AFAD builds Baker's sailing dinghy

Since WoodenBoat chose to include Bill Page's "Nellie " as the featured homebuilders project in the first edition of their magazine, we'll offer a description of Baker's design from the same source.  You may enjoy going to WoodenBoat for the article that describes his process for building this sailing/rowing dinghy.


Here's what Maynard Bray had to say about Nellie when she appeared in the WoodenBoat calendar in November 2010:

Sterns like Nellie's are called wineglass transoms because of their proportions and their reversing curves down low where the bowl of a wineglass would connect with its stem. If subtly carried out, such transoms are more attractive than those having entirely convex perimeters. You can't quite see it, but Nellie's bow reverses as well, where the plank edges go hollow as they approach the stem. A boat's hull is defined by its curves, but if occasionally the curves change from tight to loose and vary their direction, they go beyond the practical and give the hull an aesthetic boost. Refinements in shape near the ends of a boat have no great effect on performance, but they sure make the difference between a plain boat and one that steals your heart. —Maynard Bray

Nellie— 11'0" x4'10" sailing dinghy designed by Robert H. Baker, built by William C. Page, Camden, Maine, 1972.

This is a picture taken by Benjamin Mendlowitz (c) for the 2010 WoodenBoat calendar

This centerboard trunk will be adjacent to the starboard side of the keel

Maynard Bray's description of the wineglass shape begins to show its' beauty in this rough view of the transom

Use your imagination to see these molds holding the shape of AFAD's dinghy, "MISS B".  Bill Page used a different building sequence for NELLIE.  Above is the method used at CBMM in St. Michaels.