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Mayfly 14 Plans PDF
Description
Additional information.
Mayfly14 is a straight forward flat bottomed plywood skiff for sailing and rowing. She's easy to build because her planks have no twists. That means that the chine log and wale bevels are constant for all practical purposes and can be presawn before assembly. The construction is of the simplest nail and glue variety with no building jigs or lofting required - an "instant" boat. The prototype was built by Garth Battista and kids in Halcottsville, NY.
I think this boat is about the right size for a lot of folks, although I might argue that it is too heavy to cartop with comfort and once you decide to trailer a boat you might as well go to a sixteen footer. Mayfly14 will take two adults easily and yet still be a wonderful solo boat.
The sail rig is a balanced lug which is easy to build and stow. I recommend that my customers sew their own sails either from common polytarp (as Garth did in the boat shown above) or real Dacron sailcloth. The plans show instructions for sewing in real sailcloth. You need a sewing machine that sews zigzag stitches and cheap home machines are usually good at that. I don't claim to be the world's best sailmaker but it is not majic. I can do it and so can you. The clothes you are wearing are ten times more complex than a small sail. There are a few rules to follow and I give an essay on that with each set of sailboat plans. In fact I suggest you sew your sails before you build your hull. Both sail and hull require about the same work space. Sew the sail first, roll it up, stuff it in a closet, and now your workspace is ready for your hull. Getting the sail done can get you over a big mental hurdle.
Garth's friend Ari made this Mayfly14 shown in shallow water at Long Island Sound:
Here is another by Don and Tom Burton in Illinois:
Mayfly14 needs three sheets of 1/4" plywood and two sheets of 1/2" plywood.
Mayfly14 plans are shown complete in reduced size in my book along with Garth's blow-by-blow assembly photos plus a huge amount of other stuff.
MULTI PURPOSE SKIFF, 14' X 4' X 200 POUNDS EMPTY
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Ross Lillistone Wooden Boats
Friday, July 13, 2012
Mayfly 14 launching.
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| copied from Jim Michalak's catalogue |
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| Here I am holding while owner Tony snaps a photo. |
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| showing-off her well-designed hull shape and pivoting leeboard |
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| Joel McDonald, from Allwood Sails, makes very good sails for traditional rigs |
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| A shot showing the pivoting leeboard in action. It works equally well on either tack. |
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| Very simple sheeting arrangement. Note the straps and Fastex buckles used to hold the excellent deck-hatches securely closed. There is a large hatch in both the foredeck and the aft deck. |
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| Everything in the rig is super-simple, and almost every component can be made from line and wooden parts |
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| The boats travels well on her custom trailer, made with crosswise supports appropriate to the flat-bottomed hullform |
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| Another shot showing the trailer with three crossways bunks covered with UHMW plastic. |
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| A simple, cheap, and highly practical boat. Wholesome fun! |
6 comments:
amazing boat collection... very beautiful... thnx for sharing....
Nice job on one of my favorite boats! Chuck Pierce
Ross Really nice job, the workmanship shows through. Tell me, did you stick stricktly to Jim Michalak's plans, or did you 'tweak' them anywhere ? Just curious as I have ordered the plans for Mayfly 16. Simon.
Thanks for all three comments. Simon, I stayed true to Jim's plans with one exception - I was concerned about the weight and bulk of the chine logs as designed, so I reduced their cross-section a fair bit, but only after having done a scantlings calculation using Dave Gerr's scantling rules to make sure that I was still above the minimum recommended size.
Mr Lillistone, Beautiful build of Mayfly 14. I have just purchased the plans and am currently procuring the materials. Despite all the attributes of external chine logs I have always thought that they distracted from the aesthetics of the boat. Would it be too much of an imposition of me to ask how much you reduced the chine logs cross section and the resultant dimension? I will starting my build very soon and will be frequently referring to your Mayfly pics and comments. Thank you. Most respectfully, Colin
Excellent example of simple, effective lugsail rigging.
