| Heron A 17' Tunnel-Stern V-Bottom Seabright Skiff By William Atkin |
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| A Shallow Draft Runabout | |
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| For nearly 15 years I have been playing with the idea of a boat that would be fast and at the same time of a model that would be reasonably easy to build and of extremely shallow draft, and this little all purpose boat, Heron, is the latest of the fleet that has set sail from the drawing board of my office, the Mizzen Top. Heron has, under the water, many of the excellent features of the sea skiffs made famous by the fisher folk of the New Jersey beach, while above the water line she has the form of the modern V bottom runabout. There is nothing experimental about the design or the construction and I can unhesitatingly assure any of our readers that if Heron is built as the plans indicate she will be a fast, useful, and seaworthy craft, and one that can negotiate not only shallow and quiet waterways, but the roughness of open water as well. | |
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In over all length Heron is just 17 feet; the stern sets plumb; the bow having a rake of 5 inches; thus the water line length is 16 feet 7 inches. The breadth is 5 feet 5 inches at the deck, and the draft only 6 inches. Under way the stern will suck down; but despite this our newest member of the family will rush along at a maximum speed of 17 real miles an hour provided there is at least 11 inches of water; going slowly she will slide over slightly more than 6 inches. Forward of station 6 the form of the boat is conventional; however, as the stern is approached the form is after the manner of the old fashioned Seabright sea skiff, excepting that the sections are straight and the bottom has a wide V shaped tunnel increasing in depth as it approaches the stern. The deadwood is of the box type and open right up to the inside of the planking on the stern post. The result of this form is that the propeller, while only partly submerged while the craft is at rest, is immediately fed with a large volume of water as the boat gathers way. | |
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| For a speed of 17 miles an hour install a motor weighing not over 375 pounds and developing at least 25 h.p., turning at approximately 2,500 r.p.m. Thirty horse power is the maximum that should be installed. You will find that Heron will travel at a comfortable angle if powered as outlined above. | |
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| Plans for Heron 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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