Mitty-Ann
A 20' Flat-Bottom Utility
By William Atkin
A 20-Foot Utility-Runabout
Mitty-Ann will provide an excellent little boat for many uses, in rough water or smooth. She is not a little cockle-shell, and it will take quite a bit of bad weather to bother her. This boat was designed for use, and with a very strong leaning toward simplicity in construction. And also with an eye to getting a really good boat at a minimum of cost. For the amateur builder the construction is especially welcome, no steaming, no difficult bending, no seams to caulk, and a minimum of fitting. For the professional builder the little boat will go together in the shortest time, and in the easiest way. And these considerations alone are reasons enough for building of a functional character.

The dimensions of this new design, which by the way, is the 480th I have produced, are: over all length, 20 feet; length on the water line, 18 feet 10 inches; breadth, 5 feet 8 inches; and draft, 1 foot 3 inches. The freeboard at the bow is 2 feet 6 3/4 inches; at the stern, 1 foot 10 1/2 inches; and at the lowest point, 1 foot 7 5/8 inches. So you see, the boat will have plenty of room for comfort and safety.

The arrangement plan shows motor installed beneath house located amidship. This house does not extend from gunwale to gunwale; there is a passage on the starboard side making it easier to move between the two cockpits. The battery, exhaust pipe, rods for motor controls, etc., will be easily accessible under the hinged hatch covers as shown. The forward seat is amply wide for two persons, and purposely set well down in the hull for comfort and the sense of security one has in being down in the boat, rather than up on it. Since Mitty-Ann will ride, as they say, level it will not be necessary to sit on the motor house to see over the bow. The center seat extends full width of the cockpit, also the stern seat. The forward cockpit is 4 feet 4 inches long; the after cockpit 6 feet 3 inches long.

The lines show a refined flat bottom hull. This is not just a flat bottom boat as usually met with along the water front. There can be a big difference between flat bottom boats, just as there are big differences between other types and models. I have made a specialty of flat bottom craft, having designed scores of them over the last many years. To keep the construction simple the bottom is absolutely flat athwartships, and the topsides are straight; no curving flare or tumble home. The sweep of the bottom, the curve of the sides, and the distribution of the displacement are very important items in the putting together of the lines of a boat like this Mitty-Ann. And nothing is left to guess work or chance in preparing the lines.

The motor should not be much over 70 cubic inch cylinder displacement which will give approximately 12 horse power at 1500 to 1600 r.p.m. The speed with a motor of this capacity will be in the neighborhood of 10 1/2 statute miles an hour. The motor should not weigh very much over 270 pounds.

Despite the simplicity of the design and the construction of this flat bottom open motor boat it has style of a functional character, and most of the earmarks of a practical and useful craft. After all, a boat should be designed for use first; always, providing the boat is designed for utility, it will be easy enough to add the many excellent fittings and trimmings available for this purpose. For instance, in the plans I show a simple and practical side lever steerer; there can be no objection to installing in place of this a marine or automobile type steering wheel, or more elaborate motor controls, safety glass windshield, or elaborate fittings, and equipment.

Plans for Mitty-Ann are $100

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