Just like to thank all those people who contacted me after visiting my site where the full details of the newly built Dolphin 25 Fisher has been placed. As few of you know The D25 is the latest in the line of the Dolphin range of frameless boats that were originally designed around ten years ago in Australia.
As boatbuilder I had always thought that the bothersome task of lofting out a boat from complicated plans and frames was a real chore..by the time the framework was finished you really had enough of the whole damned thing. I wanted another way and promised myself that I would find a different way to easily and quickly construct a boat that would meet all the criteria needed for modern accepted marine practise.
I sat and thought about it and realised that frames were not needed and to prove a point built a forty two foot yacht out of epoxy composite construction that was totally frameless and I have in fact lived on lived on for over seven years. Unbelievably she cost a little over fifty thousand Aussie dollars to build and that included a new engine! She’s no show pony either and we have crashed through some serious four and five meter seas together over the last few years so the idea really does work!
( you can actually see photos of the yacht at the site if you wish)
The first in line was the twelve foot Dolphin dinghy made from four sheets of ply and woven glass mat and epoxy composite, which rapidly evolved into the Sixteen foot Dolphin sailing boat. Then came the sweet twin masted Dolphin 19ft Yawl and now finally the Dolphin 25 Fisher. Over three hundred of these boats alone have been built around the World.
So what is the Fisher 25? Living in Australia where just about every man and his dog are nuts about fishing it seems crazy to me that an average fifteen foot tinny or aluminium open dinghy now retails for between six and twenty thousand dollars! I reasoned that a larger boat could be built for much less and even a profit could be made! There is also the great satisfaction of knowing you did it yourself.
I set about designing the Dolphin 25 that a man could build alone in his shed or porch awning that would be strong, safe, unsinkable take six people fishing in comfort and inexpensive to build using the latest in Hi tech materials.
I settled for Bi-axial glass mat and epoxy composite timber construction using the latest in epoxy bonded plywood coated on glass. Using the pre-soaking method of preparing the ply before building is part of the Easy-build method which has now been in practice for over ten years!
Another of the criteria is a boat that you can sleep on in comfort, cook and washup, with a shower and toilet area too….In fact extended stays are possible with this boat
Did you find this article useful? You can find many more in the same vein by visiting EzineArticles and my website where lots of other useful tips and hints on these subjects may be found.
The result is the Dolphin D25 which has recently been finished and now awaits the first launch! They say a picture tells a story and so it should! You can see for yourself
At the dolphin website and follow the links to the Dolphin 25 photo pages.
Dolphin, boatplans, epoxy composite construction, Sailing boatplans, Fishing boat plans