Round boats are a fascination, and the quffa, a basket-built boat from Iraq, is among the most fascinating because of its well-documented antiquity, its common use well into the 20th century, and its sometimes very large -- occasionally immense -- size. A quffa in Baghdad in 1914 (Source: Wikipedia) Click any image to enlarge. Known also as a kuphar and by various alternate spellings, the quffa was described in the 5th century BCE by Herodotus, who stated that they were built in Armenia for one-way trading trips on the Euphrates. In his account, they were round, built of willow frames and covered with leather. The insides were protected by straw. They carried wooden casks of wine from Armenia to Babylon, along with at least one donkey and two paddlers. One paddler would pull from the front; the other would push from the rear. Upon reaching its destination, the boat was disassembled and the leather cover folded up, to be carried by the donkey on the road trip back home -- th...
This post war beauty is one of my favorite designs. She is a 33' cruising auxiliary that has made a good boat for countless families over the years. And what's not to like? Standard user friendly interior, classic sheer and a good performing boat to boot. The design was headed up by K. Aage Nielsen when he worked for Sparkman & Stephens out of S&S's short lived Boston office. Numerous builders built the boats. Here's the layout. The design was eventually the prototype for the Hinckley Pilot. Hinckley Pilot The following is a nice article from Yachting Magazine from 1945. (Double click for readable size). Further reference can be found in the Olin Stephens book Lines and Worthy of the Sea , the K. Aage Nielsen book. And finally here are the beautifully proportioned lines. Principal Dimensions LOA 32'-11" LWL 24'-0" Beam 9'-6" Draft 4'-9"
As a follow up to my posting of earlier today regarding design 1557-C3, here is Orpheus, hull number five of the series. She was built of wood by American Marine of Hong Kong. Her cabin trunk is specific to this hull. I think the house is very nicely proportioned. There is 6'-1" headroom under the deckhouse. Image courtesy of Jeff Sanders and Wooden Boat magazine.
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