From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Puddle Duck Racer
Puddle Duck Racer
Puddle Duck Racer the hassle of seeking for visibility around your sail)) that
are designed to keep the boat afloat if it were to capsize
Current Specifications and can act as useful storage area for emergency paddles
Crew 1-2 or other items. With two world championships under its
belt, and many regional competitions, the series looks to
Type Monohull (Scow)
continue growing at a steady rate.[3]
LOA 8 ft (2.4 m)
RYA PN 140.0
Puddle Duck Hatch
During the weekend of April 28–30, 2006, there was a
Development
"Puddle Duck Hatch" held in Summerland, British Colum-
Designer David "Shorty" Routh (PDRacer.com rules) bia. Organized by PD Racer enthusiast Gordon Seiter, the
event, gathered various groups from the area to build PD
A Puddle Duck Racer or PD Racer is an 8 foot (2.44 m) Racers on Friday and Saturday, and then race them on
long, 4 foot (1.22 m) wide, 16 inch (40 cm) high, spec se- Sunday. The build was sponsored by various local mer-
ries, racing sailboat or day sailer. It is a one design hull chants. 10 boats were built at the hatch, which brought
shape with wide options in other areas. Billed as "the eas- the number of registered hulls to 99, and hulls 100 and
iest sailboat in the world to build", the scow hull is a sim- 101 "went 3D" during the same time in other locations,
ple box, usually built of plywood. A sideview of the hull bringing the hull count to 101.
dimensions can be seen to the right. PD Racers have a In May 2007 a second Hatch was held and five boats
Portsmouth Handicap rating of 140.0 and their USSA code were built. 2008 saw the name of the event changed to
is PDR [1][2]
PDR. the Summerland TimberMart Hatch and saw five more
boats built.
History and scope In Fall of 2010, Summerland, British Columbia will
be hosting the 2010 Puddle Duck "World Championship"
The PD Racer was designed by David "Shorty" Routh, and Race.
was influenced by the $50 Sailboat Race, The Moth Class,
Gavin Atkins’s Mouse Boat group, Jim Michalak boat de-
signs, the Phil Bolger "Brick" design, and a number of
Intent
other box boats. While the hull designs of the Puddle
Duck Racer and the Bolger Brick look very similar, the
only similarities between them are the rectangular
perimeter shape.[1] The PD Racer design was first pub-
lished & released on July 7, 2003, the first PD Racer hull
was built in January 2004. Despite the design’s young age, The original PDRacer.com sanctioned dimensions to which a
as of September 23, 2010 there were 500 PD Racers reg- PD Racer must conform; the lower 10 inches (25.4 cm) of the
istered globally, primarily in the United States, but with hull, not counting foils, must match the given dimensions.
growing fleets in other countries also, such as Australia,
Canada, England, Ireland, and South Africa on a total of With a focus on a simple design that uses low cost mate-
five continents with a scattering of other locations such rials, PD Racers are meant to be accessible to as wide a
as Hong Kong, Switzerland and Africa. The top three ar- variety of people as possible. All the materials needed to
eas that are home to a large number of puddleducks are build the boat can be found at a well stocked hardware
Texas, the Okanagan Valley (located in British Columbia, store. While the boats are required to conform to a spe-
Canada) and Australia. To register a hull and receive a cific shape for use in class racing, the hull can also be
hull number, the basic hull (four sides, and two airboxes used for recreational sailing, paddling, and motoring. [1]
(or chambers) attached to a plywood bottom) must be as- The PD Racer is unique in several aspects; its lack of
sembled (called "going 3D" by the builders). Puddle Duck sailing rig specification allows for any design of mast or
Racers generally are built with two airboxes (either two sail, allowing builders a unique ability to express them-
at the front or back, or two on the sides (if they are built selves through the rig they design and build. Additional-
on the sides of the boat, they provide a practical seating ly, PDRacer hulls are numbered after photographic proof
area for the crew, making it easier to navigate without is given that that hull has been completed rather than as-
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Puddle Duck Racer
signed by the plan number a builder is given. Since many point of the class is to design and build your own config-
people may order plans and never build the boat, photo- uration, because the boat really is just a simple box with
graphic evidence gives a much more accurate estimate of a curved bottom.
boat numbers.[1][3]
References
Class rules [1] ^ "History of the PD Racer".
The full set of class rules (along with an FAQ) can be http://www.pdracer.com/articles/history/.
found at PDRacer.com http://www.pdracer.com/class- [2] 2005 "Table of North American Portsmouth
rules/ Numbers and Wind Dependent Handicaps".
http://www.ussailing.org/portsmouth/tables05/
Popular Configurations [3]
tables05cb.htm 2005.
^ "World Wide List Of PDRacer Members & Hull
The most popular version of the PDRacer is the "End Air- Numbers". http://www.pdracer.com/members/.
box" design. This configuration has float tanks known as
airboxes towards the ends, being the bow and stern. Free
plans on the PDRacer.com called the "Simple 18" can be
External links
used to build that version. The second most popular ver- • www.pdracer.com The worldwide mother site for PD
sion is the "Full Length Side Airboxes", where the air box- Racers.
es are located down each side. This version can be made • PDRacer video clip Puddle Duck on Youtube.
by making 4 side panels and attaching a bottom. There • Boat Building Books at PDRacer.com
are also a number of free plans available for other types
of boats, see the free plans page at PDRacer.com. A major
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Categories:
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