I was recently asked for my thoughts on John Welsford’s
Tread Lightly. She’s a 13’ 4” by 5’ 5” cat yawl for one person to cruise sheltered
waters such as those of the Thames Estuary, and the tidal rivers of Essex and
Suffolk.
When I built Micro* I was in correspondence with John and he
asked if I would be interested in a design he was working on, a larger single-hander
he named Tread Lightly. I was, and he sent me a set of plans for publicizing on
my Small Sailboats website. I was considering building something similar, but
was very much taken with Matt Layden’s Paradox, and in preference to Tread
Lightly I built ‘Faith’**.
I opted for the heavier displacement boat and I liked the
concept of being able to sail her from within her cabin. In my opinion she was
more powerful and better suited for the sort of long distance coastal cruising
I had in mind. More than that, Paradox seemed simpler to build, although in
fact it took an awful lot of effort. I preferred the single furling lugsail to
the combination rig of TL’s balanced lugsail and a sharpie spritsail mizzen. The 5’ 5” beam of TL made her impossible to
build in my garage, and that was another reason why I chose Paradox with a beam
of 4’ 1/2 “.
Links
Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly
Building Tread Lightly
My New Boat, a John Welsford Tread Lightly
Basic Materials List – Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly
My John Welsford Tread Lightly – I think I need to make
changes
Second hand boat stuff from a John Welsford Tread Lightly
Tread Lightly Epoxy Kit – Duckworks Builder’s Supply
Tread Lightly Build Photos
Scamp vs Tread Lightly
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