I rebuilt my old skiff this fall. A fun project. I also modified another skiff for my brother in law. Another fun project. The dingy is in the barn for a refit also.
We had a good cruise this summer. Made it to the Cape for some shoal water work, Waquoit Bay and into Cotuit, Fun anchoring in three feet. Due to a faulty eye bolt we almost lost the rig of the East Chop on the Vineyard. Thanks to our friends on the Island, repairs were made but our confidence shaken a bit. All the more reason to push ahead with the unstayed rig plan.
In the ongoing puzzle of too much weather helm, I'm thinking of shifting some ballast further aft, to raise the bow a bit. We also noticed better boat speed and balance with the boards raised half way although there's more lee way. With flatter sails and less mast rake, things should be better but who knows. The old rig worked but was very difficult to tune and didn't have enough area and that's too high.
Some pictures:
