Building a Selway Fisher Wren

Working from plans rather than templates calls for a degree of accuracy and patience. You have to interpret a whole series of measurements, transposing them onto your plywood in a process known as lofting. You then join the dots to produce the curves you need for your boat.

The advantage of plans is that they are smaller and more "postable" than templates, and therefore cheaper to print, and cheaper to buy. Typically they cost £30. The Wren plans were drawn up in 1985, and the instructions still refer to using copper wire rather than cable ties, but the boat is a lovely shape, comparable to the Jem Iroquois which was drawn in 2006. The key difference lies in the angle of the 2 chines, with the Iroquois having a more pronounced tumblehome at the mid-line.

Photo of Lofting

Next comes the interminable process of sawing out the panels. If you are working carefully, and slowly, and one panel at a time, be prepared for several hours with a jigsaw. On the other hand, if you are more confident, and work 2 sheets at a time, all the side panels can be cut out in about an hour. Using a circular saw works better than people expect. If set to just the right depth, it can be used straight onto the bench, so no overhangs and worries about panels clattering to the floor as you cut them.

With the Wren, the bottom panel pieces are also cut out and the sides stitched to the bottom step by step, which is different from the process we use with the Iroquois, but seems to work well. Here the sides were stitched in such a way as to butt the panels rather than overlap them, which saves some planing later.