Stitch and glue

Stitch and glue is a simple boat building method which uses plywood panels stitched together, usually with copper wire, and glued together with epoxy resin. This type of construction can eliminate much of the need for frames or ribs. Plywood panels are cut to shape and stitched together to form an accurate hull shape without the need for forms or special tools. This technique is also called "tack and tape", or "stitch and tape". Seams are reinforced with fiberglass tape and thickened epoxy.

The stitch and glue method was developed by woodwork teacher Ken Littledyke for the manufacture of canoes, later sold as the 'Kayel' in plan and kit form, using plywood panels joined by fiberglass tape and resin. The technique was then popularised by the first TV DIY expert, Barry Bucknell, in about 1964.

The method was adopted, substituting copper wire ties rather than fishing line as in the early Littledyke examples, for the construction of the Mirror Dinghy in 1962. The Mirror is so named because the design was sponsored by The Daily Mirror newspaper, a fact reflected by the historically red sails. The Daily Mirror apparently wanted to bring cheap sailing to the masses. As such, unlike other construction techniques of the day, which required specialist skills and tools, Stitch and Glue was supposed to put boat-building within the reach of the average public.

Although stitch and glue is similar to a traditional form of boatbuilding from northern Europe, particularly Lapland, called "sewn boats", it is not known if Littledyke's development of the stitch and glue methods was influenced by that technique.

In the United States stitch and glue boat building was popularized in the mid-1980s largely through Harold "Dynamite" Payson's articles in WoodenBoat magazine and books on building "instant boats" designed by Phil Bolger. These boats were constructed of plywood with seams filleted with fiberglass tape and could be built by DIY amateurs of modest skill and relatively meagre resources.

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