Barnacle Bill Magazine March 2016 issue 3 | Page 12
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OzGoose
The OzGoose build
by Richard Palmer, Pictures by Michael Storer and Roy Espiritu.
In January 2016, Issue 1 of Barnacle Bill Magazine,
we set ourselves a challenge: to build a Michael
Storer designed OzGoose sailing dinghy to the
same specifications the Mirror Dinghy was built to
in 1962 when it was launched. Firstly, it had to be
an easy build. Secondly, it had to come in at under
£1200 + paint which is what a Mirror Dinghy kit cost
in 1962 with inflation applied. Lastly, it had to be cartoppable, so effectively under 60 kilos so it could be
carried on the roof of most average family cars. This
weight includes rigging, spars etc.
Sponsorship for the build came in from Robbins
Timber who generously offered to supply the materials we need and from Really Simple Sails in the
Philippines who have been kind enough to donate
a sail. However, to ensure that we are remaining on
target the materials and items used in the build will
have their February 2016 retail prices applied .
What followed was a great deal of calculation involving price against weight. Essentially, with timber and ply, the lighter and stronger you go the
more expensive. Given this will be a light weight
boat, it is necessary to use marine ply (in this case
Robbins Elite) and the strongest, lightest timber
we could afford for framing, foils and spars. (In this
case Western Red Cedar, for the foils and frames
and Douglas Fir for the spars and mast.) By carefully
balancing these factors we have been able to keep
the cost of the boat down to under £1200 (final figure not yet known, currently around £1080).
It’s worth stressing at this point that our challenge
was not to build the cheapest OzGoose we could
but to build one which meets the Mirror’s criteria.
We believe that the OzGoose could be built for
around £500 if exterior ply and softwood framing is
used, aluminium pole spars and a home made sail.
However, such a boat would weigh in at around 90
kilos and would not be car-toppable.
Workshop
When I initially founded BBM I had planned to create a workshop in an industrial unit with the table
saws, planning machines and hoists you find in any
professional wood working shop. However, with a
bit of thought I realised that this would not help our
readers many of whom want to build a boat but are
forced to do it in a domestic environment. Therefore I will be building OZGoose in our basement and
our garage using tools that the home boat builder
would or could have access to. Therefore, the only
power tool we will be using in the construction is
a Makita Cordless Drill and Screwdriver. All sawing
will be completed with the Z-Saws Saw Guide System and Hand Saws from Japanese Saw importer
and Z-Saws specialist, Jim Morrison of woodworkprojects.co.uk . I have had to replace a bench plane
and a box plane and purchase a new set of budget
chisels. Throughout the build I’ll be honest and
open showing all the cock ups, spills and mistakes,
the only thing you will be spared is the swearing! It
is important, if these builds are to be valuable and
worth reading about, that the update articles have
relevant content to help you build the same boat or
to help you seclect appropriate techniques.
As of 16th February, we are all good to go, we are
only waiting on the delivery of the timber, ply and
epoxy from Robbins and the sail from RSS in the
Philippines. Hopefully both will be on time.
On completing this lightweight boat we will start
the construction of the sub £500 version of the OzGoose.