Port Townsend Watercraft BLOG » kit boats

A brief guide to setting up and sailing your PT 11

Ashlyn Brown — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 17:09:18 +0000

In the building manual for the PT 11 it says: "The PT 11 sailing rig is designed to be light and easy to use, not to be bullet proof." In developing this rig, weight and ease of use were the biggest priorities. "Hiking (sitting on the rail and leaning out) is okay for one person to do but not two. Sailing with two and having one person hiking and the other sitting inside is okay too, just not two sitting on the rail."

The PT 11 sailing rig arrives ready to use with all of its running rigging. One small item is up to you and that is the traveler line. This is the line needed to clip your main sheet to.

You can tie a line with a little slack, using the existing holes on the transom inwale to clip your main sheet onto that. This self steering blog post shows this method.

The traveler can be be made shorter as shown below by drilling holes about 7" from the centerline (14" apart). We drilled 5/16" holes and then applied a few coats of epoxy to the walls of the holes to seal the plywood.

The traveler line can be around 3/16 diameter and be held with stopper knots underneath the inwale.

A short PT 11 traveler

This image shows the tiller/hiking stick in the self-steering position. This is good for brief periods and works best when going upwind and only works when the boat is heeled.

When sailing, if you feel resistance on the tiller, check to see if the rudder is completely down or if you have caught kelp or other debris. Keeping the threads in the knob clean and greased is important. The threads in the knob are brass and the pin is stainless steel so it will corrode. A bit of maintenance will insure the knob does its job and keeps the rudder down.

For post-2021 kits, use the forward daggerboard cap turndog to hold down the daggerboard by closing it over the hold down pin.

Pre-2021 daggerboards are thicker and shaped differently at the top. A loop of line at the right length becomes a hold down when captured by the aft turndog.

The Tack clips onto the boom as shown. (This image shows an older style gooseneck.)

The outhaul (asymmetric) snap hook clips into the clew and the outhaul line should be snugged through the v-cleat on the boom:

PT 11 Outhaul configuration during a regatta. Schooner Sir Isaac in the background.

The vang clips into the eye strap on the mast.

The vang controls the twist of the sail. Controlling twist is important for getting the most power out of the sail, but don't overdo it! Some twist is good but the boom isn't un-breakable.

When adventuring or in fluky winds, we carry our oars with the oarlocks in the forward sockets and the handles tucked under the bow as shown above.

If you are new to dinghy sailing, avoid this use of a slip knot on the main sheet. Unsuccessfully yanking the slip knot free in a puff is a recipe for capsize.

If you capsize when sailing, after righting the boat, make sure the mast is fully seated in the socket before taking off again.

If you are new to dinghy sailing, it is better to start in protected waters or when there is an onshore breeze, preferably steady but not strong.

Keep your weight forward for speed, but move aft in stronger breezes and downwind sailing.

If the water is cold in your area like it is on Puget Sound, wear a wetsuit or drysuit in case you end up in the water. Hypothermia is no joke. It is always advisable to wear a life-jacket/PFD.

Learn to stall, or "park" by pointing into the wind and letting the sheet go. When the wind picks up more than you feel ready for, or you have taken water over the rail and you are feeling a little out of control, this is a good way to take stock: bail, check your rudder and daggerboard for kelp, sort out lines, and take a swig from your thermos before heading off again. The sail will flap and make noise but that is not a problem. When you are ready, reign in your sheet, and continue or head for safety.

PT 11 videos page:

A Rendezvous in Seattle

admin — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 18:22:08 +0000

Sunday, March 24th was an overcast and cold day to be out on the water. Russell was not deterred. Paul Bieker's new design (the Riptide 41;"BLUE") was in the water and Russell was invited to check it out. "BLUE" is one of the most innovative racing sailboats around and sailed almost 23 knots on her very first sail. { read more about it. }Bieker Boats design team of Paul Bieker and Eric Jolley are responsible for designing our PT Skiff, the 18.5ft fuel efficient motor skiff kit, sold by PT Watercraft. The PT Skiff, "Pika", built by J. Brandt in Seattle, was also there to compliment the gathering. While on the dock at Shilshole Marina, a wedding party came down the dock and the bride and groom asked for a ride in the PT Skiff. Jan obliged and the smiling couple posed for photos. Russell snapped a few along side the wedding photographer. The PT Skiff has been put to work as a regatta chase boat, a marine research commuter, a phototgrapher's platform and now as a wedding prop!Since we sold our PT Skiff, .., we have been using our experimental tornado cat motor boat for any over water commuting. The 'Grasshopper" (as we sometimes refer to it) has many many miles on her 15hp motor. The trip from Port Townsend to Seattle takes about 2 hours and generally uses about 2 gallons of fuel. This boat was designed on the back of an envelope and it is definitely a unique boat. No, there are no plans available.. Russell was able to surf a cargo ship's wake for about 10 miles before the intensity of it got to him and he exited the wake. The trip from Port Townsend to Seattle and back, with favorable currents and surfing, used about 3 gallons of gas. This short video does little justice to the fun he was having.

