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Sunday, February 10, 2013

Kees Prins and the Loon Design

Our friend Kees is at it again. He is a prolific boat builder and designer and a genius in my book. The modified Ed Davis Surf Dory, Sparrow, that graces the header of this weblog is one of his creations.





Another fine cruising dinghy he designed and built is the Townsend Tern, belonging to Chelcie and Kathy Liu of Port Townsend. He was instrumental in building the first Welsford Scamp and perhaps is best known today for his adaptation of an Iain Oughtred Fulmar dinghy  into the micro-cruiser Fetch.






This winter, while instructing boatbuilding at the Great Lakes Boat Building School, located in the Les Cheneaux Islands of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Kees has been working on his own design for a double-ended mini-cruiser called the Loon. What better occupation in a land where winter night is longer than the day? The UP is one of the rare places in the contiguous United States where it's common to see the Aurora Borealis on a clear winter night. A frozen winter wonderland, not fit for man nor beast, but that's just one opinion...



The Loon is still in design stages and you are witness to the genius of the man behind her conception. If you study the drawings and models posted here, it will become readily apparent what I mean. You all know how much Doryman loves a double-ended sea vessel. One day he might be compelled to build a Loon, because she might be just the most perfectly conceived small trailerable cruiser available today.





Congratulations, Kees on a job well done! We look forward to the completed plans.
Anyone interested in developed plans for Loon should contact me soon.  I'll be sure Kees hears about it.





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15 comments:

  1. JotMFebruary 11, 2013 at 8:32 AM

    Dat ziet er inderdaad verdomd leuk uit!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2013 at 12:01 PM

    Looks mighty fine (fun) indeed!
    Couldn't have put that any better.
    Promising design, for me the tiler after the mizzen looks a bit odd to me (Ketch). I would have preferred it in front of the mizzen (yawl). Maybe some nitpicking from my part.
    (Have to be critical here. I just bought some other plans after procrastinating about it for 4 years. Maybe my next build)

    ReplyDelete
  3. dorymanFebruary 11, 2013 at 6:29 PM

    JotM,
    Dat heb je goed!

    I'm sure Kees has some fancy linkage designed for that tiller, re Sparrow.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFebruary 13, 2013 at 11:45 AM

    Wel sparrow thats me.
    I've been daily coming back to this design.
    And must say, I'm sold!
    Hoe meer ik er naar kijk, hoe beter.

    Maarten (no langer sparrow)

    ReplyDelete
  5. LaingdonFebruary 13, 2013 at 8:21 PM

    Kees was showing me the design when he last visited PT, back in Nov, and there is a revised version of the tiller linkage that graces Sparrow- in the Loon design, it's underneath the aft deck, to keep it clear of rigging, dock lines, etc, and that's why you don't see it in the models.

    -Laingdon (owner of Sparrow)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Eddie BreedenFebruary 9, 2015 at 6:46 AM

    Cool post. Loon looks intriguing. Any further development? I've been eyeing Romilly again as a potential build, but this Loon takes into consideration a lot of the cruising extras without fussing a boat up too much.

    ReplyDelete
  7. dorymanFebruary 11, 2015 at 4:46 PM

    Eddie,
    Last I heard, Kees was considering building Loon for himself, but I don't know if the plans are for sale yet.
    I'll contact him and let you know.

    ReplyDelete
  8. dorymanFebruary 16, 2015 at 4:52 PM

    Eddie,
    If you happen to check back here, I've talked with Kees and yes, he is selling Loon plans. Unfortunately we have no way to contact you. I sent him a link to your google+ page, so maybe he will find you that way........

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JotMSeptember 10, 2015 at 12:19 PM

      That sounds interesting. How can Kees be contacted?

      Delete
  9. eddie breedenFebruary 17, 2015 at 2:21 PM

    Yes. Kees emailed me this morning. Thanks for the help. Boat looks to be a really good candidate here.

    ReplyDelete
  10. dorymanSeptember 10, 2015 at 9:00 PM

    Leave your email here and I'll pass it on.

    ReplyDelete
  11. JotMSeptember 11, 2015 at 1:39 AM

    Thanks.

    But I guess that when the times comes I will just contact him (or yourself) through Google+. I guess I could have asked Bert van Baar as well; what a small it is we're living in, even when we're living about 4400 nm apart. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousJune 8, 2017 at 5:19 AM

    Double ended sailing boats are pure vanity! The pointed back end only has a place in underpowered vessels... canoes and rowing skiffs. Length for length a transom offers better stability, higher top speed, better accommodation, more reserve buoyancy, higher top speed.... and somewhere to easily hang the trailer lights! If you can afford to throw away 20% of your boat's length, build a double ender.

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousJune 8, 2017 at 5:29 AM

    double enders... other problems are usually the remoteness of the rudder head from the helmsman, and the difficulty of arranging convenient sheeting.

    ReplyDelete
  14. dorymanJune 8, 2017 at 1:42 PM

    Having an anonymously bad day? You seem to have missed the point here. No need to be rude about it, it's all good fun.

    ReplyDelete