Backyard Renegade ) writes:


If you study the photos you will see that there are no scarfs or butt
joints in the side panels. Built with standard plywood panels you can
guestimate that the boat is about 7'9" long and less than 4' wide.

I agree a one sheet boat is too small for rough water. I've made two one
sheeters which I use a lot, one is a sailboat (Loonie), the other for
paddling (Delta). The sailboat has to have sponsons to carry a 25 sq ft
sail. Both will ride over boat wakes but constant bouncing around in short
sharp waves is out of the question. I take the paddle boat through swifts
and small rapids but nothing of even moderate size. Its sort of like
driving a sports car, the small size makes small rapids fun. Same with the
sailboat, the small size makes small waters with their ever changing winds
enjoyable. I've had the sailboat out in strong winds on small waters where
the wind doesn't build up waves, and sailed it down shallow twisting
creeks. (photos of these boats on my website.)

(For a maximum capacity one sheeter look for PRISM on www.google.com.
Inspired by my Delta with its Bolger ends, Prism is a rowboat, and sits
deeper in the water.)

I haven't seen anthing in the way of mathematical analysis of hulls in
rough water like the kind of rapids drift boats are made for. The
hydrostatic numbers I get from free hull design programs aren't
applicable. You need a lot of bouyancy for riding up and over standing
waves and for traversing foamy water which does not have much carrying
capacity (being a mix of water and air). If you look at canoes built for
running rapids they are voluminous, beamy with a lot of freeboard.
Paddling a white water canoe is like driving a bus compared to paddling a
regular canoe. The minimum load for a drift boat is one person which puts
a lower bound on the bouyancy the baot can have and still function in the
water its designed for. What that is I don't know but you won't get it
out of a one sheeter.

It all comes down to what kind of water you want to use the boat on. You
can "drift" down dome pretty wild rivers, or you can "drift" down some
tame canals. From what I've seen of "drift" boats they are designed for
the wilder water. If you're going to call it a "drift" boat it should
have that capability.



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