pelican sailboat plans

Bill Short spent 28 years as a tugboat captain on San Francisco Bay and he was familiar with its rough waters and tricky summer winds. An avid recreational sailor and boat designer, he wanted a boat that hadn’t been invented yet – a heavy weather sailing dinghy capable of crossing the notoriously treacherous Golden Gate. It had to be roomy and comfortable for extra crew and family members and it had to be safe for a single-handed sailor. With these and other requirements in mind, Captain Short went to work. What he came up with was a plywood sailing dinghy that was a unique departure in both hull design and sail plan.

One of Bill’s influences was the design of the Liberdade , built by Captain Joshua Slocum in 1887. Captain Slocum and his family sailed from Brazil to the United States in this boat, described by the captain as “part Cape Ann dory and part Japanese sampan”. The ability of the Liberdade to stay on top of steep seas was helped by her immense flare and deck level beam. Bill also considered the design of the scows and other native working boats that he had seen and sailed during his WWII stint in the Orient. All of these boats shared three characteristics: a lug rig, a sampan bow and ample freeboard. From all of these sources came the inspiration for San Francisco Pelican #1, the Chloe Maru , launched in 1959.

Here is what Bill Short wrote in Building the San Francisco Pelican:

San Francisco Bay’s main ship channel is a very rough and windy arm of the sea. It has a well-earned reputation for its strong west winds and choppy waters. Waters which most small centerboard sailboats carefully avoid. This challenge was met by the San Francisco Pelican… The sampan bow proved to be buoyant and broachproof, and her generous freeboard and flare proved to be real insurance against swamping. It is a dinghy for heavy weather and yet a handy, fast centerboarder. The Pelican has…demonstrated that a twelve-foot non-ballasted centerboard sailboat CAN cross these waters through the roughest chop and stand up to the strong Summer afternoon winds.

Vital Statistics

A HEAVY WEATHER DINGHY

The Pelican has been described as looking like a floating bathtub. Someone even called it “the ugliest boat afloat”. Ungainly it may be, but its very ungainliness is its prime virtue. Its unique flat bow is a major factor in preventing burying and broaching when running before the wind in a swell and its flaring topsides give the boat extremely effective righting leverage. Even the single-handed sailor can shift his head and shoulders to windward in order to keep the boat on an even keel. Its generous flare and freeboard are more insurance against swamping.

As what Bill Short referred to “a nautical rabbit’s foot”, the Pelican is designed to carry extra buoyancy in the form of styrofoam blocks, installed on the starboard side only. The styrofoam, together with the wide beam and high, flaring sides, provides the capacity for self-righting. As experienced Pelican owners like to boast, the boat can be turned over, but it isn’t easy. Some Pelican fleets offer a Turtle Award to skippers who manage to capsize or swamp their boats.

Granted, the San Francisco Pelican doesn’t sail well to weather and it cruises at only 3 to four knots, but it’s a stout little boat with a loyal (and growing) following.

The Pelican is an ideal boat for Junior Sailing programs. The boat is certainly safe for beginning sailors and while it’s an easy boat to learn on, learning to sail it well takes practice.

BUILDING THE SAN FRANCISCO PELICAN

Bill Short didn’t build the first Pelican with the intention of selling the plans, but in the months following her launching, the Chloe Maru began to attract attention due to her “ugly duckling” charm and remarkable seaworthiness. An article in a San Francisco newspaper generated even more interest and soon Captain Bill began receiving requests for building instructions. In 1960, Rudder magazine published a letter from Bill and a photo of the Chloe Maru and in 1963, a three-page article about the boat.

Bill and his wife Muriel began reproducing the plans for the Chloe Maru and providing them to amateur boatbuilders. The early plans were workable but fairly crude, until a retired marine insurance adjuster became interested in the boat and worked with Bill to create step-by-step building instructions and more accurate drawings.

