18' Catboat

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If your taste runs more to the traditional, and if your building skills are correspondingly more advanced, this 18-footer by Fenwick Williams might be worth considering. She's only slightly larger than the Wittholz catboat (WoodenBoat Plan No. 48) and has about the same cabin arrangement; however, her hull is carvel planked and round bilged—shaped just like the old-time cats that Cape Cod builders were noted for.

Designed in 1931 at the height of the Great Depression, Williams' first catboat was intended as an inexpensive craft for people who couldn't afford larger boats.

Williams, who first drew this boat in 1931 for himself and has added to and improved her since, had the amateur builder very much in mind. The drawings show a sawn frame at every station; these take the place of, and save having to build the usual temporary hull molds. Added later, in between each pair of these sawn station frames, are a couple of conventional steam-bent frames. To eliminate steam-bending elsewhere, the cabin sides and coamings are shown with corner posts, perhaps giving a less graceful appearance than the traditional oval shape, but making those assemblies easier to build.

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