Wood Ski – Stephen Kelly's been at it again…

A year ago Steven Kelly sent us some pics of a ski that he built himself out of wood.  Well, he's been at it again. Check out the pics of his latest work of art...

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"This time it's more of an ocean ski," he said.  (Last year's model was based on surf lifesaving spec skis.)

Knowing that there will be interest, I asked him if plans were available.  "As per the last ski I made," he replied, "I drew the plans up in cad and as I built the craft got the dimensions I needed. I do not have formal plans so to speak. To get them to a standard someone else can follow would take a bit - I am no marine architect."

All pics by Stephen Kelly

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 The ski has the following vital statistics:

• Length: 6.1m
• Width: 440mm
• Weight: a touch over 17kg
• Rudder: 12mm ply with fiberglass coating.
• All hardware is stainless steel. Rudder cable is 1.6mm stainless.
• Materials 3mm marine ply on a timber frame. The only glass is on the chines - taped to reinforce joins and for protection. The more glass the heavier the boat so I kept it to a minimum. No nails or screws at all used. All joins are epoxied

The build time was 4-5 months, fitting in between family and work commitments.

Steve added: "If anyone else is making timber skis I would love to see the results."