16' 6" Elfyn

Description

The Elfyn is a versatile, double-ended faering-style sailboat designed by the celebrated Scottish naval architect Iain Oughtred in the late 1990s, inspired by traditional Norwegian faerings with Viking-era roots. A larger sibling to Oughtred’s 15’ Elf, it’s detailed in resources like The Dory Book and Nic Compton’s biography Iain Oughtred: A Life in Wooden Boats (2023). Built primarily as a glued lapstrake plywood boat for amateur or professional builders, it emphasizes lightweight construction, ease of building, and seaworthiness for rowing, sailing, or light coastal cruising in protected waters like bays, lakes, or estuaries. At 16’6” (16.5 ft), it’s ideal for solo or short-handed crews (1–3 people), offering better capacity and stability than the Elf while remaining trailerable or car-toppable (under 250 lb rigged). The balanced lug or sprit rig with a centerboard provides forgiving handling for novices, with responsive performance in light to moderate winds (5–15 knots). Not suited for blue water passages, it’s praised for its elegant lines and versatility—rowable with two stations, sailable, or optionally powered by a small outboard. Oughtred, who passed away in February 2024, designed it for builders seeking a slightly larger faering than the Elf; builds like those featured in WoodenBoat showcase its beauty. Plans include detailed instructions, making it a popular project for intermediate builders.