Kitty Hawk 18

The Kitty Hawk 18 features an open cockpit with an elevated casting platform forward that features storage underneath. There is another under deck storage area in the sole just forward of the console. The console is simple and features a helm “bubble” where the wheel is mounted. The bubble can be built either from painted plywood or varnished teak or mahogany for the more traditional minded. The aft face of the console has a large flat area for flush mounting electronics. The top of the console is large enough to mount a compass. A leaning post is aft of the console, but seats or a flip-flop ice chest seat could also be used depending on the wishes of the builder. A cooler can be mounted forward of the console. Back aft there is a further storage hatch in the sole and a full height motor well and her cockpit sole is self-bailing.

The hull design is a modified vee. The fine entry is over 48 degrees at station 1 and flattens to 12 degrees at the transom to promote efficient planing. For structural reasons and ease of construction, the chines do not have integral flats, but rely on external spray rails angled to throw the water and spray out and down. Her topsides flare in the traditional Carolina-style and there is quite a bit of tumblehome back aft. A quarter guard is mounted on the hull side aft to help protect the hull from docks and pilings.

The Kitty Hawk 18 is cold-molded from two layers of 6mm Okoume Marine Plywood installed on the diagonal and covered with one layer of 1208 0/90 fiberglass set in epoxy. A conservative construction method and calls for 18mm Okoume plywood frames every 36″ to support stringers. The keel, stem, topside stringers, chine logs and shear clamps are all made from Douglas Fir or Mahogany. An additional 3/4″ “clamp” is added on top of the shear clamp after the hull is turned over to make sure there is sufficient wood to mount the sheer guard. The sole can either be Okoume Marine Plywood or treated plywood. Her transom is 3 layers of 18mm Okoume, for a thickness of 2 1/8″.

The Kitty Hawk 18 is available as both a Plan Set with full size frame patterns or as a CNC cut Frame Kit. The Plan Set includes 16 pages of drawings and 6 very large pages of patterns printed on plastic film to insure accuracy. The patterns were created from the CNC cut files and are a bit complex as they include all the cut-outs for the stringers, chines and clamp. Drawings include a strongback and a stem mold drawing for the laminated stem. The plans have also been converted to metric, for those of you outside the U.S.

The Frame Kit is CNC cut and consists of all the framing, both permanent and temporary, the plywood stringers, transom and motorwell. Also included is a CNC cut building jig that forms the basis of the strongback and locates all the frames and the transom. An additional Sole Kit is available that includes the cockpit sole, hatches and the hatch gutters. Even with all of the pre-cut pieces, the plan set is still very complete and includes 14 pages of drawings, including the Hull Lines, Hull Structure, Deck Structure and the Console to name a few.

The Kitty Hawk 18 will be a challenging project for amateur builders, but a rewarding one in the end. Both the full size patterns and the pre-cut kit greatly simplify construction while eliminating the need to loft the hull.