| Excelsior A 21' Cruising Canoe By William Atkin |
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| An Inexpensive Cruising Canoe | |
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| Excelsior is a flat bottom canoe, and a big one. She is 21 feet in length; 20 feet 11 inches on the water line; 5 feet 4 inches in breadth and draws 6 inches without the center board. Her freeboard forward is 1 foot 9 inches; aft it is 1 foot 6 inches; and at the lowest place 1 foot 4 inches. So you can see she is roomy. | |
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| Undoubtedly a knockabout rig would make a faster boat; but not one half as handy as the sail plan shown; which, by the way, is that of a pirogue. If it blows very hard proceed under the mizzen alone; and by reefing there are various area combinations for maintaining balance. The two masted rig is low and especially to be desired when the boat is at anchor. | |
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The arrangement shows two cockpits; one for the steersman; the other for crew. The forward cockpit is long enough and wide enough to sleep in, and with the tent pitched, a simple one-burner stove, a few dishes, and a pot or two what more is desired? It would be lots of fun camping-cruising with this unique little ship. Excelsior. There is a low spray hood with which to cover the forward cockpit while sailing. With this laced close to the coaming very little water can get aboard. Rather than a tiller the boat is steered with tiller-lines leading completely around the outside of the cockpit. This is a satisfactory and comfortable method of handling a boat of this size. | |
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| Excelsior is flat bottomed not only because this form is the cheapest and easiest to build, but because, if properly treated, this model makes an excellent boat. One must remember that a sailing boat does not sit upright, and it is evident that the corner of the sharp chine is a beautiful cutting edge. The topsides have flare, and this coupled with the lap strake planking will make Excelsior dry and easy in a chop. | |
 PHOTOS OF EXCELSIOR 
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| Plans for Excelsior are $100 MYSTIC SEAPORT MUSEUM SHIPS PLANS STORE https://store.mysticseaport.org/ships-plans/ shipsplanstore@mysticseaport.org
+1 (860) 572 5360 | |
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