Welsford Sweet Pea Lug Yawl
Description
The Welsford Sweet Pea Lug Yawl refers to the cruising yawl rig variant (specifically with lug sails) of John Welsford's popular Sweet Pea design—a lightweight, trailerable 17½-foot sports cruiser/racer with a small cuddy cabin, blending excellent performance, simplicity, and practical overnight capability for estuary, harbor, and short coastal adventures. Designer: John Welsford (New Zealand naval architect known for practical, good-looking plywood boats that balance fun, speed, and ease of build; Sweet Pea is part of his "boats with cabins and sails" lineup, inspired by earlier designs like the Navigator but scaled up with cruising accommodations). Year of Introduction: Around 2010–2012 (developed as a club racer with added cruising features; updated plywood bulkhead/stringer versions released later for easier solo builds). Production History / Availability: Plans-only for amateur or small-shop builders using plywood bulkheads, stringers, and 9mm plywood skin (glued construction, no complex framing). Two build methods available: original club-oriented hull/deck sets or simplified solo-build version. Plans sold via jwboatdesigns.co.nz, Duckworks, Fyne Boat Kits, or Boatplans.cc (around NZ$325–400). Many built worldwide (US, UK, NZ, Australia), with strong owner communities sharing logs on forums like WoodenBoat and Facebook groups. The lug yawl rig (standing lug main + lug mizzen) is the "cruising" option—popular for its short, manageable spars, easy reefing, balance, and self-steering.
Construction Details
| Designer | John Welsford |
|---|---|
| Builder | Home Built |
| Length | 17.000 ft |
| LOA | 17.420 ft |
| Beam | 7.330 ft |
| Max Draft | 4.420 ft |
| Min Draft | 0.670 ft |
The standard boat dimensions
| i | 14.83 ft |
|---|---|
| j | 6.75 ft |
| p | - |
| e | - |
| p2 | - |
| e2 | - |
| i2 | - |
| j2 | - |
| I | J | P | E | P2 | E2 | I2 | J2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14.83 ft | 6.75 ft | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Sails
Welsford Sweet Pea Lug Yawl - JIBSAIL
| Luff | 14.5 ft - (4420 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 8.17 ft - (2490 mm) |
| Leech | 12.75 ft - (3886 mm) |
| Percentage LP | * 105.93 % |
| Length Perpendicular | * 7.15 ft - (2179 mm) |
| Deck Angle | * 4.41 ° |
| Area | * 51.87 ft² |
| Edit in Calculator |
Welsford Sweet Pea Lug Yawl - 3-SIDED SAIL
| Luff | 10.01 ft - (3051 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 4.4 ft - (1341 mm) |
| Leech | 9.68 ft - (2950 mm) |
| Tack Ang | 72.9 ° |
| Area | 21.05 ft² |
| Comments | Leg-o-mutton Mizzen |
| Edit in Calculator |
Welsford Sweet Pea Lug Yawl - 4-SIDED SAIL
| Luff | 9.38 ft - (2859 mm) |
|---|---|
| Foot | 12.37 ft - (3770 mm) |
| Leech | 22.24 ft - (6779 mm) |
| Head | 15.58 ft - (4749 mm) |
| Diagonal | 15.13 ft - (4612 mm) |
| Tack Angle | 87 ° |
| Area | 175.66 ft² |
| Comments | Lug Main |
| Edit in Calculator |
Disclaimer. Boats are not all the same -- even when produced in the same factory of the same model. Sailrite does its best to publish accurate dimensions, but we often find it worthwhile to have our customers measure their boats carefully before we produce kits for them. You should take the same precautions, especially when the data is not from Sailrite. The information on this site is not guaranteed to be accurate. Sailrite offers this content as a service to our community, but takes no responsibility for the reliability of the data provided.
Comments
