It sails about as well as you would expect.
Bolger says it sails better than you would expect.
Especially in light winds and and smooth water. I would
agree with that.
With a theoretical hull speed of just under 4 knot,
it doesn't take much to push it to that speed.
After reaching hull speed it begins to make a
huge bow wave, into which the boat sinks.
I have sailed it in about 20knot winds and have tried to
bear off "Hobie style," on a screaming reach, but had to
ease off for fear of being swamped by the wave.
I've sailed her with a "Bone in her teath" and it gets
a little scary until you realize that your still only
going 4 knots.
It will not plane, regardless of how much HP you have.
Light, it will skip across the water, but so will a rock.
We usually use it to haul gear for our camping trips.
It spends much of it's time being "Toad". Hence the name.
Behind our Hobie or Rapid Robert.
It will haul an amazing amount of stuff. I have never been
able to put too much weight in it. I always run out of room
befor I sink it. I usually have it loaded 4-5 feet high.
Just have to put heavy stuff on the bottom. (Large propane
tank, drinking water, tents, ice chests.) Sleeping bags
are usually above shear height, and lawn chairs where they
will fit, on top. Then the whole thing is covered with a large
blue tarp to keep everthing dry.
Then we try to pull it into deeper water. We sometimes have
to unload some stuff because it is too heavy to move.
Once in deep enough water to float we check trim, and again
rearange things. Once trimmed, it's off across the lake at
that predetermined 4-5 knots. It will Not go faster. Just
makes a bigger hole, especially with 5-600 pouonds of gear.
I've often toad it behind the Hobie 16, loaded, and I am able
to "Fly a hull" while pulling it. Still at 4-5 knots.
We have some very dramatic pics of Chad or me high off the
water, "Flying". "Dramatic" until you notice the painter
tied to the Hobie, leading back to the "Toad", 20 feet behind.
Cool pics though. I'll see if I can find them.

With the single leeboard (which Bolger says somewhere, works
equally bad on either tack), and rudder being only about
4 feet apart, the helm is quite sensitive and powerful
(until the rudder stalls), which is probably good,
as it has almost no inherant directional stability,
and will round up in a blink (or faster).

Light breeze. Smooth water.

It is much overcanvased but,the sail, rudder, and leeboard are
Boger's standard rig for many of his small sail boats.
I am plenty of sail downwind, but my shape does not
make for very good upwind performance.
I would not go to the expense, or touble to build them
again if I were building only a "Toad", but if you intend
to build several of his boats, they fit them all.
The sialing gear weighs almost as much as the boat.

The "Toad" is not a good sailer, but then it has None
of the properties that would make it one.

It is still our favorite boat. Fun, light (no "Ramp" required),
carries a great load (two adults, or all your camping gear), rows
easily, relatively "seaworthy" (if you pick your sea),
fits in the back of a pickup, or on top of a Subaru,
cheap to build (two days building, two sheets of 1'4"laun ply,
and a few feet of lumber, no "glass", house paint,
and PV pipe oars with 1/4" blades), and about
as cute as you can make an 8'x 3 1/2' box.
All properties I find most important in a boat.

A boat that will be used.

As with many of Bolger's boats, it is designed to Look easy
to build. The shape of the sides is cut, rather than
bent, making for some faily tight compound bends in
chine and sheer. I laminaed two thin pieces for the
chine, and have a light molded piece for the gunwale.
It is rabbeted the leangth so that it covers the edge of
the 1/4" ply sides as well as the sides. Rabbeting it
also make it flexable enough to take the bend without steaming.
The rest is quite simple with outside chines and frames.
No great worry of decreased speed, but makes for good
protection from rocks.

I have two friends that wanted to build themselve boats.
I gave them the book, and they came up with two more
"Elegant Punts". Neither had ever built a boat, but one
is a master cabinetmaker, so I guess that's really not
an example of a "First time builder."
Both had sailed my boat, and niether of them liked the leeboard,
and insisted, against my warnings, on putting in dagger boards.
They both leaked, and continued to leak for the lives of the
boats, which was not long, as both left their boats out
in the weather, and both are now piles of delalminated luan.

"Don't put holes in boats."

Mine is over twenty years old and still in great shape,
resting under my shop when not needed.

I'll try to find a pic with me in a boat, but like you,
I have been on the other end of the camera.

Pat Patteson
Molalla, Oregon

jes, i'm longwinded




--- In MessaboutW@e..., jhkohnen@b... wrote:

Pat-

Nice picture of the punt, but where's the builder? <g> How did your

Elegant

Punt sail? I always thought the design looked overcanvased with the
standard Bolger/Payson rig. I never finished mine, I used too cheap

of

materials and got discouraged when I got the the finishing stage--

fill and

sand, fill and sand, fill and sand some more... :o( It sat around

here for

a few years and then I gave it to the Sea Scouts, don't know what

they did

with it. Next time I'm using decent plywood! <g>

--
John <jkohnen@b...>
http://www.boat-links.com/
Self respect: the secure feeling that no one, as yet, is

suspicious.

<H. L. Mencken>