Pathfinder
is a big boat! A good sized project even for an experienced
builder and it is a real credit to Paul Groome that
he has made such rapid progress on his one.
It seems only a few months since he finished his Seagull
and ordered the plans for the big open yawl. It has
been a learning experience for him, new materials and
new skills, the Seagull
was his first boatbuilding effort and a good primer
for the main event but I must say that he has done really
well.

Launching is still a little way off but on his last
phone call we were discussing the rig and how to set
up the various blocks and lines, he sailed an R class
( a hot development planing dinghy with trapeze and
lots of carbon fibre and expensivabilium) for a while
so does have some feel for how things should go but
I enjoy the weekly phone calls and Paul likes to talk
things over so we go through the next step or two each
week.
The boat has come out well, and the two shots below
show her from an angle that shows the graceful shape,
and from the inside showing a skippers eye view looking
forward. Note the flat deck forward of the centre thwart
has enough space for two adults on camping mattresses
and is a great place to lounge or work the ship while
sailing. Also worth mentioning is that all of those
spaces you see behind the cutouts for the inspection
ports are contributing to a considerable volume of air
tank buoyancy so if the unthinkable happens she will
float high and manageable.

We’re looking forward to photos of the boat in
the water, and I am hoping to get a few shots of Craig
Gordons similar Pathfinder
in a day or two so we’ll have two of them to envy.
John Welsford,
Designer
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