PORTAGE PRAM

The 35-pound, 6' 10" Portage Pram is a stable and comfortable tender that tracks beautifully while rowing. The special seat shape and multiple oarlock positions allow for a variety of seating and trim options.

The CNC kit includes all of the wooden pieces you need, fit with tabs and pockets that make assembly and construction simple and virtually tool-less. It's a stitch and glue build, utilizing mostly zip ties and epoxy.

Portage Pram is an excellent choice for a first time builder, and a great way to introduce kids to boat building, rowing and sailing. This design is an ultralight plywood pram based on a much heavier traditional plank-on-frame pram designed in the 1970s by Bill Peterson at Murray G. Peterson Associates. Longtime friend and builder, Marty Loken suggested the design and helped with the translation. 

The Portage Pram has received excellent design reviews over the decades, from owners and experts in small-boat design—it's stable, easily rowed and it tracks extremely well. 

Take a look at some of the construction  photos below. We glued a few of doubled parts together in the morning (15 minutes), then came back and assembled the entire hull with cable ties in only 90 minutes. This boat is almost too easy to build. After squeezing some fillets, putting a little glass cloth inside the pan or footwell area, and some cloth on the outside bottom and some sanding, it's time for paint.

The special inwales are designed to receive multiple plastic oarlock bushings allowing for multiple positions for the single set of oarlocks to match crew weight and seating. The Portage Pram also makes a great little sailboat. Seating is tight for sailing, but the boat performs beautifully and stands up to the breeze well. 

When we decided to design a sail for our Portage Pram we had several goals, including excellent performance and ease of use. To achieve the former we maximized sail area up high with a square top and full battens to support the shape of the sail built with Challenge sail cloth. To achieve the latter we decided on a sleeved sail that simply slips over the optional 2-piece fiberglass mast, and we did away with the boom in favor of a batten near the foot with a strong downhaul for tensioning. The result is high-performance rig that will go to weather well and spill gusts from the top of sail easily - making it easily controllable - but it's also easy to set or strike, with no boom to duck, and less hardware to buy. Simple sails that can be rigged in seconds get far more use that ones that take longer. The sail even comes in a bag that will hold the 2-piece mast.

• 45 sq ft

• Full Battens

• No boom required

BUILD TIME AND DIFFICULTY RATING: Easy (50 hours)

Our foil kits include the rudder and centerboard, cut and pre-shaped from marine plywood. Lines, fasteners, and hardware are not included but will be listed in the builder’s manual.

Fiberglass and epoxy kits provide all the epoxy, fiberglass cloth, and tape required for assembly. Application tools, gloves, and fillers are not included and should be purchased separately. The builder’s manual will include a suggested list of these additional materials.

Portage Pram Fiberglass & Epoxy Kit:

1.5 gallon Raka Epoxy Slow Speed (faster speeds available on request)

5 yds 50" x 4 oz fiberglass cloth

50 feet 2" x 4 oz fiberglass tape

1 pound wood flour