Monoque design concepts make the hull strong, light and roomy with a minimum of internal bracing. Its construction is all 3/8” plywood with the exception of the transoms, centerboard and rudder, which are 3/4” plywood. Bill assured amateur boatbuilders that if they possessed basic carpentry skills and could read a table of offsets, they would have no problem following the drawings and plans. According to an article in Good Old Boat magazine, it’s estimated that over 10,000 sets of plans have been sold worldwide. Bill died in 1986; Muriel Short still sells the plans, complete with instructions for constructing a jig. Once the first hull is built, the jig can be used to make additional hulls, making the Pelican a good design for club sailing.

In addition to the scratch-built boat, the Pelican is available as a kit - either a basic bare hull or the bare hull with all the major components cut out and rough-shaped, ready to be finished. The hull and deck kit costs approximately $1500, while a finished boat complete with sails, running gear and trailer can be purchased for around $6000. Several boatbuilders in the Pacific Northwest specialize in Pelicans; alternatively, second-hand boats in reasonable condition can be had for under $2000. Just add water!

Over the years, the basic design of the San Francisco Pelican has remained essentially unchanged; within the specifications, however, there is plenty of opportunity for customization. Most home-built boats have personal touches added by their owners, including oarlocks, boom tents and other amenities. Built-in storage compartments and boxes for camping equipment are popular; it’s even rumored that one Pelicaneer added a fiberglass foam-lined built-in beer cooler. A small outboard motor can be mounted on an adjustable bracket on the transom for use when the wind dies or the tide changes.

CRUISING WITH THE PELICAN

Bill Short designed the Pelican to be a family cruising boat, as well as a class racing boat. The Pelican’s light weight makes it easily trailerable and it can be stored in the front yard between excursions. It can tow a single-person kayak, which can be pressed into service as a dinghy, and the capacious storage space easily holds all the camping gear the well-equipped Pelican cruiser might need, including a tent, sleeping bags, cooking equipment, food and clothing. Even loaded with half a ton of people and gear, the dory bottom allows the Pelican to float in four inches of water. Bill Paleck, a local Pelicaneer, says this: “Pelicans can pack a load. I know for a fact that the fully loaded bed of a Ford pickup, my wife and our dog can fit into a Pelican and still have enough freeboard and space to sail her to our destination.” Not bad for a twelve-foot boat!

The Pelican is also perfect for the single-handed sailor who wants to cruise the islands and stop for a nap along the way. As an example of extreme cruising, a Pelican sailor named Tom Shives spent two weeks last summer sailing solo from Bellingham to Olympia in his Pelican, a distance of 120 miles without a motor. He slept onboard or camped on the beach – a trip recommended for only the hardiest Pelicaneer!

RACING THE PELICAN

The Pelican is a handy one-design racing dinghy for a skipper and one crew member; sailors of all ages and physical abilities can handle the boat. Crewmembers don’t need bulging muscles to tend the sheets or six-pack abs for hiking out. Parents or grandparents can pair up with kids or grandkids. Many spouses race together and are still speaking afterwards. The Pelican certainly won’t keep up with the high tech planing dinghies, nor is it meant to. It does, however, take skill and practice to get top performance out of the hull and rig. It’s an economical boat to own, easily rigged and unrigged and well adapted to most any racing venue with a launch ramp nearby. It’s a great boat for small clubs or even a few friends who want to get together for an informal regatta. The design and construction materials have not changed over the years, so older Pelicans are still competitive with new ones. Most important, there is an active racing fleet in the Pacific Northwest.

SAN FRANCISCO PELICAN VIKING FLEET III

Muriel Short estimates that 6,000 Pelicans are in use today. Many amateur builders don’t register their boats with the Pelican Association, so the number could be much higher. Pelican activities on the West Coast center around the California and Puget Sound fleets. The Puget Sound fleet came into being around the time that Fred and Don Smith, the Pacific Northwest’s premier Pelican builders, got enough Pelicaneers together to form a fleet. Don applied for a fleet number and Viking Fleet III was born. From all reports, those early Vikings were a rowdy bunch. Things have calmed down since those days, but not much: the present fleet sails year-round. Frostbite racing begins in October and ends with the fleet championships in April. Every two weeks, hardy Pelicaneers assemble at a different body of water, salt or fresh, for a series of three races, winds permitting.

