Bolger Car Topper (Leg O' Mutton Rig)
Description
The Bolger Cartopper (also called "Car Topper") is a lightweight, 11-foot-6-inch plywood pram designed by American naval architect Phil Bolger in collaboration with Harold "Dynamite" Payson in the 1980s, as part of the "Instant Boats" series. Featured in Payson's book Build the New Instant Boats (1989), it's engineered for easy home construction using stitch-and-glue methods, prioritizing portability (under 100 lbs. for solo car-topping), rowing, and basic sailing in protected waters like ponds, bays, or lakes. With a narrow V-bottom for stability and a simple leg-o'-mutton or gunter rig, it offers forgiving performance for beginners—reaching 4–6 knots on reaches—while doubling as a tender or fishing skiff. Dozens have been built, often with mods like chine logs or removable thwarts for better balance.
The standard boat dimensions
| i | - |
|---|---|
| j | - |
| p | - |
| e | - |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Sails
| Sail Type | LEG-O-MUTTON |
|---|---|
| Luff | 14.25 ft - (4343 mm) |
| Foot | 9 ft - (2743 mm) |
| Leech | 13.62 ft - (4151 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 67.14 ° |
| Diag (clew/head) | 13.58 ft - (4139 mm) |
| Head (Inches) | 1.5 |
| Area | * 59.9 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.