Matt Layden is a gifted marine draftsman who designed, built and sailed
full-time for about 10 years aboard five of his shoal draft
micro-cruisers. His first boat was the 16 foot cat boat,
Terrapin, and later he went on to create Swamp Thing, Gjac, Little
Cruiser, Paradox, Enigma , Sand Flea, and Elusion in this order. With each new
boat, he refined and perfected his ideas during his trips, some of
which included long voyages up and down the East coast of the United
States and out to the Bahamas. More importantly, he wasn't afraid to
try out new ideas, which he either refined or he discarded if they
didn't work out. If you look at his little cruising boats
carefully, you can see how he gradually developed his ideas on creating
his "perfect" micro-cruiser.
Terrapin was constructed in around 1985. This was a moderately beamy
boat with leeboards, a cabin and a full battened main sail. We
were told that she was quite fast and that her accomadations were
fine, but eventually Matt discovered some shortcomings during his
travels up North. He noticed that the leeboards were cumbersome, noisy
and they tended to pick up debris. He also realized that the 6
foot beam prevented the shoal draft boat from being self-righting after
he experienced a severe knockdown off the coast of Maine. Luckily, the
large diameter hollow mast prevented Terrapin from going all the way
over, and the boat was eventually righted. He also concluded that his
use of marine grade plywood was not cost effective for the times.
With the completion of the 13'2" Swamp Thing in 1985, he simplified the
whole construction process, and he minimized the costs of building by
using exterior grade plywood. The beam was reduced by over 2
feet, and he added chine runners or external chine logs in place of the
leeboards. The complex mainsail on Terrapin was replaced with a simple
lug sail that you could manually roll/furl around the boom. Because the
boat was so small it could be easily rowed or sculled. This little gem
took him all the way down the East Coast of the United States from his
home in Connecticut and then out to the Bahamas for the first time. Of
course Swamp Thing was quite small for long term cruising; so
eventually a new boat was built. In the next boat, Gjac, he enlarged
the hull somewhat, but he kept many of his best ideas like the chine
runners and the boom furled lug sail.
However, after cruising this 14'10" boat for only a year, Matt replaced
her with a new creation in 1988. This boat became known as SOST (Sun of Swamp Thing) or Little
Cruiser. Though similar in length, she was a complete departure
from some of his earlier designs in terms of her complexity. A
centerboard and a lug sail with battens was added, and this new sail
employed slab reefing with all the lines leading down through the
centerboard trunk and into the cabin. The mast was stepped on deck, and
it could be folded down easily via a unusual "A" frame tabernacle. All
the earlier chine runner designs had their masts pass through the deck
which were then stepped on the cabin sole. In addition, her large cabin
insured an adequate amount of interior space, and it kept her occupant
comfortable and safe in all manner of weather conditions. Little
Cruiser was also well insulated with foam, which kept the boat drier
and added positive buoyancy. In fact, the boat was so well
insulated that Matt spent a winter aboard her in Cape Cod with only his
stove to keep him comfortable. The addition of 4 large built-in water
ballast tanks also facilitated his long range cruising plans, and a
small folding dinghy was kept aboard to make access to shore easier.
Overall Matt told us that he was very happy with this design. During
the 4 years he lived aboard his miniature cruiser, he traveled as far
North as the Bay of Funday and as far South as the Bahamas. Eventually,
he became involved in modifying a 20 foot Balboa for travel with his
future wife, Karen, and Little Cruiser was sold to us in 1992.
After a year's worth of cruising, which included a trip to the Bahamas,
the Balboa was also sold, and Matt returned to his roots by creating
the 13'10 Paradox in 1993. Since he concluded that Little Cruiser's
centerboard did not seem to improve windward performance sufficiently
to merit it's construction, Matt used the chine runners again on this
new design. He also went back to the simpler boom furled lug
sail; however, he improved it with a drum so that it could be reefed
from inside. The mast was stepped like in his earlier designs, but he
made a small self-draining well for it to sit in. The boat was well
insulated, and the ample cabin provided safe all-weather cruising. The
new boat was then sailed down the Eastern Seaboard from Connecticut,
and it was cruised in tandem with Little Cruiser to the Bahamas in
1994.
In the ten years that followed, Matt got married, found employment, and
worked on a few smaller boats like his "Rob-Royoid" canoe. However, in
2005 he put together his sixth micro-cruiser, Enigma. This 12
footer was intended for coastal sailing, but it differed from his
earlier works in that it was much lighter in weight and it had a "v"
bottom at the bow. Weighing a mere 180 pounds, the new stitch and
glue plywood sharpie could even be hefted with aid onto the top of a car for
transport to far away cruising grounds. Most importantly, this design
shared some of the best features found in all of his older sharpies.
The shape and the proportion of Enigma's hull is remarkably similar to
that of Little Cruiser, but it employs Paradox's efficient roller
furling and distinctive low aspect ratio lug sail. The fold down dodger
is an improved version of the one now on Swamp Thing. As
for the chine runners, they are similar to the ones found on Paradox;
however, they have now been made shorter and wider. Of course it didn't
take long for Enigma to prove herself as a worthy successor. In March
2006 Matt sailed Enigma on her maiden voyage for 1200 miles around
Florida in the Watertribe Ultimate Challenge race to finish first in
her class and third overall.
More recently, Matt built an incredible 8' cruising dinghy, which he christened
Sand Flea. Amazingly, he
entered this tiny craft in two 300 mile-long Watertribe Everglade
Challenges (2007/2008) and the 2012 Ultra Marathon, finishing near the
top as usual. Finally, his most recent design is the 9' Elusion
which he used successfully to sail all around Florida in the 2010
Ultimate Florida Challenge. It shares many characteristic of the Enigma design but is even easier to cartop due to it's lighter weight.
All in all, I'd have to say his boats are winners.