Billington Canoe Plans

Built with the family and dog in mind, the 16 ft.Billington Canoe Plans layout an extremely stable and roomy canoe.

Over the years we have received many requests for a canoe which was designed with the family outing in mind.  Among other parameters, this canoe had to have a great deal of carrying capacity, be very stable and be capable of seating in the bow, stern and center.  A surprising number of customers wanted this type of a canoe and still have a design that could be controlled by one person.  (I know from experience that family paddling usually means the person in the back does most of the paddling.)  With that in mind, if we were going to design this canoe it could not simply be a big tub, weighing in at about 100 lbs, that would move when enough brute force was applied.  It had to be easily paddled.

Well, we think we nailed it with "The Billington".

Even as we were finishing up the prototype, I continued to be skeptical on the ability of one person to handle the canoe, and around the shop talk of putting a center keel in the design was kicked around more than once.  After much discussion, we all decided that a keel could be added, if necessary, after tests were run.  This did not prove necessary.

This solo paddler, drew less than 2" of water with a 215 lb paddler and displayed such stability that sitting up in the seats which were mounted directly to the gunwales was completely comfortable.

To make sure this boat had a bit of style, we designed up-sweeping stems with re-curve for a distinctive profile.  This is pictured to the right.

From the pictures above, you may be able to notice the scuppered gunwale.  This was not done as a performance feature as it is not anticipated that you will be rolling this canoe in waves or rivers but simply because it looks good.