Horton joins stellar Contributing Editor crew; writes here about Bufflehead

Editor's Note: Well-known and respected Hugh Horton, developer of the successful Bufflehead decked sailing canoe, has come onboard as a Contributing Editor. Hugh joins Dan Miller, Todd Bradshaw, Benson Gray and Steve Clark in contributing to CSM and providing guidance and encouragement to make this a publication that well serves the worldwide canoe sailing crowd.

Welcome aboard, Hugh!

A Cruising Sailing Canoe for the 21st Century

Hugh Horton,  Contributing Editor, Harrison Township, Michigan

The Bufflehead design follows over twenty years of investment in monohull sailing kayaks and canoes for cruising; replicas and re-invention I’ve tried to avoid. Physics, and today’s materials and ideas about aero- and hydrodynamics I’ve tried to respect, while attempting to apply the lessons of the 19th and 20th century boats.

Bufflehead follows eight decked sailing canoes built on a proprietary hull—the best we could find at the time—Dave Yost’s Bell Starfire, Puffin and Meade Gougeon’s Serendipity were the first two, then the six Serendipity sisters, all with sheers re-cut for decks. While the size of the Starfire hulls, 15 feet by 34 inches, & much of their shape was good for us, they weren’t ideal and not easily available.