This site details the construction of an International Canoe.
The IC is fast, challenging to sail and beautiful. I first got to try sailing one in 1999. After cleaning out my shorts, it was clear to me that I had to get one of my own. It turned out that one of the people who sailed in Calgary, Martin Herbert, had built a great many of these boats. He was kind enough to sit down with me and show me pictures of boats he had built. Many of these were fibreglass hulls with wooden decks, but his boat was all wood. The all wood boat looked absolutely amazing, and so my path was set.
I've built my boat with wood and epoxy using a method called cold molding. There are more parts to a boat than the hull though, so I've also built mast, boom, bowsprit, dagger board, rudder, and seat from carbon fibre, fibreglass, foam, and wood. I feel comfortable undertaking such a large project because I have a fair amount of experience with both woodworking and fibreglass work, though no previous boat building experience. This should not discourage anyone from setting out on the adventure of building your own though. I've learnt a great deal along the way and its been very rewarding. Hopefully I can share some of what I've learnt with you, amongst these pages.
I've broken this site down into parts that I hope are easy to follow and groups the information in a useful way. I hope this site inspires you to try building your own, be it an International Canoe or some other boat. If you find the information here useful or you have any questions or suggestions regarding the methods described here I'd love to hear from you!
Signed,
Alistair Boyle
boyle@osrf.ca