Building Margherita

Margherita is a "modern" wooden boat, held together largely with epoxy. The hull is cedar strip, covered in glass fibre inside and out and all of the remaining structure is marine ply and solid mahogany (or the modern sustainable equivalent!) Mast and spars are Douglas fir. and fittings a mix of bronze and stainless steel, Phil Swift, who runs Willow Bay Boats in Cumbria UK, designed the Shilling and builds them pretty much on his own. A clever man.

She is 17ft long over the deck, 19ft with the bowsprit; 6ft 6 ins wide and has a draught of 13 inches with the centre plate up and 3ft with it down. Sail area is approximately 170sqft. The lines were scaled from the Deben 4 Tonner, which originated in the 1930s on the east coat of England.

1. The hull is planked with 12mm thick cedar strip over the frames. Frames are covered in gaffer tape at this stage to prevent the hull skin sticking to them.


















2. With the hull planked, it is faired using sanding boards ready for covering with glass fibre cloth .

























3. The hull is filled and faired again after covering with epoxy and glass fibre, and the keels fitted


















4 - 6  After inverting, the frames are removed and the inside of the hull cleaned up prior to sealing with a layer of glass reinforced epoxy resin. The frames are then glued in place and the fit out gets under way.

7. The picture of her in the water was taken minutes after the first launch. You can see that the cabin is small, but there is room for two to sleep, as well as a small cooker and lots of stowage - but no toilet other than a bucket!