In addition to racing, Viking Fleet III cruises all summer. Day cruises and fun days are popular and a two-week cruise in July gives local Pelican sailors the chance to meet Pelicaneers from other parts of the Pacific Northwest. Fred Smith leads a cruise through the San Juans in August. Short hops from island to island allow plenty of time for fishing, crabbing and relaxing on the beach.

In his introduction to Building the San Francisco Pelican, Bill Short wrote:

“On any windy bay, where the waters are choppy and the wind is swift, you’ll find that the San Francisco Pelican will achieve a happy accommodation with the sea that makes her a buoyant craft to behold – and better to be in!”

If you’d like more information about Viking Fleet III, please contact Bob Rodgers, the current Commodore. His email address is [email protected] . Muriel Short’s email address is [email protected] . You are also invited to visit the official SF Pelican website.

For kits or completed boats, see Ratty's Boatworks - https://rattysboatworks.com/

50th Anniversary Collectors Issue - September/October Issue No. 300 Preview Now

Sailboats - Cruising

William h. short.

SF Pelican 12 foot: Three sheets of drawings, step-by-step building instructions, sail plans, lists for materials and hardware, and sailing handling information. Note: Drawing plans come in pdf format and can be printed to full hard copy format.

Great Pelican 16 foot: (2-in 1 Plans package). All of the above material, plus three sheets of scale drawings and additional building instructions, sail plans, lists for materials and hardware, and sailing and handling information. Note: Drawing plans come in pdf format and can be printed to full hard copy format.

Super Pelican 18 foot: (3-in 1 Plans package). Note: Drawing plans come in pdf format and can be printed to full hard copy format.

Full set of plans is needed to scale up to the larger versions.

Plans will be sent immediately upon receipt of payment. USA mailing includes postage. For Canada, and Overseas please add $10.00 USD to the cost of plans. Payment options: Paypal or paper check.

Design Specifications

Laurie Heidinger P.O. Box 63192 Colorado Springs, CO 80962 719-237-4027 [email protected] or [email protected]

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Inside the Classes: The Pelican

• By Kurt Hoenhe
• Updated: September 11, 2018

It would be hard to find a more anachronistic racing boat than a San Francisco Bay Pelican. Its short rig, 12-foot pram hull and hefty 600-pound weight don’t exactly lend themselves to heart-pounding foiling into a jibe mark. Like the bird, the Pelican looks a bit “different.” And, like the bird, it suits its environment just fine.

And for Fleet 3 in the Pacific Northwest , different is perfect. In this small fleet (around 10 active boats) the main event is usually the potluck. Wherever the potluck is, they’ll get in some races. Racing, members say, is really secondary to eating and socializing. The racing season is fall, winter and spring when there’s more predictable winds. Summers, after all, are for cruising.

The Pelican was designed by Californian Bill Short in 1959, to be easily built from sheets of plywood and sailed by a family on a budget. It was supposed to fill several roles; cruiser, racer, daysailer, fishing boat and even a yacht tender.

At the time, Fred Smith, of Samish, Washington, bought some pram plans for 25 cents and built one for his own use. It caught some neighbors’ eyes and they started lining up for one of their own, and voile, Smith and his brother Don had burgeoning careers. Then came along Bill Short’s design, Smith built hull No. 38, and it wasn’t long before Smith was building them and selling them all over. One went to Norway and 17 to a reservoir in Oklahoma.

Local families took an immediate interest. Here was a boat that was easily trailered, launched and rigged. The lug rig is an important feature. It makes it easy to step the mast, a big plus for smaller or older crews rigging at the ramp. While only 12 feet long, the Pelican is roomy and stable with high freeboard. A large rudder makes it maneuverable. But it’s not fast. As every sailor knows, if it’s one-design, it’s game on at any speed.

