“Talking Sailing” From My Archives. Black Cat

by Richard Crockett

Dudley Dix’s ‘Black Cat’, the first of a new breed, has always turned heads and still continues to do so. Shortly after her launch she stormed out of Cape Town amongst the front-runners in the Cape to Rio Race, and some years later was knocked down in a violent storm a few days after the Rio Race start. That episode was the subject of a very interesting book which her designed wrote.

That book “South Atlantic Capsize” is still in demand today, and can be obtained directly from Dudley Dix’s website.

Today’s feature describes the radius chine plywood method of boat building as developed by Dudley Dix to build his 38ft boat, ‘Black Cat’, in 1994/95. That design is named the Didi 38 and it has since been followed by the Didi 26, Didi 34 and now the Mount Gay 30. All are suitable for amateur boatbuilders or professionals and are available as stock boat plans.

It’s an interesting read especially for those with a yearning to build a boat.

READ IT ALL HERE:  Pages from 2000 07 – SAILING Magazine – OCR