Young 3.5
Page started February 2016, latest updates at the top.
I bought this boat as a project in 2016, intending to use it as a cruising dinghy. It initially needed a lot of repairs, which did happen. I've since taken it on various interesting trips, some of which will be added to the page over time.
Table of Contents- The repairs - what I did to fix the boat
- The beginning - what it looked like on purchase
The repairs
Writing this in 2026, 10 years after making the original web page. But this all happened back in 2016!
I did make those repairs at the time, and shared my process on the wooden boat forum. Like all good boat repair stories, things got a lot worse before they got better! Once all the rot was removed, what I ended up with looked a bit like this:
There was a bit of head scratching involved to work out how to maintain the shape of the boat, having removed so much plywood. I made a template of the bottom panel before starting. For the transom, I made sure to keep enough of the original transom to hold the shape, and simply glued a new transom over top of it (already in place above). This avoided the tricky work of getting the curve in the transom panel correct. Of course now the boat is 6mm longer, but that's ok with me.
With the transom in place, I used the template to make new bottom panels. They were attached to the original boat with a mixture of scarph joints, butt joints and regular stitch and glue techniques.
In the image above you can see how I used some stiff battens along the keel line to ensure that the new panels follow a fair curve. I used a rope to pull them down behind the transom until they no longer pulled the existing boat structure down, ensuring that the new parts are not pulling the existing panels out of shape. The panels have been screwed to the battens where needed.
Here it's all back together. Some reinforcing strips have been reinstated on the bottom and transom, and the side of the buoyancy tank has also been replaced. The seat has been removed to re-glue the supports, as well as make painting easier.
A new skeg was also needed. The hull shape was traced onto an oversize piece of wood, which was cut out and glued to the hull. The excess was then cut away, leaving a plausible looking skeg profile. I forgot to template this, so it was just done by eye.
The next step was painting, which really transformed the boat. The weather made this quite challenging thanks to the super high humidity. Eventually I built a tarpaulin tent over the hull and blew hot air through it overnight, which did the trick.
All done, and on the trailer. Ok, not really done... but done enough for now!
And finally an on-water shot: a nice rowing outing on lake Ngaroto. This is a BIG 11.5' dinghy!
The beginning
Feb 2016
Got hold of a new project! This is allegedly a Young 3.3, although I can find no information on it. Length is more like 3.5 m over all, and 1.6 m wide. It has sat unused for many years, but most of the plywood seems to be in good condition. There is some rot around the starboard stern area which will have to be addressed, as well as the skeg/keel. It's got a stayed alloy rig with main and jib, and a trailer which also needs some attention.
