The Super-Skipjack

We think this is a great boat! It's fast, nimble and responsive, and we think it's pretty. It's no surprise we feel this way, as the Super Skipjack has been on our minds for quite some time! We've been talking about building an improved version of the old Skipjack for years. There have been a lot of developments in building over time, both in design improvements and technology changes. The original Skipjack design is well over thirty years old now and deserved a new set of plans. Well, the new boat and plans are ready and it's been worth the wait!

The new Super Skipjack is now 14' on-deck (as opposed to the older version's 12' length) and has some other changes as well: It now sports a gaff rig (easier to get the spars than the older aluminum-based lateen) and the boat now sails without a daggerboard. This makes beaching much simpler and safer, and the boat still points well and tacks easily. When I sailed the prototype on a river in Texas, the wind was gusty, shifting all over the place and changing from dead to easily 15 knots in seconds. I was wary of the new design's ability to handle these conditions, especially getting back up the narrow river to the upwind launch ramp. I don't think I'd been in the boat ten minutes before I was ready to head out for points unknown, this little boat and I were going to have some fun! To pare down the description, it sails great and now that we've had more chances to explore our local sailing spots, we're big fans of this little boat's sporty feel and light weight...What fun!

Over the years we'd talked about how we'd like to set up a new Skipjack, and one of the obvious changes would be to increase the rig a bit. The new Super Skipjack reflects this, as it shares the same sail plan as the Weekender! This gives the Super Skipjack a lot of power and also means the Dacron sail sets for the Weekender will fit right on! The prototype in these pictures is sporting the set from Peter's old Weekender, but we've recently switched to a set with the reef points in case of breezier conditions. Click Here to get more information on our Dacron Sail Sets, a perfect way to finish off your Super Skipjack in style!

This boat will have the potential to form a pretty fun racing class, we think, both in the stock configuration and with experimental sail plans. At some point I will be exploring a few different rigs with mine: A more vertical gaff arrangement and a jibakker-type foresail will be some of the experiments I want to try. I'd like to keep adding to these plans, either as addenda to the full set or as supplemental plans.

One interesting modification already tried out (and which is included in the plans) is the motor-launch configuation. The hull is quite slippery, and this boat motors along great with a small trolling motor. We've had four adults aboard for motoring on the river and it was quite comfortable. This boat actually has far more cockpit room than the Weekender. It also works quite handily as a fishing machine, as proven by the member of our family who actually knows what she's doing!

The new Super Skipjack plans are in a similar format to the Weekender plans: A booklet with all of the building guide, drawings, and materials list you'd expect from a set of Stevenson Projects plans. As usual, these plans were created with the first-time-builder in mind. We've always tried to make it as easy as possible for a new builder to have a succesful, rewarding, and FUN time building one of our projects. To that end, we think these are our best set of plans in over 35 years of publishing. In addition to the usual information, this set of plans has far more photographs to help show various building steps and these really help clarify many points.

We're going to offer the Super Skipjack plans by themselves and also with the Weekender DVD set. The boats are somewhat different, but the hull building is very similar and the techniques shown in the DVD's can help a builder start their first boat project with much more confidence. We want to see lots and lots of Super Skipjacks on the water and we want to help make sure that happens! Plus: we'll get to go sailing with more people too!

Click on the picture above to see a small video of the new Super-Skipjack motoring!

Dimensions of the Super Skipjack

LOD- 13'10"
LOA (with rudder) -17'
Beam- 64"
Draught (rudder up, but with crew on board) 16"
(rudder down, w/crew)-30"
Finished displacement approximately 230lbs (Sailing version)
Sail area: 117 Sq. Ft. (89 main, 28 jib)
Crew: 2-3 when sailing, 4 when motoring (these are based on our ideas of comfortable lounging)

Click on the picture above to see a video of the new Super-Skipjack sailing!

Either way, we'd like to see this new boat grow into several new directions. One possible way this may be encouraged, especially for schools and the like, is that our preliminary cost estimate is running at right around $1000. Not too bad for a cute, fast boat! (That's with home-made sails, not the Dacron ones in these shots.) The light weight and hull shape make us want to race with this little screamer! We'd really like to see a class develop around this machine. While we haven't had ours out in conditions which might get a Super Skipjack planing, I wouldn't rule it out, especially with an experimental rig. Perhaps optimistic, but wouldn't it be fun to see a bunch of racing-versions of Super Skipjacks tearing across a bay?

Click Here to view the Super Skipjack Materials List.

Click Here to view the basic Super Skipjack Building Sequence.

Click on these photos for larger versions...

We have very nice Dacron sail sets available for those builders who would like to upgrade their projects from the tarp sails shown here.

Click Here for more information.