Kees Prins and the Loon Design

Our friend Kees is at it again. He is a prolific boat builder and designer and a genius in my book. The modified Ed Davis Surf Dory, Sparrow, that graces the header of this weblog is one of his creations.

Another fine cruising dinghy he designed and built is the Townsend Tern, belonging to Chelcie and Kathy Liu of Port Townsend. He was instrumental in building the first Welsford Scamp and perhaps is best known today for his adaptation of an Iain Oughtred Fulmar dinghy  into the micro-cruiser Fetch.

This winter, while instructing boatbuilding at the Great Lakes Boat Building School, located in the Les Cheneaux Islands of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Kees has been working on his own design for a double-ended mini-cruiser called the Loon. What better occupation in a land where winter night is longer than the day? The UP is one of the rare places in the contiguous United States where its common to see the Aurora Borealis on a clear winter night. A frozen winter wonderland, not fit for man nor beast, but thats just one opinion...

The Loon is still in design stages and you are witness to the genius of the man behind her conception. If you study the drawings and models posted here, it will become readily apparent what I mean. You all know how much Doryman loves a double-ended sea vessel. One day he might be compelled to build a Loon, because she might be just the most perfectly conceived small trailerable cruiser available today.

Congratulations, Kees on a job well done! We look forward to the completed plans.
Anyone interested in developed plans for Loon should contact me soon.  Ill be sure Kees hears about it.

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Kees Prins and Fetch

Kees Prins stopped by for a visit and took Doryman out for a sail on Fetch. You remember Kees. He built Sparrow, the Ed Davis surf dory on the header of this blog and also designed and built the Townsend Tern. He built the Small Craft Advisor Scamp. Hes an old friend of Iain Oughtred. Hes a world traveler from the Netherlands and a boatbuilder of some renown.






Kees is headed from his home in Port Townsend, Washington State across the United States and ultimately to Maine. He stopped by on his way to park his van and the exceptional 17 foot, gunter-rigged Fetch out back, in Dorymans boatyard. He seemed to feel right at home there.





While he was here, we launched Fetch in the Yaquina River one afternoon when the weather ranged from full sun to driving rain and eventually hail. Nice way to entertain a guest, dont you agree? Kees didnt seem to mind - in fact enjoyed himself.

You can follow Kees cross-country adventure from the blog section of the on-line magazine, Small Craft Advisor.













Where will Kees Prins wet his keel next?







Right away, Kees wanted to go out the jaws to the raging Pacific Ocean, though there was a restriction on the bar for boats under twenty eight feet. And here is the video to prove it. The mans insane (and thats a good thing).



A great day on the water my friend. Thank you so very much!


Fetch is an Iain Oughtred Fulmar Dinghy built as an open boat by my good friend, Ralph Merriman. Kees added the cabin, decks and self draining cockpit.
This boat was featured in the September/October issue of the Small Craft Advisor
There is also a discussion of this boat on the WoodenBoat Forum.
The plans for the Fulmar Dinghy can be found here.

Length	Beam		Weight (kg)	Sail Area
16 8" - 5.08m	5 10" - 1.80m		175	160 sq ft

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