NIP is one of the fastest of the smaller ©) racing sailboats and has repeatedly beaten larger boats with considerably more sail area. She will ghost right along with virtually no perceptible breeze, and in strong winds—when many other craft, re- gardless of size, are forced to run for cover —she will stand up and take it like a Tro- jan. Thus the rig is a happy medium. It is a jib-headed knockabout having a 67-sq.~ ft. mainsail and a 36-sq.-ft. overlapping jib, making a total of 103 sq. ft. ‘The hull is of the conventional V-bottom type and measures 15% ft. in length over all by 5 ft. beam. It is planked with %-in conventional stock. Plywood may not be used for planking, but may be used for the decking, transom, frames, and rudder The rules require that the completed boat without skipper or crew, must weigh at least 450 Ibs. Ballast may not be carried to make up any deficit in this weight Knockdown parts for the boat, which are 80 How To Build SNIPE The world’s largest class of one-design sailboats — more thon 7,200 boats have been built from this plan. By William F. Crosby available from eral sources such as the Varalyay Boat Works, 1710 W. 166th St. Gardena, Calif, and H. F. Guenin anc Assoc., Noroton Heights, Conn., will prove to be a big help when building her. She is subject to the rules of the Snipe Class In- ternational Racing Association, an organi- zation with representatives. all over the ld and with nearly 300 active racing Reets. The restrictions set up by the As- sociation are so effective that Snipe No. 1 built in 1931, is still actively racing giving a good account of herself; so need have no fear that your boat will be- come obsolete or that you will have t spend money to keep her up to date. This is one of the chief reasons for the popularity of the class. Each boat, before being eligible to race must have a measurement certificate Measurement is done by fleet measurer measurement committees and the results red on a comprehensive measure-tory. The lengths of the vertical mem- bers, marked V, should be taken from your full-size lines drawing. These mem- bers run from inside the keel batten to the bottom of fore-and-aft stringers A-2 and A-3, which are placed any convenient dis- tance below the inverted sheer line. Each vertical member has a slight bevel at the end where it touches the keel batten. You can get this exactly from the full-size drawing. When the building form is completed, make the stem and attach it to the keel with four ¥%4-in. galvanized bolts. The detail drawing of the stem (Fig. 3) shows it in two pieces, but you can use either one- piece or two-piece construction. Most Snipes have one-piece stems, usually of Philippine mahogany or other wood lighter than oak. A nice hackmatack (tamarack) (warenia knee would be perfect. It should be 3 in thick. Leave the top of the stem a little long 80 it can be bolied between fore-and-aft stringers A-2 and A-3. Lay the stem-and- keel assembly over, and clamp it to, vertical pieces V, taking care to be sure of the exact longitudinal spacing. Next, make, assemble, and install the transom and transom knee. The angle at which the transom is set up is taken from the full-size drawing. Bolt or screw the knee to the keel batten. ‘The frames go on next, Nos. 1, 2, and 3 being placed on the forward sides of their respective station lines and Nos. 4 and 5 on the after sides. Each frame should be carefully squared and plumbed: then bolted through the keel and keel batten. Countersink the bolt heads into the outside of the keel. After tightening the nuts, sawment sheet, which is filed with the class ment Shy ihe assignment of 8 racing er ferrelosts $1 and dues in the ‘Association er eto $2 a year. Bach Association Mem- e to es a membership eard ond ¢ COPY ber rete tent rules-and-record book. Ita of ths oy “boat changes bends; the oo gt to have the official records he boat is listed in his name, & ssociation when and each fleet ‘Association. are available Tecosteaep Plans Service, Fawcett Building, Greenwich, Sere a cost of $5 per Sel, Please Stocify Plan No, B-160, There ern other speelty Jor royaities to be paid. The address of the Executive See retary of the Associ- ig 522 