Welsford Pathfinder Lug Rig

Description

The Welsford Pathfinder is a 17-foot (5.2 m) plywood-epoxy, trailerable, lug-rigged sailing dinghy designed by New Zealand naval architect John Welsford in 2003 for amateur construction, coastal cruising, and family adventures, featuring a shallow-draft centerboard hull with 5–6 mm ply skins over stringers, a spacious cockpit for four adults, watertight flotation compartments, and a simple balanced lug sail on an unstayed aluminum mast that enables easy rigging and reefing. Capable of sleeping two under a boom tent, carrying 100–150 kg of ballast for stability, and rowing efficiently with a 7–8 knot hull speed under sail, the Pathfinder excels in sheltered waters and short offshore passages, with hundreds of examples built worldwide from plans or kits, praised for forgiving handling, robust simplicity, and classic lines that blend traditional aesthetics with modern stitch-and-glue efficiency.