Don Smith was usually the race committee, and Fred was usually skippering one of the boats. It was like a builder-supported one-design class on a much small, more human scale. “It was more an eating thing than a sailing thing,” Smith admits. That said, there were and are fleet championships and everyone’s definitely keeping score. The fleet championships are done in a round-robin format trading boats between races so nobody had a big advantage.

The Pacific Northwest is blessed with countless places for Pelican racing. It could be Holmes Harbor on Whidbey Island or Gig Harbor on the Kitsap Peninsula. These are saltwater venues are protected with verdant shores and amazing wildlife that may even include whales. Freshwater venues include Lake Sammamish, Lake Union in downtown Seattle, Lake Washington, Lake Ballinger and Cranberry Lake. Over the last 50 years it would be safe to say they’ve launched and raced in scores of both freshwater and saltwater venues, and eaten salmon in dozens of backyards.

There were more distant regattas as well. Terry Gosse, who grew up racing Pelicans with her father, mother and brother, remembers well some regattas at Whiskeytown Lake in Redding, California. There’d be 20 or so local boats and about five from Seattle. According to Gosse, a disagreement over the legality of loose-footed mains put an end to Washington sailors traveling the long distance to that regatta.

Pelicans are cruise-able, not just in theory, but in reality. Families would launch, pile into the Pelican with a tent and camp stoves and sail as a group to one of the Northwest’s amazing islands. The requisite potluck would commence! And for the more ambitious, there were cruises up to 10 days or more all the way up to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. For those drizzly Northwest days and nights, a boom tent could be rigged. Regarding food, “you just needed to bring a shovel,” according to Fred Smith. After all, the Northwest clams, geoducks and crab are great eating.

Here is where Fleet 3 comes into its own. How many classes have a state park beach named after them? Fleet member Robert Kotovic remembers that one of the members knew someone in the State Parks office and Parks decided that since the Pelicans used a certain beach on Cypress Island so often, it might as well be named Pelican Beach. And the fleet responded by building solar-powered composting toilets.

The most memorable gatherings were the Boat Shop Regattas that Fred and Don Smith put on. They’d invite all their El Toro owners (there were more than 1,000) and Pelican owners, and about 50 total would turn up for two days of racing, camping and eating at the Smith’s property. There were also years of memorable fleet championships sailed on Seattle’s little iconic Green Lake. A raft would be anchored in the middle of the lake so boats could be traded easily in the round-robin format. The constant stream of park walkers could actually see sailboat races.

Interestingly, Fleet 3 also has one of the world’s, fastest drivers on the water. Hydroplane racing is huge in the Northwest, and for many years Chip Hanauer was the fastest “pilot.” After retiring, he was looking for a bit more sedate pace and a welcoming community, and found that by slowing down by about 200 mph he found a real home in the Pelican fleet. “What’s cool about the Pelican is it fits in a one-car garage, one guy can hook the trailer, you don’t have to have moorage and you don’t have to have a one ton truck to haul it around,” he says.

Fred Smith has watched the fleet dwindle over the years. “Fifty years ago people were looking for things to do. Not so much now.” But Fleet 3 carries on with no clubhouse but lots of enthusiasm. Today, many of the races are being sailed in coordination the newly formed South Whidbey Yacht Club. Like Fleet 3, it has no clubhouse but does have people committed to camaraderie at the local level.

Gosse, who remains an active racer if not much of a cruiser, explains one of the Pelican’s main appeals, cost. “People think you have to have money to sail. Pelicans are proof you don’t. Fleet dues are $12 per year, a Washington State Park Discover Pass allows you to launch for virtually nothing and you can still race with 15-year-old sails.”

It goes without saying to join the fleet you’ll need a dish to pass for the potluck.

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Grand Pelican plans

Discussion in ' Boatbuilding ' started by Jack_B , Feb 21, 2017 .

Jack_B New Member

Does anyone have for sale or know where I can get a set of Bill Short's Great Pelican plans? I've tried a few email addresses I've come across on line and none of them are active.  

