Plans for the Cambridge Racer now available

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="350" caption="Cambridge Racer"]

[/caption]We’ve spent the last six weeks rigorously testing the Cambridge Racer, and it’s been performing flawlessly. Most of the testing has been in the open waters of the Georgia Strait. While the weather was generally calm, the Cambridge Racer handled the occasional swell from passing boats with aplomb, and easily moved through the breeze-ruffled waters. The maximum speed I could coax from the boat is 15 km/hr, and I could travel 12.2 km in one hour in open (but calm) water. My rowing technique is far from ideal, and undoubtedly, an expert rower would achieve even better speeds. Unlike our Expedition boats which are virtually impossible to capsize, the Cambridge Racer is a much more tender vessel. Rowing racing shells is relatively new for me, and at one point I caught an oar and capsized quite far from shore. This was the first test for self-rescue, and I was pleased that it took only a few minutes to re-enter the boat, bail the water, and be underway again. The process would have been even faster if I had something better than a small sponge to bail out the three or four gallons of water in the cockpit. Plans for the Cambridge Racer are now available on our website. We have full-sized plans available, which makes it an easy process creating the hull panel shapes. This is a relatively easy boat to build, and can be completed in about six weekends. Kits will not be available until we finish designing our Salamander model, at which point we will be developing pre-cut wood panel kits for all three boats.