Model: Length: Hull Weight: Beam: Max Payload: Cockpit Size:
Chester Yawl 15' 0" 100 lbs. 42 in. 450 lbs. Open
Chester Yawl Configurations:
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Standard Configurations:
Complete Rowing Kit
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$1998
$1598
Alternative Configurations:

Wood Parts Only Kit
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$1369
$1180

Manual Only
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$25

Study Plans - Emailed PDF
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$2.99
Additional Components:

Spacered Inwale Option
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$349

Second Rowing Station
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$75
Popular Accessories:
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Supplies List for Kit Builders:
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Recommended Add-Ons:

Nonskid Flooring for Smallcraft - Chester Yawl

$ 285

Shaw & Tenney Spoon Blade Oars - 7'6" Length (pair)

$ 429

Boats like the Chester Yawl were used as working craft in 19th-century.  Efficiency was critical in these human powered craft, so they evolved easily driven hull shapes.  Working watermen weren’t immune to good looks, either, so these “livery boats” were often beautiful.  The most famous of the type, the “Whitehall” boats of New England, are still considered a touchstone of small craft elegance.  The Chester Yawl is based on the Whitehall and adopts its distinctive plumb bow and “wineglass” transom.

This LapStitch™ design's long, graceful sweeps of plank achieve a hull shape of striking beauty, glittering performance. At 15’ long, the Chester Yawl is about the right size for easy trailering (or even cartopping), and the payload of 450 pounds means that two or three adults may safely set out for a picnic or even a camping trip.  Although 30 inches shorter than our Annapolis Wherry, the Chester Yawl has nearly twice the volume and a lot more freeboard for handling waves.  For casual single and tandem rowing, we do not believe there is a better build-your-own-boat kit than the Chester Yawl.

Build this boat in a week!        

2024:

  • You want a beautiful classic rowing craft with an easily driven hull
  • You want the option of fixed-seat or sliding-seat rowing
  • You contemplate camp-cruising under oar power