Ever since publication of the plans of the dory, Jake, in MoToR BoatinG for October, 1939, I have had letters, and still more letters, about dories of all shades and kinds. These boats have the salt of the sea battened in their seams, and the romance of salt water off the banks where men have fished these many years. Dories have sailed the Atlantic, gone into the Arctic, dried out in the tropics, and have been built for every kind of service imaginable. Not, Shipmates, only on salt water; but on the lakes, the rivers, of this great country of ours. The model is excellent for installation of power, especially of modest output. The straight flat bottom, even though narrow, gives good bearing aft and prevents the stern from sucking down badly. The form is easy to build, being straight sided and flat bottomed. The topside flare, high bow and stern, and lightness of the hull contribute to weatherliness and really create a very good form for comfort and safety.
Big Jake will have all of the good features of the older design with easier lines and consequently better speed with very modest power. The length over all of this new design is 20 feet 6 inches; length on the water line, 18 feet 6 inches; breadth, 5 feet 3 inches; and draft 1 foot 2 inches. The freeboard at the bow is 2 feet 2 1/2 inches; least freeboard, 1 foot 5 inches; and freeboard at the stern, 1 foot 9 inches. There is comfortable seating room for a party of four. I might add that for day sailing, and fishing, Big Jake will be hard to beat. The boat is laid out with cockpit amidships. An athwarthship seat with side seats makes a cozy place to sit. The boat steers with tiller lines running from tiller through blocks on the deck, thence around the inside of the cockpit where they can be reached from any place in the boat. There will be no objection to adding a conventional steering wheel if this is desired; placing this either side on the coamings, or amidships forward. The motor will be installed under the after deck, access to which is found through flush hinged hatches similar to those found on the usual runabout.
The motor should be of very modest power. The plans show a single cylinder Lauson motor rated at 5 to 5 1/2 h.p. at high revolutions, bore 3 inches, stroke 3 1/2 inches. The boat will have a speed of 9 1/2 to 10 miles an hour with motor turning between 1700 and 1800 r.p.m.
