Description
The Glen-L Eight Ball, a compact 7-foot 10-inch pram dinghy designed by Glen L. Witt in the 1950s and offered through Glen-L Marine Designs as an entry-level staple, serves as the quintessential first-time boatbuilding project—a versatile tender, rowboat, or sailing pram that's unsinkable, stable, and endlessly adaptable for lakes, ponds, or yacht club use by families, juniors, or solo tinkerers. Measuring 7'10" LOA with a 4-foot beam and 6-inch draft (flat-bottomed for beaching), it displaces a featherweight 65 pounds (with foam flotation for positive buoyancy), making it effortlessly car-toppable, towable by bike, or storable in a hatch; the optional cat-rigged sailing setup deploys a simple sock sail (35 square feet, SA/D ~23) over an unstayed wooden mast for gentle planning at 4–5 knots in 8–12 knots of breeze, while rowing oarlocks or a 2 hp outboard well enable 3–4 knot propulsion.
Available in conventional nailed plywood (using two ¼-inch 4x8 sheets over minimal frames) or stitch-and-glue variants (with three watertight seat/compartments for added strength), the build requires just 40–60 hours for novices via full-size patterns, emphasizing simplicity without forms or jigs—ideal for gaining skills before tackling larger Glen-L designs like the Glen-L 10 or 17.
