William D. Jackson (1907-1973) was the boating editor of “Science and Mechanics” magazine and from the late 30’s to the mid 60’s Jackson published one of his boat building plans in just about every issue. Jackson designed dinghies, sailboats, runabouts and small cabin cruisers using plywood construction and easy to understand drawings that would scale up without lofting a set of lines. His articles were so easy to understand most of the letters to the editor were from first time builders!
“Jazz Baby”, a utility outboard, is one of Jackson’s most popular efforts. She has a semi-vee bottom designed with Jackson signature beveled chines (to relive tripping in fast turns), 12 feet in length, a beam of 52”, Depth amidships 24” (a big little boat), trailer weight about 150 lbs., outboard power 6 to 15 Hp.
An article in the “Small Boat Journal” by John Pazereskis (c. 1988) quotes a letter by Jackson to his friend Charles F. Galen: “Americans are always worried about bigness of boats and such; when the truth be known, it’s the minimum-expense and maximum-pleasure boats that count. At least they bring pleasure to the many; and, in my opinion, that is the only criterion worthwhile”. Amen…
A copy of the original “Jazz Baby” boat plan article may be found at Craig Svenson’s web site
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