A PLAY STATION. (For big kids.)

Stuart Reid is best known for small flat bottomed and sharpie style open boats, traditional and historic replicas and his stunning marine art prints. But the man has a restless imagination and during my last call at his home just a few steps off the estuary shore in Katikati he showed me the plans for this tiny teenagers tearaway.

With all of the charisma of million dollar ocean racers and performance potential enough to create white knuckles in the crew she should just about be achievable on a newspaper run or after school job plus some second hand bits, the hi tech styling though is anything but cheap and she should not only be a striking addition to the club fleet but also a great adventure machine for a couple of 15 year olds to escape in for long weekends.
Here are Stuart's words on her...
Remember when -- teenagers used to cruise and camp in their "Zeddies " or other club dinghies? If you do then you're far too old to be sailing one of these, but do read on .
Cyber Cafe is a modern beach cruiser/camper which will prove easy to build, light and thrillingly fast to sail. She will be easy on the bank balance as the rig is from a windsurfer (the slight mods required to fit the stays would not prevent it returning to normal duty when required by the other brother) and most of the few fittings could be made in a home workshop or scrounged off a derelict dinghy.
The extreme beam allows even a lightweight skipper to get weight out where it will help the boat without fatigue, the wide side decks forming comfortable seating. Inside the cuddy cabin there is space for enough camping gear to keep both crew warm and fed for a week or more, the selfdraining raised floor making a good bunk space under a tent supported by the mainsheet "Radar " arch over the aft end of the cockpit. This arch also acts as a support for the lowered mast, a frame for the tent, a stowage place for the daggerboard and rudder as well as the support for the mainsheet block.
Her rig, so easily raised and lowered that it can be done in a seaway, includes a flat cut reaching spinnaker on a retractable prod which adds substantially to the boats off wind speed, a screaming reach in fresh weather should be huge fun for a couple of young hoons!
Construction is very simple, Plywood over stringers and permanent light frames and a light fibreglass skin ensures a boat which when turned over has much of its "interior " in place, a construction method much easier than those which just leave a bare shell.
The Hull, Cuddy cabin and "radar arch " are all designed around a " master curve " which makes drawing the boat out for construction a real breeze. -This is a boat for first time builders and needs only about the space that a single car garage would provide ( What are you doing this winter dad?)
Sea Scouts, Naval Cadets and some other organised groups still venture out in open boats, learning real seamanship while enjoying the open spaces. But so many teens spend their days watching one or another square screen having virtual rather than real adventures. PLAY STATION was designed to provide an alternative! (Well that was the original name but it could bring the wrath of Sony down on our heads, and Playstation the round the world multihull racer does not inspire visions of success either, so Action Stations it is, and surely will be in a good breeze).

ACTION STATIONS
Length on deck. 4. 000 m (13 ft in)
Beam (at deck level) 2. 000 m ( 6ft61/2in)
Sail area ( typical sailboard rig) 7.5 / 9 sq m (81/ 97sqft)
Weight ( approx.) 65 kg 143 lbs)
"Cool factor" Very high.
Plans, $175.00 post and pack included