The Calendar Islands Yawl
camp cruise | daysail | explore with friends and family
Complete kits and plans for the ultimate 16-foot sail-and-oar boat
SPECIFICATIONS
LOA 15'6 | LWL 13'8
Beam 5'2” | Waterline width 51.25”
Depth amidships 20" | Draft up/down 5.3 / 36.5”
Weight 235 lbs (bare hull) | Displacement 610 lb
Sail area 121 sqft.
The Calendar Islands Yawl, designed by Clint Chase, was born out of the waters around the rocky coast of a Maine. She came from a lines plan Clint drew in 2010 for a much bigger boat, 18'8" x 6'6", which was intended to be more of a dayboat. Friend and former Goat Island Skiff sailor-extraordinaire, Christophe Matson, put a bug in Clint’s ear that we small-boat sailors needed something round-bilged and shaped more appropriately for Maine waters than the venerable flat-bottomed Goat Island Skiffs we were using, but it had to retain the simplicity, lightness, and performance of the Goat. Sometimes you end up with a very different boat than what inspired a project! Yet we got light, simple, and fast!
KEY FEATURES
Ideal for beach cruising due to its lightweight, excellent capacity and ease of handling
Kits available for either a centerboard or a daggerboard, with mizzen or no mizzen, Fancy Sapele option
Beginner level build, so someone who is a motivated first-timer can built this boat!
The CIY is ideal for those wanting to camp-cruise, go daysailing, and explore the coast, lakes, or larger rivers in beautiful fashion and versatility. The boat is a great size for singlehanding but has the capacity and freeboard to take a kiddo or two or another adult or two. The sailing performance is excellent with her strong bearing aft and powerful lug rig. Yet, when you drop the rig and row, she will glide and track nicely over the distance. The extra freeboard may be a bit more than ideal if you try to row into the wind, but then you'll likely raise the sail again and be glad you have the extra protection. The interior is open and inviting and allows for side bench seating in the cockpit and crew seating on the midship thwart. The CIY does very well in light air yet the firmer bilge and good freeboard means that she will stand up to gusts, especially with some internal ballast added under the middle seat.
“The Calendar Island Yawl definitely lived up to and exceeded my hopes as a capable small cruising sailboat. ”
Hull #1 sailing on Lake Superior, 2001. HERE is another video on a lake in Maine.
Complete kit contents for the Calendar Islands Yawl
plywood kit | timber kit | hardware kit | epoxy kit
The complete kit comes with a hull timber kit, but also a spar timber kit made from native Spruce. Standard in the kit is a birdsmouth mast, a solid yard and mizzen, and a hollow-box boom. With our hardware package chock full of all the fittings, fastenings, blocks, and rigging, we will make sure your CIY will work beautifully on the water.
6mm parts come from Okoume and comprise planking as well as some interior components.
All the 9mm parts include structural and interior components as well as the daggerboard assembly (or centerboard if that option is taken).
The chipboard parts form the temporary strongback and building jig over which the boat is built
The full timber kit includes precut parts from select hardwoods and softwoods for the hull and Spruce for the spar timber kit
Options, Upgrades and Accessories for the CIY
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Daggerboard or centerboard options available
Fancy layout available featuring Sapele sheer strake and seats
Vacuum bagging rudder and daggerboard plywood (upgrade)
Foil shaping rudder and center/daggerboard on our CNC table (upgrade)
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Spacer blocks to make open (spaced) gunwales
Hollow, Birdsmouth or Carbon fiber mast
Birdsmouth or solid, Spruce mizzen
Timber-stave daggerboard and rudder made from cedar and spruce (in lieu of standard plywood DB and rudder - note centerboard is not available in this option)
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SS snap hooks for quick release connections
Ronstan 12mm RopeGlide fairlead for mast (upgrade from RF59 which is standard)
57mm Ratchet block for mainsheet (on bridle or upgrade further to stand-up base)
Downhaul assembly led aft to cockpit rather than to bulkhead
Can provide breakdown of upgrades
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White, Cream or Tanbark sails available
Oarmaking kit for flat blade oars
Sawhorse cradles (highly suggested)
A hand tool kit to build the CIY 16 is available
CONSTRUCTION PHOTOS
Construction of the CIY is suitable for advance beginners or a beginner with hands-on skills. The kit builds with our signature, precut-strongback with self-jigging, CNC-cut features. This makes the set up of the boat -- the foundation of the boat -- very quick and easy. The marine 6-9 mm plywood components as well as the stem and stern attach to this building jig set-up seamlessly. After beveling the stem and transom, the planks wrap around the bulkheads and molds and register into precut notches. The bottom and first plank are edge glued with epoxy and fiberglass then each plank receives a 3/4" wide bevel, cut with a block plane, and the next plank is glued on with epoxy. This glued lapstrake method is easy and enjoyable and explained in the instructions. After turn over, there are some cleats to install, the seats and tank tops, and trim.
“I’ve now gotten comfortable sailing it in 15-20 kts of wind... with all the gear in it, and 190 pounds of extra crew, the boat still sailed great in 5 kts of wind on our only light-air day.”
The CIY can be build from just plans. Learn more and order by going to our webpage about plans packages.