by David D. Beach
Boat designer=eclectic—i.e., one who selects the best of many good ideas and makes them work, in something unique.
The boatbuilding business, and especially the designing of boats for that industry, is full of thieves! Every designer steals ideas from other boats he sees in the publications he reads or at the shows he attends. Of course, a lot of ideas are worth using, and they can all be improved on. The 20-footer shown on the drawings that accompany this text is full of design ideas. None of them are really new, but none of them are so old that they’ve become commonplace. Some are presently in existence, some have appeared in little custom designs and some have been lifted out of other amateur-construction articles. However, what makes this boat different is that, to the best of this designer’s knowledge, the ideas have never been collected in quite this way before. Which brings us to the reason for the name. If you remember your Arabian Nights, you’ll recall the girl who disposed of the 40 thieves for Ali Baba and helped protect his secret. I rather doubt that I’ll need protection from those boatbuilders and designers whose ideas I’ve incorporated in this design, but just in case, I’ll name the boat after that girl. So: Morgiana! Now that the design is identified, we can discuss her features and how to build her. First, let us look at the Outboard Plan and Profile. The distinctive feature of Morgiana is her novel windshield profile. This is vee’d forward and has long side wings to provide a really adequate amount of protection from wind and rain. Spray from her bow wave will not be a problem, as she has been given substantial freeboard. The windshield side wings lap on the cockpit coaming, which runs all the way aft, standing proud of the deck a full 4”. The plan view shows there is a large cockpit, with a pair of seats for the helmsman and his companion, well sheltered. Some of the little “goodies” indicated on the arrangement will be discussed as we go on.
HOME PAGE
