Bolger Black Skimmer
Description
The Black Skimmer is a 25-foot-3-inch plywood sharpie schooner designed by innovative American naval architect Phil Bolger in 1973, specifically for exploring shallow tidal creeks and marshes like those in the lower Chesapeake Bay. Named after the seabird that skims the water's surface for food, it embodies Bolger's philosophy of simple, affordable, seaworthy craft for amateur builders—featuring a flat-bottom hull, minimal draft (10 inches), and a balanced schooner rig for easy short-handed sailing. Built for coastal cruising and gunkholing rather than racing, it's stable, roomy below, and deceptively fast on reaches, with a focus on functionality over aesthetics. Plans have inspired dozens of home-built examples worldwide, often customized for regions like the Pacific Northwest or Thames Estuary.
The standard boat dimensions
| i | 30 ft |
|---|---|
| j | 9.08 ft |
| p | - |
| e | 16.58 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 ft | 9.08 ft | - | 16.58 ft | - | - | - | - |
Sails
| Sail Type | DRIFTER |
|---|---|
| Luff | 29.75 ft - (9068 mm) |
| Foot | 15.5 ft - (4724 mm) |
| Leech | 26.5 ft - (8077 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 151.6 % |
| Length Perp | * 13.77 ft - (4197 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 10.46 ° |
| Area | * 204.87 ft² |
| Sail Type | LEG-O-MUTTON |
|---|---|
| Luff | 30 ft - (9144 mm) |
| Foot | 16.58 ft - (5054 mm) |
| Leech | 29.85 ft - (9098 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 73.38 ° |
| Diag (clew/head) | 29.84 ft - (9095 mm) |
| Head (Inches) | 2 |
| Area | * 240.79 ft² |
| Sail Type | LEG-O-MUTTON |
|---|---|
| Luff | 16 ft - (4877 mm) |
| Foot | 8.5 ft - (2591 mm) |
| Leech | 15.24 ft - (4645 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 69.4 ° |
| Diag (clew/head) | 15.25 ft - (4648 mm) |
| Head (Inches) | * 4 |
| Area | * 66.19 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.