Hooper Island Draketail
The "Hooper's Island Draketail" was named after the small island located in the lower half of the Chesapeake Bay on Maryland's Eastern shore. In the early 1900's, when the internal combustion engine first appeared, watermen were trading the sailing rigs for the engines and the local boat builders were looking for new ways to build better and more efficient workboats. One such builder noticed the torpedo boat destroyers pass by his home, and he thought that the hull design would be good for a workboat. He copied the hull design and built a boat with a V-bottom. The boat was fast, good looking and because of the narrow beam and sleek lines, it was relatively inexpensive to build.
The design caught on and the boats sprang up everywhere. The boat acquired the name "draketail" because the stern resembled the back of a duck's tail. A few years later, a new box stern type became popular, and the draketail became old fashioned. Eventually, the full name was shortened and now most people only know them by the name "ducktail". Today, not many of these beautiful boats exist. But through the passage of time, the boat has become a classic.
Kit Contains:
Basswood framing & sides
Hardware & rigging supplies
Pre-routed base
Pre-cut keel & stern
Cedar bottom planking
Instructions & Blueprints