Stellar ‘Ave. Pelham 65, N.Y. , Tn the United ‘LASS INSIONE States, divisional- HH championship tro- phies are raced for tach year; then the most important U.S. Togatta—for the Na~ {onal Championship “is run off e winner is sent to the World’s | Champion= ship Regatta, which is held in_ various countries. In 1949, this regatta will prob- ably take place in the United States. "The plans for Snipe should be followed 2s closely as possible, for even though you, personally, may not fe interested in rac- ing, the day may at rive when you wil want to sell your oat. If it is not eli- aible to race, its value will be very low. There are certain options in the plans— if would be wise to make up your min right at the _ start about these. Gn generally accepted theories, a Snipe should be built as lightly as possible and still come over the. 450-Ib. limit. — Lear at the forware and the cente! Jowable. The eonTABLE OF OFFSETS HEIGHTS ABOVE B4SE UNE SS OUT FROM CENTER LIN OsTaN fooeal rs eos] er-T = [rsrieze)zeolese FIG.2- LINES 8 OFFSETS Notes DO NOT SCALE-USE DMENSENS ony 2, OMENGIONS ARE GIVEN IV FEET, NCES, AND EI@HTS OF INCHES TO OUTBE OF PLANKS 3. FRAMES 1No.1,2,4N0 3 ARE PLAGED OK FORD SIDES OF STATIONS, 4 AND 3. APT Because it is a small, light boat, “Snipe” is reasonable in cost—amateura have constructed her recently. complete with the sails and all the necessary fittings, for less than $300. the jibstay is also variable. Most boats carry this about 12 to 18 in, aft of the stem. Planking is usually Port Orford cedar Philippine mahogany is too heavy here, b: is entirely satisfactory for the keel, ke batten, and stem. Some builders use Sitka spruce for nearly everything, but this wood does not stand up as well in water as othe species. The deck beams can be of Sitka spruce and the decking of %4-in. plywood The mast must be as light as possible, of Sitka spruce, holléw, pear-shaped, with « slot for the mainsail bolt rope, Rigging should be kept down to the minimum preferably of % or ;4-in, stainless steel There are no backstays, jumper stays, or spreaders. The mast should not be held rigidly in place with tightly set-up shrouds Leave these quite slack and don’t put mast wedges in the hole in the deck. Your Snipe will perform much better with this rig vather than one that holds the mast tightly in an upright position. Before beginning construction, draw the lines (Fig. 2) full size on a smooth Alor, on plywood, or on building paper. This draw ing is made to be sure of getting everything right and to help in laying out the work The table of offsets gives you the necessary dimensions in feet, inches, and eighths o inches—thus 1-11-4, translated, reads 1 ft and 11 4/8 in., or 23% in. The center I for the plan view and the base line for the profile must be perfectly straight andparallel. The station lines must be ex- any perpendicular to the base and center nes. ‘Note that the dimensions ate given to the outside of the planking. This means that after completing the body plan you must take a pair of pencil dividers set at exactly 34 in. and mark off the thickness of the planking inside each station to determine the exact shapes of the frames. When you are through, you'll have two parallel lines all the way around each section, one line representing the outside and the other the inside of the planking. Next, on the body plan, draw the keel and keel batten on aa frame, referring to the drawing labeled Midship Section (Fig. es es St oe ees 3) for the exact dimensions, It is apparent also that the sheer line in the offsets is to the top of the decking at side; so you must deduct the thickness of the decking in or- der to get the exact top of the frame. You now have the shape of every frame. Trans- fer these shapes to your frame material, saw to size, and assemble as required. If you make the frames of plywood, you will find that by proper layout you can cut all of them and the transom from a single 4 by Bcft, seat of plywood. It takes some jug gling to do it, but it can be done—and you may even be able to get the rudder out of the same sheet! ‘The building form is shown in Fig. 4. This drawing is pretty well self-explana- Fig. 3 STEM, TRANSOM, 8 FRAME DETAILS