Skipjack
Description
The Skipjack by Stevenson Projects refers to a classic family of lightweight, home-built plywood daysailers/dinghies designed for fun, easy construction, and shallow-water play. The original Skipjack (from the 1970s, featured in Peter Stevenson's book "Sailboats You Can Build") was a simple ~12 ft open-cockpit boat, while the modern evolution is the Super-Skipjack (introduced around 2010–2011), stretched to 14 ft with upgrades for better performance and builder-friendliness. Both draw inspiration from traditional Chesapeake Bay skipjack workboats (shallow-draft oyster dredgers), but scaled down massively for recreational sailing—sporty, responsive, and perfect for beginners, families, fishing, or casual lake/river days. They're trailerable/car-toppable, beachable, and great first projects (stitch-and-glue plywood/epoxy, detailed plans with photos and step-by-step guides).
Construction Details
| Designer | Stevenson Projects |
|---|---|
| Builder | Home Built |
| Length | 12.000 ft |
| LOA | 12.000 ft |
| Year Built | 1970 |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | 11.58 ft |
|---|---|
| j | 4.50 ft |
| p | 9.33 ft |
| e | 8 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.58 ft | 4.50 ft | 9.33 ft | 8 ft | - | - | - | - |
Sails
Skipjack - MAINSAIL
| Luff | * 9.33 ft - (2844 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 8 ft - (2438 mm) |
| Leech | * 11.89 ft - (3624 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 88.03 ° |
| Diagonal | * 12.08 ft - (3682 mm) |
| Head (inches) | * 3.5 in - (89 mm) |
| Area | 37.24 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator | |
Skipjack - JIBSAIL
| Luff | * 9.94 ft - (3030 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 6.19 ft - (1887 mm) |
| Leech | * 8.35 ft - (2545 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 115 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 5.18 ft - (1579 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 12 ° |
| Area | 25.74 ft² |
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Skipjack - GENOA
| Luff | * 11.8 ft - (3597 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | * 7.46 ft - (2274 mm) |
| Leech | * 10.95 ft - (3338 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 150 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 6.75 ft - (2057 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 4 ° |
| Area | 39.82 ft² |
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Skipjack - SPINNAKER
| Stays | * 11.8 ft - (3597 mm) |
|---|---|
| MidGirth | * 8.1 ft - (2469 mm) |
| Foot | * 8.1 ft - (2469 mm) |
| Perc LP | * 180 % |
| Area | 81.24 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator | |
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.