Welcome!
We’re John Brooks and Ruth Hill,
and more than twenty years ago we began Brooks Boats together
designing and building glued-lapstrake wood boats.
At about the same time John also began teaching at the WoodenBoat School.
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Our plans and boat kit reflect our years of experience
designing, building, enjoying and teaching about boats.
They’re full of useful info and critical details, and include many helpful extras.
All there to make building your boat easier, more enjoyable, and fun.
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Today Brooks Boats Designs is our family business, with our four kids an important part
of what we continue to do: design, teach, build, and write about glued-lapstrake boats.
And there’s a lot going on these days, we’re busy! Please check back with us
for new designs, plans, kits, learning materials, workshops, classes, and more.
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For more information and many more photos, please click on the photos,
the links at the bottom of this page, or the nav sidebar to left.
• BUILD •
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• LEARN • 
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• SAIL •
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• ROW •
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• and (soon) PADDLE! •
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• and, as always, FUN & ADVENTURE •
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• and more NEW PROJECTS & DESIGNS •
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Our designs
• 8’8” Compass Harbor pram, sailing & rowing (plans) • 12’ Ellen sailing & rowing boat (plans) •
• 13’ DragonFlyer 3.2; fun, fast, beginner-to-advanced sailboat (learn-to-build kit) •
• 15’ Salicornia double-paddle canoe (plans) • 16’ Somes Sound 12 1/2 sailboat (plans) •
• 16’ Merlin fast picnic rowboat (plans) • 18’ fast picnic rowboat (plans) •
• 20’ Rugosa ketch (custom) • 26’ American FolkBoat racing and cruising sailboat (custom) •
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Custom boats built by us
We currently have room in our building schedule for boats to be delivered this coming summer.
Our goal is to build your boat exactly the way you want,
with the woods, colors, and options that you prefer.
Every boat we build is an individual, designed and built to the highest quality and craftsmanship.
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Our book on the glued-lapstrake method
How to Build Glued-Lapstrake Wooden Boats
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John’s classes at the WoodenBoat School
If you’d like to join John in one of his classes at the the WoodenBoat School
(boat design, the glued-lapstrake construction method, and small boat interior joinery),
please visit the WoodenBoat School site for the schedule and all details.
• WBS 2015 Courses at a Glance •
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Thanks so much for visiting with us,
and as always we welcome your thoughts, questions, and ideas.
Please send us a note, we’d love to hear from you!
Our shop and home are in Brooklin, Maine,
a few miles from WoodenBoat and the WoodenBoat School.
Please let us know ahead of time if you’ll be visiting Brooklin
and we’ll make sure we’re in the shop to meet you.
And, if you happen to see a fast little sailboat
with a black hull and bright red sails (and a dragon),
that’ll be us, out in Zip, our DragonFlyer.
If you’d like to go for a test sail,
just let us know and we can work out arrangements together.
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HOME PAGE
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