Welcome to 2015

Whether 2014 was a good year or a bad one for you, it is now disappearing in the rear view mirror. It is time to take on 2015 and we are ready for it. Bring it on. Happy New Year to all.

We are settling into our new home and office. The number of cardboard boxes is diminishing as we find homes for things in closets and for pictures on the walls. Eventually I will have the garage organised enough that I will be able to get back to working on projects.

The office has been the most challenging. Somehow networks have a way of being disobedient when the time comes to reconnect everything after being totally dismantled. Like a happy family, the computers and printers are now all talking to each other again.

As part of this move I have phased out our trusty EnCAD CADjet 2 plotter that moved with us from South Africa 11 years ago. We still have the HP 750c Plus that joined the business 8 or 9 years ago and have added an HP 1055cm Plus plotter with automatic roll feeder. This is all intended to turbocharge our drawing printing capacity to better cope with the seasonal peaks of orders.

This is a temporary home for a year or two, a place of transition until we buy a more permanent new spot for ourselves. Time will tell where and when that will be.

All of our contact details remain unchanged. The mailing address, telephone, fax and email are all as before.

We are up and running again, ready for whenever you want to start your new boatbuilding project.

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International Cape Cutter Week 2015

The Cape Cutter 19 is a popular little gaff cutter that I designed for Nick Voorhoeve of Cape Cutter Yachts. Originally built in Cape Town and exported to UK, production moved to UK when Honnor Marine bought the company. Since then many boats have been built and rumour has it that the factory currently has a waiting list for boats to be built. In addition to more than 100 GRP boats, more than 60 have been or are being built by amateurs, from plywood.

Plywood Cape Cutter 19 "Tiptoe" built by Ian Allen in New Zealand.

This pretty little gaffer sails very well and has earned a very loyal following. Her character and sailing characteristics have resulted in bigger sisters coming off my drawing board as well, the Cape Henry 21 and Cape May 25. The Cape Charles 32 is now part way through the design process.

Earlier this year a group of GRP Cape Cutter 19s met in Cornwall to sail together in the first International Cape Cutter Week. After a successful event, they have now announced their plans for International Cape Cutter Week 2015, from 23-31 May 2015. The sailing area will be on the rivers and waters surrounding Suffolk Yacht Harbour on the River Orwell. For this event they hope to also have entries from Europe.


International Cape Cutter Week 2014 from Charles Erb on Vimeo.

If you have a Cape Cutter 19 or are building one and you are in UK or Western Europe, this is an event that you might consider as a holiday destination for next year. You will meet others with their boats, cruise in company, learn from each other and no doubt have a great time. I have been invited and hope to be able to be there. Time will tell whether or not that works out.

The 2014 event was enjoyed by all participants. The 2015 event is getting off to a great start, with three confirmed entries already.

To see more of this design and others from our office, please visit http://dixdesign.com/.

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Sucia Island Rendezvous 2015

July 10-13 was yet another great gathering of small gunkholing boats in Fossil Bay, Sucia Island, one of the wonderful Washington State marine parks in the San Juan Islands. Its hard to beat the camaraderie of good friends in a beautiful spot aboard some of the most seaworthy small vessels around.

This year there were nine boats carrying eleven sailors. A small but tenacious group, all with credentials as able seamen and women.

Jamie came from Victoria BC in his Phil Bolger Chebacco, Wayward Lass, fresh from the R2AK, where he made it to Johnstone Strait before succumbing to intense headwinds.
This is the view we usually have of Jamie.

Bob sailed Sally Forth, his beloved Drascome Longboat. Its easy to see why he loves this boat so much. He uses a very well designed cockpit tent for sleeping aboard. Additional photos can be found on the Doryman Flickr site.

Paul navigated from Cowichan Bay, Vancouver Island, in his Jay Benford Friendship. He recently upgraded his rigging by moving the headstay to the masthead and installing a roller furling genoa. Sadly the winds were very light, so he couldnt show us how pleased he is with his new wings.

Claire and John came from Whidbey Island in their new Night Bird. A lot of boat in a compact package. Please note the pop-top deck.

Joel and his son Tim winged from Edmonds in their John Welsford Navigator, Ellie. Navigator Joel employs a tidy clothesline anchoring system to keep Ellie close to camp.

Randy arrived in his new Belhaven 19, Clementine. I sailed with Randy in our annual "race" around Sucia. The winds and currents are fickle around this island of many faces and we have yet to complete a single race, in many years of trying. This year may have been the shortest race of all.

Joe trailered from Texas with his wood runabout. He didnt know he came to see us, it was serendipity. I met Joe four years ago while cruising around the Canadian Gulf Islands after this same rendezvous. It was good to see him again, hes a sailors sailor, with a fruitful life and many interesting stories to tell.








Ron motored in with his efficient outboard driven catamaran, Just Enuf, a plywood EcoCat from Bernard Kohler. Ron really gets around with this little cat. You may have seen his distinctive vessel around the Salish Sea.






I sailed the forty five nautical miles from Port Townsend in Belle Starr. Thats her in the photo near the top of the post. She always gets me there and back, safely and in style.

A small but fun group. The Sucia Island Rendezvous was lovely as ever, a tradition well worth keeping.

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Dudley Dix Yacht Design Calendar 2015

Our 2015 calendar is ready and our first stocks arrived today. If you are a lover of our designs then this calendar will be a great piece of art to fill that empty space on the wall of your office, home or workshop.

The cover photo (also November) is a beautiful sunset photo sent by Phil Semenov of his self-built Didi 34, sailing in Ukraine.

Here are a few other sample pages.

June is a collage of photos showing the Cape Henry 21 built by Roeboats of Co Cork in Ireland. They used some interesting and very pretty detailing in this boat, built for a customer from France.

August is the Didi Sport 15 project of Hunter Gall in Virginia Beach, USA. She is named "Scallywag", which is what Hunters grandfather called him as a child. The main photo is an interesting view during construction and has a somewhat spiritual feel.

December is Petr Muziks Shearwater 39 "Shoestring III" sailing in St Helena Bay, South Africa. Petr circumnavigated on this boat when well into his seventies.

Order your calendar from our website via the link on our homepage at http://dixdesign.com/ and we will mail it to you.

Alternatively, click here to order from our  publisher, Lulu. They will print and ship one copy, or as many as you want, from their closest affiliate to your delivery address.

Either way, get yours now to be ready for January 2015.

If you have one of our boats and would like to see it featured in one of our calendars, please send me some nice high resolution photos of her. The pics need to show her in pretty surroundings or to be interesting in some other way. Now is a good time to start with the 2016 calendar.

And if you want to see more about our designs, please visit our website at http://dixdesign.com/.

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