Idyl is a Haiku sharpie designed by Iain Oughtred in 2007. The design was inspired by Munroe’s Egret, but adapted for camp cruising. He added two feet in length and external ballast, a yawl rig, a self-bailing cockpit, sitting headroom cabin with berths, and adapted it for plywood construction.
Our build features the optional mainmast tabernacle, with a small well for the mast heel. The well serves as a chain locker. We added a 48” bowsprit for easier anchor handling. The inboard rudder retracts into a well for shoal water sailing or beaching.
The exterior ballast is a lead shoe 1-3/4” thick, 10” wide and 12’ long. It weighs about 1000#. Interior ballast adds 970#. All ballast is bolted in place in case of capsizing.
There is a watertight bulkhead ahead of the the mast for buoyancy and light stowage, along with others aft of the cockpit and below the cockpit sole.
The interior is spartan. Instead of a single centerboard trunk on centerline, this design has twin centerboards two feet apart so that crew can walk easily between them. There is a large V-berth (with insert) aft of the forward bulkhead, and two quarter berths outboard of the centerboard trunks.
Between the berths is a small woodstove to starboard, and a cabinet to port. The cabinet contains a composting head, and has hinged lid which serves as work surface.
In 2020 I built a 1/6th scale model of Haiku to resolve some construction questions, and then lofted the boat. Construction began in May 2022, outdoors in our side yard. By September the hull was planked and sheathed and the weather was turning wet, so we rolled her upright and moved her into the shop.
Completing the interior, cockpit, cabin, deck, rudder, centerboards, sails, and spars took another 18 months.
There remains some work to be done, primarily painting, rigging, and upholstery. I expect to launch in late spring, and look forward to having Idyl at this year’s festival.