Tango

Glen-L is obviously doing something right. As a boy in the fifties I spent many an hour in a derelict cheese factory in the redwoods of Marin County, watching fascinated as my uncle fashioned glistening new boats from nondescript piles of lumber with guidance from plans by the Bellflower, California company. If I was lucky, when launch day finally came I’d ride along as he trailered the boat to Tomales Bay for the maiden voyage.

Nearly fifty years later, Glen-L is still going strong, having weathered boating slumps in the intervening years brought on by sagging economies and high fuel prices. Obviously, what Glen-L does right is provide the home builder high quality, reasonably priced plans for sound, attractive designs—like the beautiful 18' 6" plywood cruiser Tango.

Tango reminds us of an enlarged version of our premier Plan Study subject, the 15-foot Glen-L Minuet. We were so impressed with Minuet we bought the plan and started construction—shortly before the magazine commandeered our spare time. Today—if we had time—we’d be more likely to build Tango. The considerable benefits of a 3-foot longer waterline, 16" wider beam, and huge bonus of 17" of additional headroom come at a relatively small penalty in weight and ease of handling.

A cambered cabin top and a 2' 10" bowsprit add to Tango’s classic good looks. The bowsprit enables Tango to carry a generous 69-sq ft jibsail while maintaining a relatively low center-of-effort for enhanced stability. The rounded cabin top affords a little extra interior height with minimal windage, and provides the less-obvious advantage of making the boat considerably less stable upside-down in the event of capsize. The 4' 6" ceiling-to-sole dimension gives plenty of sitting headroom above the four full-size berths, and it’s enough to let a six-footer hunker over and walk without too much trouble. A 5' 3" person can traverse Tango’s cabin by doing little more than tipping her head.

Good initial stability should be provided by Tango’s hard chine, wide 7' 10" beam, and low 400-pound, 1" steel pivoting centerboard. Her V-design also offers increasing resistance to heel for good ultimate stability. The deep, self-draining cockpit is 6' 3" long by about 5' wide—big enough for a couple of average-size adults to enjoy sleeping outdoors, especially with the aid of a filler board between the seats.

Tango is built inverted on a precisely leveled building form consisting mainly of two carefully leveled and plumbed timbers. The boat’s four frames, cut from 1"-thick white oak, spruce or doug fir, gusseted at the corners with plywood, are then temporarily attached to the building form at precise intervals as shown on the plan. The stem, breasthook and transom are attached, chine, sheer and other longitudinal framing components installed, and the entire structure is planked over with 3/8" marine plywood. The boat is then turned over, and the cabin and decking are installed.

This is obviously a more labor-intensive way to build a boat than the more recently popular stitch-and-glue methods. It also requires more material and results in a heavier boat, but in my opinion, it’s the right way—especially for one that might see hard service. Stitch-and-glue hulls rely to a great extent on the integrity of their outer skin for their strength—like an egg. They’re light, fast, and quicker and easier to build. Maybe I’m old fashioned, but I find the beef of an inner frame reassuring ten miles offshore. Glen-L has an excellent online tutorial about this method of boat building at: http://www.glen-l.com/methods/plywood/mthdpw01.html

Plans for Tango, including full-size patterns are available for only $102. Also available are rigging kits, hardware kits, and a complete frame kit which greatly simplifies construction. Glen-L even offers plans for an appropriate trailer. For further details call Glen-L at: 562-630-6258 or fax : 562-630-6280 •SCA•

Glen-L marine designs
9152 Rosecrans Ave.,
Bellflower, CA 90706
www.glen-l.com
Tango Specs:
Length overall (on deck) 18'-6"
Length overall (with bowsprit)20'-4"
Length waterline 16'-0"
Beam 7'-10"
Draft (board up) 18"
Draft (board down) 3'-3"
Displacement (at D.W.L.) 1750 lbs.
Ballast weight (1" steel CB) 400 lbs.

Sail area: Main - 95 sq. ft.
Jib - 69 sq. ft.
Genoa - 104 sq. ft.
Total - 164/199 sq. ft.
Power: Short or long shaft outboard
motor to 10 hp