Building the second PT SKIFF, an ongoing blog

admin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 14:15:11 +0000

MARCH 29th, 2010

Weighing in lighter than expected at 340LBS.

3 coats

MARCH 08, 2010

Following are pictures of the hull glassed and the final gloss coat finished. We are ready to paint the hull this week.

Skeg detail

FEBRUARY 18, 2010

A bunch of good friends showed up to turn the skiff over. Thank you!

February 14th, 2010

Happy Valentines Day World.

Progress as of today.. All inside structure and finish work is complete. We are ready to turn the boat over and glass the bottom.

PT Skiff prototype 2 Feb. 13, 2010

PT Skiff prototype 2

Inside structure and finish work complete

January 25th, 2010!

I know! I know! I am getting slack with blog posting! Well, dang... It is not like there hasn't been a whole lot happening!

Today I am posting a shot of the CNC cutting that happened on the 15th and a couple of shots of the recent final coating of the inside of the PT SKIFF. We have decided to keep it clear coated as this boat is our showpiece and people have really loved the clear finish. Further, the construction techniques are clearly visible and it helps people get a good picture of how the boat went together. So here goes...

Turn Point Designs in Port Townsend cutting a kit on the 5 axis CNC macine.

Russell tipping the final coat of epoxy.

The inside is completely coated now. Next we will finish the side decks and upper coamings, turn the boat over and finish the outside.

Paste this YouTube link into your address bar to see a brief clip of the coating.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGyaVfV-yeo

JANUARY 1st, 2010!

Happy 2010 to all! We are back online again ...

Combings being installed for hatches in middle and forward seats.

glued

finshed combing on the forward seat.

Water tank lid, console & driver's seat, forward sole in...

All 3 seat tops ready for final installation. Almost all surfaces have been glassed and are ready for the final gloss coat of epoxy.

Foredeck framing & foredeck are installed next with the boat upright in the cradle.

Cheers for now...AE

DECEMBER 28th, 2009

HOPE EVERYONE HAS ENJOYED THIS LAST WEEK! I know we have not updated recently but that does not mean progress has not been made between entertaining friends and family and being entertained. We will be uploading new photos shortly of the console and drivers seat in and the forward floor in and more. Wishing all a HAPPY NEW YEAR and may 2010 be a positive year for you!

DECEMBER 20, 2009

Inside of the water ballast tank and under the grates finished.

DECEMBER 8, 2009

This past week we finished glassing the chines and have been making the patterns for, and cutting the lumber parts for this boat and at least 5 more kits. Pictured below are the glue-cleats placed near their positions.

glue-cleat mock up

DECEMBER 2nd, 2009

Filleting and taping the chines..

All inside structure gets welded together with fillets. This goes very quickly with our "patented" technique.

Filleted...

Taping the chines. A blank of fiberglass is wet out on plastic, cut into strips & applied like this.

Peel ply goes over the glass.

NOVEMBER 24th

Gluing down side-decks

tipping on edge for injecting chine seams with epoxy

Extension screwed to cradle that allows the boat to stand on edge at a good height for finishing inside

Ready for fillets and chine taping

NOVEMBER 23

New pictures and more to come.

Side decks trial fit

NOVEMBER 16th,

Progress is being made! The next set of pictures shows aligning the stem, topside panels and sheer clamps, transom inwhales and side decks prep.

This photo taken whe aligning and gluing the stem. Note the white string.

This photo and the next show topside panels and sheer clamps. The funny looking thing on the transom is a temporary former.

Side decks and combings being pre-finished

Transom inwhale being glued up.

Updates are happening weekly so please keep checking. We could easily be twice as far but the manual is specific and comprehensive and all will no doubt agree, worth the time taken to create it. Cheers..AE

November 10th

Over the last couple of weeks, we have made a lot of progress even though we are working on the builder’s manual more than the boat.
Pre-finishing parts is a large part of the job in the beginning of building this boat. This stage goes really fast on the bench and means very little finish work later.
The assembly goes really quickly thanks to the tongues and slots. Here are some pictures of where we are to date and we will post more in the next few days.

Fill coating hull panels

Hull panels assembled and their inside surfaces glassed and coated.Frames 1 thru 10 pre-glassed or double coated

Beginning of hull assembly in cradle

All these parts fit in their designated locations with tongues and slots in a very short amount of time

3rd panel in place. Cradle legs here are shortened after all parts are locked in place with a thin bead of epoxy in all joints

Another view...

November 1st.

Pre-finishing parts is done and the cradles are ready. This first week of November will see the skiff get wired together.We have been able to refine much of the building technique with this skiff so that the manual reads better and your building experience will be easier.

Pre-finishing is the first part of building the PT Skiff.

Building has begun. See here all the ply parts cut.

117 parts, 12 sheets of plywood and they all fit so far...