nay fate a see eguere ee ions Se DIMENSIONS FOR TRACOM. WHEKNESS OF OER tse puansoneSe0UCT eves ane Aron. rou oF ertentd DETAILS OF TRANSOM me ATTACHMENT OF FRAMES TO KEEL LceNrenUNE OF O08atm repre eo | wornguear | BARGER nant | SOR a ye cay curs SECTION THRU BOLT FOR PIVOT CENTER BORRD off the excess threaded lengths and flatten the stub ends with a hammer. Clamp the frame ends securely to cross members C. The entire framework must be rigidly braced: otherwise the two sides of the fin- ished boat may have different shapes. ‘The chines are run in next, beveling the notehes in the frames so they lead true and fair from bow to stern. The after ends notch into the cheek pieces around the edge of the transom, as do the keel and the keel batten. "The optional spruce stringer shown at the sheer may be used if you wish. It is there to case making the joint between deck and side planking watertight. The deck is glued and bradded to it and to the edge of the uMneR wash Sagres vous Wins. ons mre oman? ‘CENTER BOARD TRUNK Fig. 5 MISCELLANEOUS DETAILS planking, It simply provides more surface for the glued joint The clamps, like the chines and sheer stringers, bevel into the stem and are s cured to each frame head with one 2-in, No. 14 screw. To prevent any possibility of splitting, put the screw into the first frame near the top edge of the clamp and put the one into the next frame near the bottom edge of the clamp. Continue alternating in this manner. ‘Now comes the planking—the hardest job for most amateurs. Start with the planks next to the keel (called the garboards) and work out. After one plank is on, fit and se~ cure its mate on the other side. Do this throughout the sequence to equalize the 85omizonrAaL Soave Tncnes strains on the frames and building form. The garboards must be shaped a little. Clamp the material in place and mark it from underneath; then unclamp and saw and plane to the exact shape. Try it for fit. If it's not quite right, mark the high spots and plane off until it fits exactly into the rabbet formed by the heel and keel bat, ten. At the stem, the rabbet has to be chiseled out. This is done by clamping a narrow strip of the planking material in place and cutting a little notch in the stem to allow it to fit flush. Repeat this in several places; then join the notches with a continuous cut. The end of each plank will have to be shaped slightly to fit into this curved rabbet. When the first pair of planks is on, clamp the second pair in position and mark, saw, and plane to shape as described before. Use 11-in. No. 10 screws for fastening the planking to the framework, spacing them 3 to 4 in. apart and counterboring and plugging with 44-in. boat bungs The body bit should be 13/64 in. and the lead bit, No. 30. Put good water- proof glue between the planking and the keel, chines, stem, and tran- som. Fasten the planking to both the transom and its cheek piece. The best way for an amateur to finish the seams between planks is to have the planks butt flat against each other for the first % in, out from the frames; then to vee them just enough so you can put in a thread of calking cotton and cover off with seam compound, The amount of space between seams is a matter of guessing. The drier the ‘wood, the greater the space. If the seams are made too tight, they may ‘swell enough to pull out the fasten ings when the boat geis soaked up with water. As you add the bottom planking, you'll come to the edge of the chine. The planks should be mitered here to fade off into a feather edge. The pointed en must be securely fastened into chine and into the edges of the ad- joining planks or they will work out ‘The topside planking is somewhat easier to put on, Most amateur- built boats have two planks on each side and many have three. Start each plank at the stem, fastening in place; then bend it around the boat, securing to each frame as you go. If your wood is very dry, you may have trouble bending the top- most plank into place. Overcome any danger of cracking by soaking the wood with wet cloths wrappea around it. To keep the wood wet, occasionally douse it with hot wat Before bending, give the wate plenty of time to soak through the