and I built Hornblower over the winter of 2006. She is 3.2m long (plus 800mm bowsprit) by 1.6m wide. Built of 4mm strip ply then glassed both sides. The plan is to keep her on the foredeck of our yacht. She will fit, but I'm having second thoughts as to the logistics/ practicalities of it all. I have a John Wellsford 'Sherpa' as a backup, just in case.

 Hornblower has no centerboard. Just her long keel and two small bilge keels keep her tracking along nicely. She will happily self-steer with the main-sheet tied to the tiller.

 I am able to fill under the floor with 70 ltrs of water to give me more ballast if needed. But she is a very stiff boat and the only capsize has been intentional with me standing on the gunwale!

Yes, the outboard on the back is ugly!