Construction Gallery
Specifications
LOA – 16’6″
LWL – 14’9″
BOA – 5’10”
Hull Draft – 9″
Displacement (w Crew)– 1300 lbs
Recommended HP– 40-70 hp
Max Occupant Capacity – 5 Adults
Design Brief
This was truly a dream project! Growing up on Lake Erie, Lyman boats were revered for their beauty and grace in the often choppy waters of this Great Lake. My father and uncles all owned one at some point. Their future boats were always compared to these trusty wood lapstrake models of their youth.
When Chippewa Boatworks approached me about designing a custom boat for Lake Erie waters, I immediately floated the idea of a modern lapstrake runabout. With full production capability, a CNC machine, and very talented craftsmen, it seemed the perfect fit. It turns out, it was!
A few phone calls were made, introductions with Doc Lyman were had, and we all had the pleasure of digging through old Lyman drawings and pictures in his extensive archive. We quickly narrowed in on a few key elements of past Lyman models that they wished to see in the new model. The flare in the bow, tumblehome aft, and, of course, the lapstrake topsides were all important details.
Construction
From the start, our aim was to design a custom boat that was efficient to build. The original Lyman Boatworks had hundreds of patterns for each hull plank of every model to quickly cut their planks. Today, we have computer programs and CNC machines. The topside planks are developed on the computer and cut on the machine, including a tapered rabbet. When applied to the hull, they fit perfectly on the first try and only need to be glued and clamped to the construction strongback.
We chose a cold molded bottom sheathed in and out with basalt fabric. This hull bottom will last forever with no concern of leaking plank joints, broken ribs, or rotten planks.
Availability
Chippewa Boatworks is currently building a “classic” model and a center console version. They plan to offer this line of 16.5′ models and will be starting a 23′ model once these are complete.