| | | | | | | by Tom Burton - Champaign, Illinois - USA | This story begins with a love of airplanes. My dad has been an aviation enthusiast for many years. Starting in the 60’s he began accumulating “Sport Aviation” magazines. His goal had been in those days to build a Gyrocopter. A perhaps not unnatural fear of the rotor blade flying off put an end to this desire. A job doing boat repair in Kansas led him to a love of boating, which lead to the construction of a sailing canoe using a modified Sunfish sail. One of the great pleasures of his life is sailing that canoe in the wide open lakes out in Kansas, planing out, his buddy hiked over the side, dad ruddering with just a canoe paddle. He would go on to run a canoe rental business in Yorkville Illinois in the early 70’s. Years later, the passion for aviation was rekindled in me, flipping through my Dad’s collection of Sport Aviation, and myself becoming a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). I wrote short stories, drew hundreds of pictures of airplanes, and visited the Oshkosh, Wisconsin “Airventure” air show (a week long extravaganza for aviation enthusiasts) several times with my father. We were enamored with ultralights in particular because of their accessibility to non-pilots, and their relative ease of construction. The one that drew our attention the most, and ultimately stole our hearts was the Fisher FP-101. Partly due to its looking like a real airplane, (and a Piper Cub at that) and partly due to its all wood construction, we were hooked, and bought the kit, including engine for around $4,000. The year, 1984. (The images you see here are file photos, not our project.) | | A Fisher FP-101 in progress (click images to enlarge) | The project was not to be completed, for various reasons, and after a number of years of languishing in the basement, was sold to another enthusiast. My father’s interest in sailing and boat building had waned for many years, but was waxing again in the 1990’s with the purchase of an Old Town sailing canoe. 16 feet long, and 30 inches at the beam with 75 square feet of lateen rig, (similar to a Sunfish’), she could probably outrun my Dad’s original sailing canoe of the 60’s. After several years of ownership and the occasional outing, he was contemplating selling it. At this there was a great outcry from my brothers and me. We hadn’t had enough time in the canoe for dad to sell it yet!! He obliged us by getting it out for a few more runs at the lake. I was hooked. A few times out in the Old Town, and I couldn’t get enough. After that I paid for sailing lessons in Decatur, Illinois on a Sunfish, complete with capsize lessons. Dad and I and my brother David started talking about building a sailboat. Dad had already been doing a lot of web-surfing, and had discovered Duckworks Magazine, (his new Sport Aviation), and was soon sending me links to boat plans. It wasn’t long before we’d decided to build a boat. A sailboat. A real sort of sailboat with more than 30 inches of beam, and a little curvature to the bottom, and the ability to move around if you needed to get some feeling back into your backside. (All of these things that weren’t readily available in a sailing canoe). Eventually, we settled on the Mayfly 14 , a Jim Michalak design. Soon thereafter I was the proud owner of “ Boat building for Beginners and Beyond ” Funds are sometimes a problem for those of us deciding to build rather than buy the perfect sailboat. We were no exception to this, and a sort of fund drive began (ala ebay) to provide the necessary money for the project. My wife and I both found (bow and arrow) bows at garage sales that provided a huge chunk of the funds necessary to purchase raw materials. We decided to name the boat “Scrimp” in honor of its frugal beginnings. | | Construction began in December of 2003. | In this middle of all of this, my Dad found a boat for sale near his home in Sheridan, Illinois. A Ghost 13 was for sale for $450 including an immaculate practically new galvanized trailer. Well, heck, we could almost sell the trailer and get our investment back out of it, so WHY NOT? Soon we were the proud owners of a Ghost 13. My fear at this point, having already gotten seriously into the Mayfly project is that my dad would stop working on it! He has this habit of jumping from project to project (don’t we all!). Anyway, the Ghost was purchased modified, sailed, modified again and dutifully stowed under the lean-to at my father’s house. Another summer would see not see much more work on the Scrimp as domestic issues and enthrallment with the Ghost took over. Nevertheless, plans were made to get to the Midwest Messabout of 2006, come heck or high-water (preferably neither). Another push of effort got us nearly to the messabout, but we preferred to have a seaworthy craft to show, rather than an almost-there work in progress, we opted to not got to the messabout in favor of finishing the project and putting in on a local small lake. Following are some images from the construction process and finally sailing: enjoy!
Getting ready to really sand this thing down. | | | | Requisite energy for keeping gorilla glue in place. | | | So that’s how you radius the fiber-glassed corners! | | A friendly discussion about colors. | | | | Testing the rigging on land.... first! |  | Plywood | 1/4" thick, | 3 sheets | | Plywood | 1/2" thick, | 2 sheets | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
COMMENTS
Mayfly14 is a straight forward flat bottomed plywood skiff for sailing and rowing. She's easy to build because her planks have no twists. That means that the chine log and wale bevels are constant for all practical purposes and can be presawn before assembly.
On launching day, Mayfly 14 was loaded down with the weight of two large men and gear, but she sailed superbly right from the start. The boat was very light on the helm, demonstrated precise handling, and proved to be unusually close-winded.
Here's my short account of building the Jim Michalak Mayfly 14 and sailing it. I bought the plans from Ductwork's after looking through what I thought was at least a hundred designs. I choose the Mayfly14 for three reasons: First, it was relatively small and fits in the back of my F-150 truck, eliminating the need for a trailer.
This documentary shows the building and sailing of a Jim Michalak-designed 14 foot sailing skiff. Great project for anyone that likes the water and wants a ...
The hatches are the key to using the Mayfly as an expedition boat. As Jim designed them they are large enough for things like sleeping bags and tents to be put through them and it is easy to get stuff in and out of the storage compartments because of their size.
A real sort of sailboat with more than 30 inches of beam, and a little curvature to the bottom, and the ability to move around if you needed to get some feeling back into your backside. (All of these things that weren’t readily available in a sailing canoe). Eventually, we settled on the Mayfly 14, a Jim Michalak design.
Kate Bannon and her friend Rachel Doss go for their first sail in Kate's newly acquired Mayfly 14 on Lake Somerville, Texas, on May 17, 2021. Winds were very...
Crossing Baffin Bay in my Michalak Mayfly 14, "Gamaray" on the third day of the 2011 Texas 200. Video courtesy of John Votaw.
Type: Multi Purpose Skiff. Designer: Jim Michalak. Foil: Leeboard. Hull: Chine log. Cabin: No. Length: 14'. Beam: 4'. Weight. Empty: 200 lbs.
An early, light weight,low cost yet high performance dinghy. The single chine, slab sided hull simplified construction for the amateur builder. An unfinished, bare hull version was also available.