John's Sharpie
Description
John's Sharpie is a modern wooden sailboat design created by John C. Harris, the CEO of Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC), a company specializing in boat kits and plans. Introduced in 1996, it draws inspiration from traditional 19th-century New England sharpie workboats—flat-bottomed vessels originally used for oyster tonging in shallow waters around New Haven, Connecticut. These historic sharpies were valued for their speed, shallow draft, ease of handling, and quick construction from affordable materials. Harris updated the concept for contemporary homebuilders, emphasizing lightweight stitch-and-glue plywood construction to produce a fast, versatile day-sailor and camp-cruiser suitable for shallow waters, beach launching, and leisurely outings.
The standard boat dimensions
| i | - |
|---|---|
| j | - |
| p | 16.58 ft |
| e | 6.75 ft |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | - | 16.58 ft | 6.75 ft | - | - | - | - |
Sails
| Sail Type | MAINSAIL |
|---|---|
| Luff | * 16.58 ft - (5054 mm) |
| Foot | * 6.75 ft - (2057 mm) |
| Leech | * 17.54 ft - (5346 mm) |
| Tack Angle | * 88 ° |
| Diagonal | * 17.68 ft - (5389 mm) |
| Head (inches) | 3 in - (76 mm) |
| Area | * 57.75 ft² |
| Comments | This is a loose footed sail. There are three battens: 1.25', 2', and 2' (from top down). Sail is fitted with 5/8' sail slides along the luff used with 5/8' track on the mast. |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.