I finally got these uploaded. Hope you enjoy them..
Sailing in BC on the PT 11 and Exploring BC in the PT 11
Enjoy SUMMER! 🙂 PTW
I finally got these uploaded. Hope you enjoy them..
Sailing in BC on the PT 11 and Exploring BC in the PT 11
Enjoy SUMMER! 🙂 PTW
The PT 11 is a beautiful piece of design work. The finished boat is lovely to look at, and a pleasure to be in, whether rowing or sailing. Even at rest, its simple yet elegant form seems to suggest smooth, efficient speed.
The daggerboard and kick-up rudder are pure eye-candy. Beautifully shaped and finished, they far exceed the foils usually seen with kit boats. They are not only well made and good looking, but their plan and cross section shapes are extremely efficient….which helps the boat sail to windward like a true thoroughbred.
Rigging the PT 11 could hardly be simpler. The two-part free standing carbon mast slides into a sleeve on the luff of the sail (like the famous Laser dinghy). Then just stand the rig up in its mast step tube. The boom has a neat “fork” that rests against the aft face of the mast, rather than the usual goose-neck fitting. Just moderate vang tension is enough to hold the boom against the mast, tension the luff, and control the leech twist.
Because the mast is a flexible, free-standing wand, it bends progressively under increasing pressure, gradually flattening the sail, while allowing the leech to open and de-power in a gust. The result is that once sheeted in on a beat, the sail needs little trimming. In fact if you lodge the tiller extension against the leeward corner of the gunwale / transom, the boat is happy to self steer to windward! This boat sails unusually well to weather, pointing high and making very little leeway.
The PT 11 is a very slippery shape, and it responds well to the lightest breezes, even with a “full grown” helmsman (230 lbs). The boat is surprisingly quick to plane, and the transition from displacement to planing mode is almost imperceptible.
Many rowing dinghies are a real compromise when it comes to sailing, but this one performs admirably, even as a dedicated sailing dinghy. I can imagine having a grand time, racing against my friends in a small fleet of PT 11’s. A real pleasure to sail!
Sandy Goodall Sail Design Consulting
I hit ‘publish’ on this post before it was finished..oops…this is the complete one with all the intended photos…
The 9 days leading up to Independence Day were our days of independence away from the phones, computer and, for the most part, people. Just to share it with you, I am posting some pictures that kind of highlight the trip, which was mostly wet with rain but no less beautiful.
Clearance in Victoria is often done over the phone. I thought this was funny after years of making clearances in the Caribbean and generally around the world where it is much more of an ordeal. I love Canada..
We anchored in Clo Oose Bay and hiked to the dock at Nit Nat, where there was crab, salmon and cold beer! The trail was incredible. Mostly boardwalk but occasionally, as here, the roots of this tree create the steps up the hill.


Sailing into Barclay Sound. I counted 11 shades of mountains that day. I tried to paint it later.
In a little island group, I got to practice my dinghy sailing. I am new to solo-ing, in fact new to dinghy sailing, and now I am hooked.
We had 2 opportunities without rain to get pictures of the PT 11 really sailing. My lens only goes up to 55mm so I missed a lot of good shots. Shopping now for a tele for the camera. Still, Russell got the little pony galloping wherever there was wind.

Part of the trip was to get video and pictures of the new PT11 with the new rig. Evening in the Chatham Group provided one nice opportunity before crossing the straits back to PT.

Arriving at Fort Worden on July 4th, friends showed up and everyone got to take the PT 11 for a sail… until the wind died….
2 and 4 legged ‘salty dogs’ aboard… 
The evening sky was so pretty and the moon rise was spectacular. Could not capture it well since the boat was moving… 

Finishing the trip with fireworks…. 🙂 PTW
Especially for builders of the PT Eleven, please see this post on the builder’s blog. It pertains to the attachment point for the cedar back seat and also to the leather pads. Current versions of the builder’s manual does not have this and it should be noted. Cheers, 🙂 PTW
Our tiller and hiking stick stock is made of Sapele. The tiller is tapered on 3 sides, shaped at both ends and drilled. The hiking stick has rounded ends, chamfered edges and drilled for attachment. 
The builder finishes the tiller (on the right) by rounding the edges, hand sanding and oiling.
The length of the hiking stick is just right to fit in the corner of the transom of the PT Eleven, for hands free steering when needed. It also folds and stows well. 
Tapering the tiller requires a router jig and so we offer this kit with most of the job done for you. We also offer untapered, 1″ tiller stock, for the builder’s who wish to shape their own. See the OPTIONS PAGE or the ORDER FORM on our website for prices.
FOILS (DAGGER BOARD AND RUDDER) KIT
Foils are like wings that operate underwater. As with sails, the shape of the foils directly affects performance. The PT 11 sails amazingly well against the wind, mostly due to good foils.
Dinghy foils are usually either very expensive or they are crude and inefficient. The PT 11 foils are neither, but like the boat itself there are multiple glass & epoxy steps to make them long lasting. One could just epoxy coat them and go sailing, but from our perspective that would be a waste of very high quality plywood and a lot of CNC machine time.
The kick-up rudder design is something we are proud of. The case is fun to build, works very well, and folds for stowing.
Building the case requires multiple epoxy steps and can be done while finishing the foils.
Our foils kit contents are shown in this picture, along with the optional tiller and hiking stick. The foils are a machined NACA .012 section.
A detail of the steering hardware package; Note the scribe marks on the rudder case walls for aligning the pintels.
The rudder and dagger-board are machined in halves from high grade Okoume plywood.
The halves are then glued together and vacuum bagged in our shop before shipping to the builder.
This picture shows the finished foils.
The Rudder folds for easy storage.
See the OPTIONS PAGE on our website for prices.
Thank you Randy, for surprising us with this video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYMEamd3ME8
Randy’s channel also features the Boatschool cutting the PT 11 in half. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7xLYkaX4LA&feature=relmfu
Cheers! PTW
A shipment is headed for Australia and there is still time to get your kit onboard. Shared shipping cost is a benefit to all. The gentleman ordering is offering a super fair deal to share shipping costs, clear the shipment into Adelaide and hold the kit for fowarding or pick up. You can even work with him to pay in AU$..! He has really done the homework and as he really wants his kit, he is offering to do all the hassle for you. Please contact me right away if you want to get a PT Skiff KIT or PT 11 KIT to Australia as they need to be cut in the next week (May 7-11) to make the departure date. This kind of opportunity will not happen often. Cheers! 🙂 PTW
Last week the NW School of Wooden Boat Building had a day of launching some of their recently finished boats. It was a casual gathering to which the PT Eleven nesting dinghy was invited. It was good for everyone to see the finished product since they are currently building one of our kits. Lots of people got to go for a row and chat about boats.




