Boat Portrait: Hatseflats

Hatseflats was designed and built by Hubert Bakker as a one-off cruising dinghy with good weight carrying ability for a crew of two and their camping gear.

Hatseflats sailed in the 2018, 2019 and 2020 editions of the Raid Extreme but is normally used for cruising.

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What triggered you to design and build your boat?

Roger Barnes’ talk about dinghy cruising at the 2015 RYA Dinghy Show ( https://youtu.be/3yhs-owd5Eo) got me thinking about dinghy cruising.

His 'Dinghy Cruising Companion’ book made me want to buy or build a cruising dinghy to enjoy (or suffer) the simple delights of water camping. 

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Which existing designs inspired or influenced you?

At first I wanted a Vivier-designed Ilur but with no suitable second-hand boats on the market I briefly considered building an Ilur but found it too much work.
I looked around at other boats but I was attracted by the Vivier-designed Seil which had a good reputation as a raid boat.
For my purpose the Seil was  too long, had too many chines and was too much of a rowing boat but I was drawn by the simple hull shape.

The French call the Seil a Norwegian pram but it also resembles an indigenous Dutch boat type  called a ‘vlet’ (I guess that would translate to ‘flattie’ In English).

So in a sense the 'French connection’ of the Ilur and Seil focused me on one of the simplest and most widespread small boats in the Netherlands.

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How did you combine these influences in the Hatseflats Design?

Sailing ‘vlet’ boats are are used by the Dutch sea scouts. They are heavy and underpowered so I designed a wooden pram around a Tirrik rig which I could build in my garage.

The blunt bow and substantial rocker help downwind sailing in a breeze

Compared to the Seil it is shorter and more powerful in the stern. It is easier to build because it less chines.

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Why did you call your boat ‘Hatseflats’?

The expression Hatseflats suggests a quick job and shoddy workmanship. When building the real thing within a strict timeframe I traded better looks for better structural components.

The result is strong, light (150 kg hull and sailing rig) but slightly wanting in the polishing department.

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Why the colour?

I painted the hull orange for better visibility of the capsized hull. I painted the the decks grey because it is easier on the eyes on sunny days.
It is the same colour scheme as TooPhat my previous design which I sailed at the 2016 Raid Extreme.

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How did your boat meet your expectations?

Reaching and downwind sailing are the strong points although surfing downwind at 7 knots in a force 5 on the Ijsselmeer was scary.

The pointing ability is moderate at 45 degrees TW if there is wind but not too many waves.
If you are in a hurry on a long upwind slog  you’d better lower the rig and start rowing if your speed drops below 4 knots.
If I had to design Hatseflats again I would design for less displacement and a more pronounced sheer.

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What is your favourite picture of building or sailing your boat?

Here is a picture of Hatseflats reaching at 6 knots on a busy canal in Friesland and a picture of Hatseflats and TooPhat.