For Sailing Fun in Creek, Lagoons & Backwaters
Built from the best of the old with the best if the new
Welcome to Windsong...
Windsong is a unique, hand-crafted sailing dinghy that blends traditional craftsmanship with high-performance design. Its powerful lug rig and lightweight hull create a fast, responsive and deeply rewarding sailing experience.
Classic Boat Magazine called Windsong:
"The Coolest Wooden Boat Ever Built"
As well as being pleasing to the eye, a boat should be functional and a pleasure to sail - and, most importantly, getting on and off the water should never feel like a chore. Windsong was designed with exactly that balance in mind.
Explore rigging guides, sailing tips, events, and photos documenting the boat in action and its build journey.
THE LUGGER
After the advent of the gaff rig in the 1700s, the dipping lug continued to be developed by the fishing boats of West coast of Brittany and the Western Isles of Scotland, specifically Loch Fyne, where they had a long slog to windward before reaching the fishing grounds. The lugsail’s power and efficiency outweighed the ease of handling of the gaff rig. The peak was raised and mast rake increased. Some mast steps even allowed the mast rake to be adjusted while underway, to take advantage of weather conditions and/or wind direction.
In the early 1990s, Nigel Iren's fast, wave piercing cat fame, had seen the advantages of the lug and produced the successful yachts, Roxane and Romilly, with their twin, high peaked, fully battened lugsails.
John Owles’ designs have always looked to the “spirit of tradition” and following “Barinthus”, a 15ft gunter rigged boat based on a Grand Banks dory, he started playing with designs utilising the lugsail and was hooked.
WINDCHIME, 15FT
Before the advent of the internal combustion engine, these boats could be seen under sail and oar, inshore fishing or tending to the needs of the harbour and their big cousins.
SUMMER, 15FT
“Summer”, a 15ft family expedition boat, inspired by a Finnish Post Boat from the Gulf of Finland.
OWLET, 10FT
Developed from a 8ft classic yacht tender that was commissioned in the 1990s, Owlet is a handy little dinghy for sailing, rowing or sculling or a small outboard motor could be carried.
SUNDAY SAILING or SIZZLING FAST
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A WINDSONG DEMANDS
A 'planing lugger' is perhaps a contradiction in terms, it traditionally being the domain of heavy working boats, fishing craft and small tenders.
Given the raw power of the lugsail and the ease of rigging, it seemed a wild but logical step to turn the tractor into a racing car!
Aiming to produce something different, that was easy to rig, and that wasn’t “just another boat”, John Owles saw here the possibility of creating something new and exciting for the dinghy world, hence Windsong was born.
TO BE SAILED
While the lug rig is an almost forgotten rig in today's mainstream boats, it is not, as some say, “naught but a bed sheet hung from a broom stick”.
In fact, nothing could be further from the truth, the lugsail is a very powerful and efficient rig, and at the heart of Windsong's performance.
THE LUGGER
THE BEAUTY OF
THE WINDSONG IN ACTION
