Marc Vuilliomenet is a builder of wooden boats. Whether sailing or motoring, he designs and builds his boats like masterpieces. With great care taken over the quality of his workmanship and finishes, each boat is a marvel to behold. We visited him in his studio for the presentation of La Clémente. Based in the Gers, at the foot of the Pyrenees, this atypical builder has just launched a new model, a canoe. He shares with us the steps involved in this new project.
At the foot of his workshop, Marc has dug a pond. What better way to visit it than in a canoe? So he designed a canoe measuring 3.70 m by 74 cm wide. At less than 4 m, it's still a beach craft.
A hand-built boat
The aim of this shipyard is to show the many facets of manual shipbuilding. From idea to completion, 90% of the work is done by hand. From the taking of dimensions to the making of templates to the final shaping, the eye and the hand remain the masters of work, piece after piece. What's more, to build locally, he chose Douglas fir, widely used in the region for framing. But for a more chic finish, he covers the boat with mahogany ply.
A mix of shipbuilding techniques
The canoe is built on a plywood skeleton. The keel is glued laminated throughout. The hull is symmetrical: the bow and stern are identical. Strips 4 m long and 4.5 mm thick are fitted to the mold, giving the boat its shape, using the strip planking method.
For the look, Marc glues on 3 folds of mahogany, before covering the boat with a 48 g fine glass cloth for protection, which will be invisible once dry. Then come the final coats of varnish to finish the boat.
An unsinkable canoe
To make his canoe unsinkable, the builder decided to lay a floor in the bottom of the boat. He placed a few varangues on the bottom every 30 centimetres, and glued plywood on top. With lockers at the bow and stern, the canoe can't sink even if it fills with water. This choice of floor adds a little to the final weight of the canoe, which weighs 35 kg with its bench, but increases safety.
The boat is tested on the pond by a canoe instructor, who discovers an elegant, yet highly manoeuvrable craft. Although the boat is designed to be sailed by 1 person, it was tested with 2 adults weighing 90 kg on board without even capsizing.
Today, this canoe is offered for sale. It can be had with either a painted hull or a varnished mahogany finish. The starting price is ?5,000.
