Free Ship Plans of Italaian Brigantine Schooner Gigino

Italian Brigantine Schooner Gigino

Demonstrates Pinnacle of Sailing Ship Design

What Chapelle would term "Hermaphrodite Brig"

20th Century Italian Brigantine Schooner Gigino

As steam powered ships threatened to finally replace sail for ocean-going cargo vessels, this pressure led naval architects to the pinnacle of their design skills. The final sailing ships balanced capacity with fine lines that allowed greater speed while carrying the maximum amount of cargo.

Another major design change was the change from square sail rigs to fore-and-aft sails. These schooner rigs required fewer sailors to handle the ropes, allowing sailing ships to remain financially competitive with the smaller crews of steam ships. The "brigantine schooner" - or "hermaphrodite brig," as American historian Howard I. Chapelle would name it - combined the two sail rigs with square sails on the forward mast and fore-and-aft sails on the main mast, giving it positive benefits of both sail types. These sailing ships remained competitive with steamships well into the 20th Century.

Our free ship plans of Italian brigantine Gigino offer a large body plan with ships' curves, as well as a detailed framing plan, section plan, keel and deadwood plan, and sail and rigging plan.

Building Midwest Products' Chesapeake Bay Flattie Ship Model Kit

Chesapeake Bay Flattie Ship Model Kit Project Moves Ahead
Skeleton of Midwest Products Kit Takes Shape
Entry-level Kit is Great Place to Start Ship Model Building

Adding Chine Strips to the Chesapeake Bay Flattie

Next up in our construction of the Midwest Products Chesapeake Bay Flattie ship model kit is to create a supporting surface for the bottom and side planks by adding keel and chine strips.

The keel strips lie along the keel to keep the bottom planking from sagging between the bulkheads.

The chine strips run along the edge where the bottom and sides of the boat meet. The Chesapeake Bay Flattie is considered a "hard chine" boat due to the acute angle at which the side and bottom planking meets. The chine "logs" on a boat like this provide strength to the hull as well.

Click on the links below to visit each previous stage of construction:
Chesapeake Bay Flattie Kit: Introduction
Chesapeake Bay Flattie Kit: Chapter 1, Keel and Bulkhead assembly
Chesapeake Bay Flattie Kit: Chapter 2, Deck Assembly
Chesapeake Bay Flattie Kit: Chapter 3, Mast Steps and Bow Stiffeners