Saturday, January 31, 2015

New Tiki 26 in the Channel Islands

I just received these latest photos the other day from Philip Le Maitre, who has recently completed a new Tiki 26 in Guernsey, in the Channel Islands. Phil has sent me construction photos a couple of times in the past few months. Hes done an amazing job of the build and has completed it in just 12 months. Hes not a newcomer to building Wharram cats, however, having built a Tiki 21 in 1984 and then a Tiki 31 in 1990. He says he never really got on with the Tiki 31 and eventually sold her, owning a few monohulls before missing Tikis again and picking up another secondhand Tiki 21.

Phil told me he always wanted a Tiki 26, seeing it as the ideal size and tried to find a used one to buy but with no luck, went ahead and built it from scratch. Judging by these photos, I think he made the right decision. This is inspiration to me, as I slog on through the endless epoxy fillets in the interior of my second hull and look forward to better boatbuilding weather.

I really like the paint job on this one too - it reminds me of the first Wharram I built - my Hitia 17, Segundo Vez which I painted with the same color scheme. He named his new boat Scooby, obviously after the cartoon character as seen on the graphic below. Im looking forward to seeing Scooby launched, and hopefully receiving more photos once Phil is sailing.

Here you can see the large, open cockpit. Phil elected to install the outboard on a bracket behind the aft beam, giving even more clear space in the cockpit.

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