A 15 Pound Boat

Its hard to believe a boat can be so light, yet useful.

...Oh, but it can.  In the 1980's, Mainer Platt Monfort invented a type of construction that allows such light weight.  He named his method Geodesic Aerolite.  I built it out of curiosity.

Of course, I wouldn't waste my time building an ugly design.  Platt called this one Snowshoe 12.  Its actually 11'6", and its a stretched knockoff of Wee Lassie, designed by J. Henry Rushton in the 1890s.

Simple.  The skin is 4 ounce Dacron brushed with two coats of water based spar varnish to seal it.  Floorboards are velcroed to the frames.

                                                                                                                                              there's not much to it.

I ended up selling this boat to a guy named Joe who, interestingly, invented and manufactured a very lightweight electric motor.  He claimed the combination is "the world's lightest powerboat".  Huh.  Here's his website: www.electricpaddle.com