Pathfinder is one of those jobs that took absolutely years. I drew her when I'd been sailing various Navigators for a while, then had enjoyed a year in Houdini. The Navigator had been a beach cruiser, sleeping ashore in a tent and enjoying the speed and range of the little yawl, Houdini with her shorter waterline length is a bit slower but her internal layout made her a good boat to sleep aboard. Covered over with a Polytarp tent that took all of two hours to make she was comfortable and plenty roomy for one or two people and sleeping aboard made some anchorages much easier to stay in.

I wanted to bring the two features together in a really serious cruising dinghy. I needed Navigators speed and the split rig that had proven so seaworthy and versatile combined with Houdini's accommodation and internal space, so sat down and drew a series of proposals which looked at different ways of achieving those.

Pathfinder's layout and proportions were chosen, the shape and two alternative rigs drawn up, and put aside to have the construction drawings done at some future date. It took a while, discussion on "openboat" and "dinghy cruising" (yahoo groups) forums, talking with owners of Navigators and other designs, and lots of research went on, but no drawings. Until a few months ago when the pressure from people who knew of the project became too much and I took a week off from my dayjob and got busy at the drawing board.

Here are the results. A long and powerful lightweight hull with enough enclosed buoyancy to float her high if the unthinkable were to happen. Space to burn with room for up to eight for a short jaunt or to sleep two adults in fair comfort. Room for a tall person to stretch legs, but light enough and rigged for a singlehander when someone wants peace and solitude.

Easy to build? I think so, there are no special tools or skills beyond basic woodworking required, and nothing is so complex that it would require an expert to oversee the job. (We have a JW Boatbuilders' support forum at www.duckworksmagazine.com) This is not a small boat so she's not a small project, but I would estimate that she would take me around 225 hours. I'm a fairly well equipped and experienced amateur builder so you can compare your own resources and adjust that figure as needed.

Speed? She'll plane to windward under the right circumstances. The lightly loaded powerful hull is long enough to have very easy lines as well as great stability. The big rig will power her well. I, myself, would prefer the yawl with the ability to self-steer and having many options as to how to shorten sail in a blow, and very fast on a reach, but the sloop would have the legs on her both upwind and directly downwind with that big main really driving her along.

I had thought over the internal layout and drawn up several different versions, and this one, with a conventional seating arrangement aft and a raised flat self draining floor from the centre thwart to the forward bulkhead giving 6ft 6in of clear space seemed to work best.

Navigators, there are around 450 sets of plans out and the bulk of them have been nicely built by first time builders, while it is a good sized project,t the building method is well proven so Pathfinder is more of the same system of building upright using plywood frames and egg crate construction to give very good strength with light weight.

I've put the outboard "inboard" in a well right aft on the port side. A 3/5hp motor should be more than enough and it is nice to have it inside the boat where it is less likely to come to harm, and where it does not intrude upon the graceful lines of the lapstrake over stringer construction.

With the space underneath the forward sleeping deck sealed off, along with the seats to give buoyancy, the boat will float high enough to bail if swamped, and the distribution of the buoyancy will mean that if fully inverted she can be rolled back up by the weight of one person on the gunwale. Upright she should be stable enough for the crew to scramble in over the side and stand up while bailing. Not the nicest thought but a designer has to plan for the worst and hope for the best.

Cruising dinghies carry a lot of gear, and there is a heap of enclosed storage in this boat, about 12 cubic feet of it behind watertight hatches into the seat and underfloor spaces and the big locker under the foredeck. I use the round "O" ring sealed inspection ports as hatches; it is amazing what you can get through an 8 inch one. I have a box with my stove permanently mounted in it. It has a stainless steel drip tray and flame shield, windshields, compartments for cutlery and crockery, pots and pans, salt and pepper and a big bowl for washing the dishes. It straps alongside the centrecase when at sea, and acts as a chart table and extra seat among other things. Note that there are two buckets aboard as well (The purple bucket is not for food items or washing of faces).

So far (October 03) there are twenty four people building Pathfinders. It looks as though we will have several examples of each rig, and a number of them have formed an informal builders' group, helping and supporting each other and all looking forward to exchanging cruising stories when the time comes.

I am looking forward to seeing these boats on the water. Navigator owners have completed some extraordinary voyages in their craft, (see the link to David Perillo's site and marvel at his story of cruising in the Yasawa Group in Fiji) and this boat should have even more ability to cover long distances. I hope to borrow one, the sooner the better.

John Welsford.

Designer.

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