The Sharpie Book

Rating:
Summary: Best how-to book on building low cost, elegant sailboats.
Review: An enticing book on amateur boat building, The Sharpie Book brings together affordable building techniques, low-cost materials, historic designs, and sophisticated contemporary design revisions for today's builders. The sharpie, a long forgotten working sailboat from America's oyster industry past, is a shallow draft boat that has speed, elegance and simple construction all in one hull. Banned in the late 1800s from yacht races because they always won, this form of boat design has been brought back by Reuel Parker, a boat designer and builder living on board his Key West headquarters. Parker researches the history of the sharpie, showing photographs and measured drawings done by naval architects of the late-1800s and early 1900s. He then descirbes and shows in numerous drawings and photographs how to build these elegant craft with plywood and epoxy using redesigns in which he only slightly modifies the original lines of the boats.In the books I've read on amateur boat building in the recent past, this one stands shoulders above the others because it combines a practical approach to building, a preference for low-cost materials,a dedication to elegant design, and the use of modern materials. For those considering a sailboat and without the cash to buy what Parker calls "Tuppeware" boats -- today's manufactured fiberglass boats -- this is a book not to be missed. 15 designs, from a 14-foot Cape Cod oystering skiff to a 36-foot San Juan double-ended sharpie are included. Construction drawings can be purchased directly from the author.(Reviewed by Dick Burnham

Rating:
Summary: Great book... you will want to build one
Review: I really enjoyed this book. The author includes everything, from the history to the modern construction of these boats. Some of the sections on construction are a little confusing for beginners. One area that comes to mind is the section on lofting, some diagrams would be useful here (other books or websites help). I have read the book several times and expect I will always use it as a reference.

Rating:
Summary: Great book... you will want to build one
Review: I really enjoyed this book. The author includes everything, from the history to the modern construction of these boats. Some of the sections on construction are a little confusing for beginners. One area that comes to mind is the section on lofting, some diagrams would be useful here (other books or websites help). I have read the book several times and expect I will always use it as a reference.

Rating:
Summary: The Sharpie Book
Review: To coin a phrase, Parkers designs are "so salty they make your eyes rust"

GRP and the prejudice of the yachting community relegated the sharpie to history. Plywood and epoxy have brought it back.

Parker and Bolger are probably the pre-eminent living exponents of sharpie design, but whilst Bolger has taken years to get to the minimalist essence of what exactly a boat is, Parker has taken a wonderfully simple concept and imbued it with the grace and beauty of ages. To put it simply, he has an eye for a line.

If you have always wanted to build your own yacht, want it to look stunning, but don't have ten years up your sleeve to build "the old way" this book contains everything you need to build any of the designs described and will even tell you how to sail them. For the armchair builder the food for thought is immense and will have you sailing south to a Pacific paradise within hours. For the real builder, be warned, the text is infectious, but all designs need to be lofted full size (have a BIG lounge and an understanding wife), you will need a magnifying glass to read all of the details (or buy the plans from Parker Marine) and if you don't know a toe rail from an inwale I would recommend buying Bolgers book or Fred Binghams book on boat joinery first (better still buy all three).

To sum up, it is a one stop shop for a type of yacht forgotten by too many, but sharpies are not for everybody. They suit the sailor looking for simplicity, low cost, performance and style and who is happy to work within a few basic limitations of the flat bottomed boat - limited headroom, higher centre of gravity and relatively low mass.

Rating:
Summary: The Sharpie Book
Review: To coin a phrase, Parkers designs are "so salty they make your eyes rust"

GRP and the prejudice of the yachting community relegated the sharpie to history. Plywood and epoxy have brought it back.

Parker and Bolger are probably the pre-eminent living exponents of sharpie design, but whilst Bolger has taken years to get to the minimalist essence of what exactly a boat is, Parker has taken a wonderfully simple concept and imbued it with the grace and beauty of ages. To put it simply, he has an eye for a line.

If you have always wanted to build your own yacht, want it to look stunning, but don't have ten years up your sleeve to build "the old way" this book contains everything you need to build any of the designs described and will even tell you how to sail them. For the armchair builder the food for thought is immense and will have you sailing south to a Pacific paradise within hours. For the real builder, be warned, the text is infectious, but all designs need to be lofted full size (have a BIG lounge and an understanding wife), you will need a magnifying glass to read all of the details (or buy the plans from Parker Marine) and if you don't know a toe rail from an inwale I would recommend buying Bolgers book or Fred Binghams book on boat joinery first (better still buy all three).

To sum up, it is a one stop shop for a type of yacht forgotten by too many, but sharpies are not for everybody. They suit the sailor looking for simplicity, low cost, performance and style and who is happy to work within a few basic limitations of the flat bottomed boat - limited headroom, higher centre of gravity and relatively low mass.