Bolger 23' Light Schooner
Description
The Bolger Light Schooner, often affectionately nicknamed "Scooner," is a lightweight, gaff-rigged schooner designed by the innovative naval architect Phil Bolger in the 1980s, epitomizing his philosophy of simple, affordable, amateur-built boats that prioritize performance and ease over ornate aesthetics. Intended for protected and semi-protected waters like bays, lakes, and coastal inlets, this bald-headed (tangled) schooner offers the joy of multi-mast sailing in a compact, trailerable package—fast, responsive, and capable of carrying up to six adults while being single-handable in light airs. As part of Bolger's "Instant Boat" series, it's optimized for sheet-plywood construction using chine-log or stitch-and-glue methods, making it accessible for backyard builders. Bolger, known for radical designs like the folding schooner and sharpies, created this as a fun, versatile daysailer with schooner charm, blending traditional rigging with modern minimalism. It's featured in Harold "Dynamite" Payson's books on instant boatbuilding, where it's praised for its speed and seaworthiness despite its slender beam.
The standard boat dimensions
| i | - |
|---|---|
| j | - |
| p | - |
| e | - |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Sails
| Sail Type | JIBSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 11.5 ft - (3505 mm) |
| Foot | 6.5 ft - (1981 mm) |
| Leech | 8.42 ft - (2566 mm) |
| Length Perpendicular | * 4.69 ft - (1430 mm) |
| Area | * 26.95 ft² |
| Sail Type | DRIFTER |
|---|---|
| Luff | 13 ft - (3962 mm) |
| Foot | 11.167 ft - (3404 mm) |
| Leech | 11.83 ft - (3606 mm) |
| Length Perp | * 9.47 ft - (2886 mm) |
| Area | * 61.57 ft² |
| Sail Type | STAYSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | 13 ft - (3962 mm) |
| Foot | 11.167 ft - (3404 mm) |
| Leech | 11.83 ft - (3606 mm) |
| Length Perpendicular | * 9.47 ft - (2886 mm) |
| Area | * 61.57 ft² |
| Sail Type | GAFF MAIN |
|---|---|
| Luff | 7.42 ft - (2262 mm) |
| Foot | 8.167 ft - (2489 mm) |
| Leech | 11.67 ft - (3557 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 79.66 ° |
| Diag (clew/throat) | 10 ft - (3048 mm) |
| Head | 7 ft - (2134 mm) |
| Area | * 64.66 ft² |
| Sail Type | GAFF MAIN |
|---|---|
| Luff | 9.5 ft - (2896 mm) |
| Foot | 12.75 ft - (3886 mm) |
| Leech | 15.33 ft - (4673 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 79.88 ° |
| Diag (clew/throat) | 14.5 ft - (4420 mm) |
| Head | 7.92 ft - (2414 mm) |
| Area | * 116.25 ft² |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.