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Maiden Voyage
Henley 18 slipper Launch
The Henley 18 is a marriage of a classic English river launch design with state of the art composite construction and propulsion. She was launched in early November 2007 at Crescent Lake in Maine. The design is based on the Henley 18 designed by Paul Fisher BSc. AMRINA of Selway Fisher UK
Links to Valued Contributors & Resources
- ATL Composite Duflex Panels
- Atlantic Hardwood Specialty Woods and Milling
- Crabapple Downs Standard Poodles- "THE BEST"
- DESIGNER: Paul Fisher
- Dual Pro Battery Charger
- EPIC Electric Submersible
- Fetchdog-dog goodies
- Hamilton Marine: Supplies-Paints-Fittings
- Lifeline AGM Marine Batteries
- Swim for your Heart
- Triad Trailers
- West Epoxy
About Me
- Henley18
- Yarmouth, Maine
- 58 years of dreaming. My boating crew also are my Skijoring and Dog Scootering partners. Credit to my wife behind the camera and supporter of my search for eternal youth-she laughs again.
Swim for your Heart
Swim for you Heart is grass roots effort to increase awareness of heart disease and heart health. The cause is being championed locally in Maine and in the USA by Pat Charette-long distance, cold water swimmer, whose youngest brother Robbie died from heart disease in his mid thirties. Pat's efforts in the water have garnered world wide attention with her age based world record for the Straits of Gibraltar in 2010. Her schedule for 2011 includes the English Channel and Catalina. Pat is probably most remarkable because in so many ways she is not remarkable. As a grandmother holding down a full time job she is probably the last person you think of as a world class athlete.
To learn more about Pat visit her blog at http://patgalant.blogspot.com/ and for more about Swim for your Heart visit
http://swimforyourheartfeb14.com/
Background
Several years ago I tired of the noise and oily smell of the old Evinrude 115. As I searched around for a style that appealed I stumbled upon the Slipper Launch. I was also leaning towards electric power. Internet searches led me to the Henley 16 designed by Paul Fisher. After an exchange of ideas Paul agreed to design the Henley 18. While in simple terms a "scale up" of the Henley 16 Paul modified the lines and we also added a tunnel so that I could raise the motor above the keel in shallow water. The Henley 16 and 18 both feature a "through hull" motor well and in my case a rigid shaft with no safety break away. The Selway Fisher plans were also based on wood frames and plywood using stitch and glue construction. I opted for Duflex 1/2 inch balsa e-glass composite. The 4X8 panels were joined into a single 8 ft X 24 ft sheet using West Epoxy. The panels were then drawn full scale and cut from the sheet. This resulted in very smooth lines in the final body hull. The frames were also made from the Duflex panels. The result is a very stiff but lightweight hull which could still be lifted by one person prior to adding decking and fitting out.
To maintain the classic appearance the deck was planked with 2 inch x 1/4 inch mahogany and ash planking then caulked with a two part black caulk by Boatlife. To enhance the classic look I added a laminated mahogany coaming and wicker seating.
Propulsion is by means of an electric submersible made by Electric Propulsion Innovation Co (EPIC) formerly Outboard Electric, Bridgeport CT. Besides their super efficient design and capability to automatically adapt to between 18 and 60 Volts the Whisper XT motor provided me with a wired, remotely located, speed control. This allowed me to totally hide the propulsion and steering system below the deck-line and control the motor from a forward position. One of the more novel aspects of the design is steering by means of a linear actuator. In addition to the steering Lenco XD 102 trim tab actuators were used for the motor jack and lowering of the swim stairs that are integrated into the transom. By good luck rather than good management the sensitivity and response provided by the actuator is a perfect match for the boat speed. You can see by the smooth wake in the photo below how nicely the hull and motor combination slides through the water.
Henley 18
Maiden Voyage