Edey & Duff Doughdish Sailboat Review, Specs, and Listings

Design and Construction

The Doughdish reproduces the same appearance, shape, displacement, and sailing performance of the original wooden boats and is substantially identical in detail. Its foam sandwich hull runs to roughly three-quarters of an inch thick, and both bulkheads and decks are fiberglass, with the deck finished in a simulated canvas anti-skid surface. Varnished teak is reserved for the sheer strake, toe rails, coamings, transom inner surface, and miscellaneous moldings and trim, while the cockpit sole is oiled teak with removable center slats for bilge access. Bronze and stainless steel hardware is used throughout. The fiberglass hull is very strong and relatively easy and inexpensive to maintain compared with the wooden sisterships.

Rig and Handling

The standard Doughdish is a gaff-rigged sloop with a self-tending jib, though a Marconi rig was offered as an option. Spars and rigging are varnished spruce, and the sheets are normally cleated rather than held, which simplifies crew workload. Writing in Ballentine's, a reviewer found her lovely to single-hand and capable of being managed by children or great-grandmothers. She is smart and responsive in light air, turns readily and reliably, and a person can stand anywhere on the boat without fear of instability. For a displacement boat of her size she is unusually fast, and testers describe her as tremendously seaworthy and as capable as a boat can be in heavy wind and seas.

Accommodations

Despite the modest length overall, the cockpit is wide enough for adults to sit opposite one another without crowding, and the fore-and-aft teak seats run the length of the cockpit. The opposite bench doubles as a foot brace when the boat is heeled hard. Manufacturer literature notes she is roomy enough for a family and can be sailed comfortably with as many as five or six persons, while a magazine review cites abundant space for a crew of four with unobstructed legroom. Small storage areas in the fore and aft bulkheads hold a spinnaker, sail ties, PFDs, and a picnic lunch, and the oar or optional spinnaker pole ties under the seats. The bilge itself is large enough for the anchor, manual bilge pump, and even a bucket.

Safety and Flotation

Forward and aft compartments contain foam flotation, and tests confirm ample reserve buoyancy to float the Doughdish level should she ever fill with water. The cockpit sole's removable slats give quick access to the bilge and pumping, reinforcing the boat's character as a safe, forgiving daysailer rather than a bare recreation of a fragile antique.

Ownership and Refits

New boats came with a Dacron main and jib, Dacron running rigging, and an optional nylon spinnaker. Auxiliary power could be added with a 2 or 3 horsepower longshaft outboard, gas or electric, on a compact bracket on the port deck beside the tiller; the bracket slips off its fastenings when unused so the boat's lines stay clean, and the engine stows on a mast-mounted bracket. The builder recommended the Torqeedo electric motor for this application. The Herreshoff 12½ design itself saw no significant modification in 80 years, a testament to the underlying concept the Doughdish was built to perpetuate.

The Verdict

The Doughdish succeeds as a faithful fiberglass Herreshoff 12½ that keeps the original's charm and seakeeping while shedding much of the wooden boat's maintenance burden. She is a stable, quick, easily single-handed daysailer with genuine family capacity and H-Class legitimacy, though her small size and daysailer focus limit her to sheltered-water and coastal day use rather than cruising.

Pros

Faithful fiberglass reproduction of the Herreshoff 12½ with H-Class acceptance
Foam sandwich fiberglass hull and decks are stronger and cheaper to maintain than wood
Exceptionally stable and seaworthy for her size; safe for children and novices
Roomy cockpit with practical teak seating, storage, and easy bilge access
Foam flotation and proven reserve buoyancy to float level if flooded

Cons