Outboard small boat 16’5″ Melonseed

classic

For several years we have been receiving requests for a boat that rows as well as our 14′ Whitehall and is just as attractive, but that has more capacity and is still blazingly fast. People have also requested the ability to row tandem with sliding seats without worrying about clashing oars or keeping a delicate balance. Plus, seaworthiness for long open water adventures is desirable. We studied historical design and came across the Melonseed Skiff, which is a derivative of the famous Jersey Beach Skiff. The Jersey version, being used for a mixture of rowing and sailing as a workboat, has a higher freeboard for dryness under sail and greater load carrying capacity. However, a pure rowing boat is hindered by that high freeboard due to increased windage, weight, and steeper oar angle. With this in mind, the Melonseed was developed with an almost identical underbody as the Jersey Skiff, but she is built with one less plank at the sheer. The rowing and sailing versions of the Melonseed share an identical hull, but because of the constraints of sailing design, the sailing Melonseed includes a sealed deck, which effectively increases freeboard. There is very little difference in the rowing performance of the rowing and sailing versions, however.