This is the wherry from our home page, with her builder, Dave Monley and wife Elizabeth aboard. Below is a photo of their Brittany Belle–our Brittanies settled right in to wherries too.

With her shapely champagne-glass transom, the Duck Trap Wherry has the look of a light Trap Skiff. A fast pulling boat based on proven lines, she keeps her bow up in rough going, though her forefoot is cut away to make her more maneuverable and to keep her from tripping in a following sea. Initial and secondary stability are high, and her long run aft insures her speed. If you had to pick one boat for recreational use in all conditions, you would be hard pressed to do better than this Duck Trap Wherry.

Now, for those who are of the opinion that a DTW is only suitable for protected waters, we offer the following...

Builder (and rower) David Brewin wrote to say: "I competed in the 25th Anniversary of the Blackburn Challenge last month rowing my Duck Trap Wherry I built from your plans. This was the third time I participated and you will be glad to hear that I cut almost an hour off my previous best time. The attached photo shows me just after passing Thatcher’s Island off Cape Ann." [The Blackburn Challenge is a 20+ mile circumnavigation of Cape Ann, Massachusetts.]

Speaking of all conditions, what about our New England winters?
Click here to see for yourself.

We currently have one very much like this for sale.

As promised, the Boatbuilding in Pictures CD for the Duck Trap Wherry,
is ready to go... 180 pages/260 photos for $25. The primary subject for the CD is Osprey, a 16' sailing model we built in 2004. You won't find a more complete look at the boatbuilding process anywhere: Getting out the moulds and setting up, making the backbone, planking one plank at a time (it even shows lining off and spiling), installing the frames, building the thwarts and the centerboard case, installing the rails, getting out the spars and oars, even casting the lead centerboard ballast. It's all on the CD, and it's all in the full color print version too if you'd rather flip pages than click your way through.

We've developed sprit rigs ranging from 80 to 100 square feet for the 14, 15, and 16-foot models, and the sail plan for the 16 can be either single-masted, or, get this... a ketch rig like the Newfoundland Trap Skiff! Better yet, these rigs integrate with existing designs,, utilizing existing rowing thwart positions, so adding a rig to the wherry you've already built won't look like an afterthought.

The combined sail plan page includes the rigs for all models, and details for spars, centerboard and case (two types), and for the traditional and even a kick-up rudder.

Here's a look at Osprey on the day we took her outside to check her rig. (That's builder's parlance for making sure the mast actually fits.)

This is actually one of the photos from the CD, in the rigging chapter.

As originally designed and drawn, the plans are for traditional construction with riveted laps and ribs. Since that time we have built a few glued lap models, and have written a book for the express purpose of helping you build your own glued lap wherry (or double ender, for that matter).The plans for the 16-footer are the only ones you'll need. Loftings are available for the 14' and 15' boats.

By the way, if you plan to build a good pulling boat like this one, you are going to want good oars to go with her.. .and the cludgy basswood ones aren't it. making your own oars is not difficult provided you have sufficient information. Check out our oarmaking plans. We even offer a lofting. These oars were designed for serious rowers. They are far more efficient than their straight bladed counterparts, and they are easier to make. Check 'em out. You won't be disappointed.

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Lofting prices include delivery in the US.

How to Order

By the way...If you think you would really benefit to have a copy of Lapstrake Boatbuilding close at hand while you are building your wherry, we are pleased to offer a very economical alternative:

This CD contains all of the same information in .pdf format plus an expanded appendix for only $25. FYI, we offer Wherries in this format as well.

As is usually the case, the very first boat we built from these plans was to something other than the design length. This one measures 18' overall, yet the offsets are unchanged from the original plans. The plans say 16' overall, but we've built them from 14' to 18', by simply changing the spacing between the moulds.

Want to see some more wherry photos? Here are two lovely ones built from our plans featured on our Shop News page.

>>>>Compare all 5 of our wherries<<<<

We've been told that our comparison chart is very helpful
If you are interested in learning considerably more about wherries,
then you will want to take a look at this
our book, Wherries.

'Want more information? You won't do better than our
Duck Trap Wherry CD
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