wood, When the planking is all in place take the hull off the building form and tum it rightside up. Next, the slot for the centerboard. It must be accurately made and squared at the ends, Most small boats have trouble at this point, so be warn in advance—make a cabinetmake: job of the centerboard trunk. Not that the center portion of Frame No. 3 must be cut away to allow the bed logs to rest on the keel. Fasten the bed logs to this frame on both sideswith brass angle bars, screwing into the bed logs and bolting through the frame s. Its important to allow ample width inside the centerboard trunk so when the wood swells you'll still be able to raise and lower the board. On the other hand, you don't want to make the slot too wide or it will affect the speed of the boat. The more you let water get up in the slot and slosh around, the slower your boat will be. A good compromise is clearance of about % to 14, in. on each side of the board. Make the soft=pine end pieces long enough to pro- trude down through the slot and cut them off flush with the outside of the keel. The trunk is set down on a canvas gasket soaked in white lead and secured in place with bolts spaced 4 to 5 in. apart. Counterbore for the heads in the underside of the keel and set up the nuts tightly on the inside. ‘The deck-beam construction is clearly shown in Fig. 5. The crown of the deck may be anywhere from 44 to 1 in. for every foot of beam. This means that the crown must be between 2% and 5 in. at the widest point of the deck. The beams are sawn to radius from Sitka spruce and are fastened down to the clamps. Make the rudder and tiller as shown in Fig. 5. The mast detail is given in Fig. 6. It is simply two pieces of spruce that are routed out, glued together, and then shaped. There are no screws, bolts, brads, or other fastenings in it. The slot for the bolt rope should be slightly larger than the diameter ofthe rope, Run the stainless-steel halliards up inside the mast. On a lot of present-day Snipes, the mast is stepped on deck. On all the fastest boats, the mast is made the maximum allowable height above the sheer, the mainsail being carried right up to the top and the jib being set as near as possible to the deck. Fig. 7 shows a mainsheet rig that works well. The sails should be the product of a professional sailmaker. For the Snipe-Class restriction sheet, write to the Executive Secretary, Wm. F. Crosby, 522 Stellar Ave., Pelham 65, N. Y. The sheet is free for the asking and tells you exactly what you may or may not do. Remember, nothing is optional on these plans unless so stated. If there are ques- tions regarding points that might cause a boat to be refused a measurement certifi- cate, write to Chairman John T. Hayward, International Rules Committee, P. 0. Box 2039, Tulsa 2, Oklahoma. The accompany- ing plans and specifications are copy- righted by the Snipe Class International Racing Association. © BILL OF MATERIALS Lumber (Sizes given are for finished lumber, 08 it ts In fhe completed boat, ths ate minimum requice: mente} Keal> 7%4°112 oak or Philippine mahogany Kath Batten: 44°51" oat Por Phi ippine max cogany, Stem! Y'x10"%-3" cat or Philippine mahogany oak of spruce oof plywood) StelO'ett apruge, sown to crown Sines Sai at” oak pes (hate Sproces of fir (2 pes. raat) 2 39. fe of 34" oak or Spruce. oF wpreoh plywood. of 38 30. fh of Ye FHoaq. tt of 34" cak or spruce or prost_plywacd Loge: 24°37" Philippine = Centerseard-Trunk Sides: 14 sa. ff, of 1" Philip. ‘pine mahogany. or spruce &r_ iy" walerproot Plywood Cnherbea Sin: 3k" Philippine mahogany or He" waters Dreet phyweed tense Ofek Dosbler ana Fil 25 lin, Hh. of white Le ta. fh. of 1 epeuce ("22°88 Philippine max cedar, ree cedar, spruc priO'yies 2 pes, Pale & hy Tee, eat 52 fin. f. of 24” Philippinesme- Nogany.helround Flooring! suficient S" fir to equal area of ockptt lost Beams: "elZ4"el0" spruce Gockpit Trim: ie Philipp Geckpit Partners: raz" spruce or ft Rudder: Se"r18'x54" Philippine mahogany oF watetprsol plywood Weare! ach or spruce Math (sez apace (2 pcre) Boom: ered" spruce Complet 1h packaged bits of approved Nordware ‘can be, purchated by mail from John Bory, #. 0. Bor 9b, Fair Haven, New Jersey