SamSam Senior Member

http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=7766 http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/boat-design/back-basics-boat-simply-built-huge-volume-14574.html This is run by the designers widow. I don't know if it still exists or not. I don't think there is a "Grand" pelican. San Francisco Pelican Sailboats Muriel Short San Francisco Pelican Boats 203 Hawthorne Ave. Larkspur, California, 94939,USA Phone/Fax 415-924-0685 email: [email protected] SF Pelican 12' Dory Pram (One Design), Great Pelican 16' and Super Pelican 18' Pocket Cruisers, and "Yangtze 18'"Junk variation. Plans are available for amateur home builders. Click to expand...

Yes, it's the Great Pelican I'm after. I tried the email but it came back as undeliverable. Maybe I'll try snail mail. Thanks.  

ImaginaryNumber Imaginary Member

There is a Pelican Yahoo group that can help you. https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/pelican-sail/info FOR PLANS: Please Contact Muriel Short San Francisco Pelican Boats Muriel Short Pelican Sail Boats 203 Hawthorne Ave Larkspur CA 94939-1307 Phone/Fax 415-924-0685 email: [email protected] please note the webtv email is no longer applicable  

Thanks. Am a member of the Yahoo group and have received the plans from M. Short. They are a bit of a puzzle (was spoiled by the Bolger plans when I built my Micro) so any resources you might come up with would be appreciated. Am currently scouring the net for pictures of the build.  

Sorry, I don't have experience building a Pelican. But you might try asking your questions on either this forum or the Yahoo forum. Someone is bound to have an opinion!  

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twistedmember New Member

Jack_B said: ↑ Does anyone have for sale or know where I can get a set of Bill Short's Great Pelican plans? I've tried a few email addresses I've come across on line and none of them are active. Click to expand...

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Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The pacific pelican.

8 comments:

Harvest Day Regatta at Eugene Yacht Club Sept 12-13: http://www.eugeneyachtclub.org/racing/2009/2009_hdr_notice.pdf

I'm a huge fan of the Chinese junk rig. are there sail plans for this rig for the pelican?

I know of a guy who's converting his Pacific Pelican to a junk rig, but to my knowledge he's designing his sail from scratch.

this boat remind me of some Asian boat .

So I ordered the plans for the Pacific Pelican at 90 dollars .. however the Pacific Pelican plans are 55 dollars..the Great Pelican plans are 90 dollars but there is no 100 page building booklet !..yikes !..you get the plans for the San Francisco pelican at 12' and to build the Great Pelican of 16' you must refer to the San Francisco pelican plans at 12'..you also get the complimentary 18' plans for the Super Pelican and like the Great Pelican must refer to the 12' plans for building instructions... Absolute nightmare and now to.get the building instructions and rigging details for the Great Pelican you must purchase the Pacific Pelican plans at 55 dollars... including the 115 dollars for the other designs which really only show you how to build the 12' San Francisco boat...this is an expensive set of plans and Duckworks are complicate in this misleading rip off.. They also include some lunacy plan for a Yangtze Pelican junk rigged and no building manual..yikes.!!. So if you want to spend 170 dollars on some plans that don't show you how to build a boat is the called the Great Pelican boat for you...

Sorry to hear, definitely an issue to resolve. I was under the impression the plans for all those boats were no longer available. Your story is even worse than that.

I have since been contacted by Duckworks whom have forwarded me the manual and plans for the 14' Pacific Pelican.. much appreciated and i also contact the Yangtze Pelican designer whom is most helpful and excited about sharing his work on a hybrid Pelican which he has been working on for years..This will all go well to promoting this fantastic sailing dory pram into the future and the wonderful designs and efforts of Americans as usual keeping sailors safe at sea...God Bless America...and God bless you kindly boat builders.

Pleased to hear of a happy ending. Best of luck!

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• Sailboat Guide

San Francisco Pelican

San Francisco Pelican is a 12 ′ 2 ″ / 3.7 m monohull sailboat designed by William H. Short starting in 1959.

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

Plans, building instructions, and other information: Laurie Heidinger San Francisco Pelican Boats email: [email protected]

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