"La Petite Louise"

As a member of the Hollyburn Sailing Club I decided after retirement that I wanted to build a sailboat. A member of the club suggested that I should look at the Ilur which is a design by French Naval Architect Francois Vivier. The Ilur is the choice of Roger Barnes in his book "The Dinghy Cruising Companion", an excellent read but unfortunately the size and weight would make it very difficult to manage at the club. So while I have purchased the plans for the Ilur, I see it as a future build that I could trailer.

For my first boat build I decided on another Vivier design, the Morbic 12. The Morbic is a versatile sailboat with generous breadth giving it stability for both sail and motor and it can also be rowed as well. I also chose to build it with the two mast positions which would allow it to be rigged as a Balanced Lug for single handling or with a jib as a Lug Sloop. In regards to the weight of the dinghy, I would estimate at least 100 kg or slightly more, which is about the maximum I would want to manage for launching and retrieving from our club ramp.

The dinghy "La Petite Louise" has been named in recognition of my French Canadian ancestry and for my late grandmother Louise Clement (née Brazeau). For the trim I am using the black walnut that my grandfather Remi Clement and then my dad had since the 1920's. Afterwards my brother-in-law Paul stored it until we shipped it to Vancouver. The mast and spars were cut and planed from a 16' 6X6" of white spruce fresh from the mill and dried over the winter hanging in the furnace room.

The Morbic 12 was an excellent choice as it is very comfortable to sail and easy to rig for both mast positions. I have made a few alterations to the original build requirements, mostly the centreboard case and the rigging. Below is a selection of images of the finished sailboat and below that is more images of the various stages of the build, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me. I hope you enjoy the story of "La Petite Louise" as much as I have enjoyed building and sailing it.