Welcome to my web site. No, I am not retired. Far from it. I am as busy as ever and enjoying each new project. My career has taken me to a place where I am now busy with custom design projects for discerning clients. My boats tend to be a bit “off mainstream” and I think that is a good thing. I like to stretch my design legs and try unusual projects. I have this idea that boats should enhance the aesthetics of their environment.
I would love to talk to you about a custom project. I’d like to talk to you if you need consultation in order to move confidently on a used boat purchase. If you have one of my designs now I do provide technical back up consultation and plans are always available for my designs.
I am active on Facebook and there is even a Robert H. Perry Fan Club on FaceBook. No, I did not start the fan club and I was very flattered that others did. We now have almost 800 members of the club and it’s a great place to exchange ideas and information on Perry designs. I update my current work on there each week. We also go off on some funny tangents once in a while, you know how sailors are. We are an eclectic and energetic group.
Enjoy looking at my work. I do. I love to see my children at play. If you think you would like to work with me on a project give me a call. I like being busy. Many thanks for all the support over the years. You have made my boyhood dream come true.
Many thanks to my old pal Tom Larsen in Denmark for taking care of my web site.
Bob P.
The 2019 Perry Rendezvous at Port Ludlow is now scheduled
Mark your calendars for August 16-18
The Perry Rendezvous is an annual gathering of Perry boat owners and friends, it takes place late August in Port Ludlow. For marina details and moorage information call the marina at 360-437-0513 or visit the Port Ludlow Marina website.
Currently in Build - Four Carbon Cutters at Betts Boats
The purpose for this design is for it to be a rugged and strong boat capable of keeping a crew of four comfortable at sea for long periods of time. When the preliminary design was finished we, Jim Betts the builder and I, were told that the first four boats are spoken for. We had assumed we were working on one, single boat. Wrong! Four boats. Read more.
Currently in Design - Quail
First off the new Quail had some pragmatic considerations that were not options. There was a nearby bridge that limited our “air draft”. There was Chesapeake Bay with its shallow water that limited our draft. With rig height limited by the bridge boat size also was limited. I could not simply put a big boat under a small rig. I chose an LOA of 46.2’ with a DWL of 39.72’ and that’s substantially more waterline than Keith has on his Present QUILL. Beam was kept on the low side at 12.6’ and displacement is moderate at a bit over 25,000 lbs.. Read more.
Recently Completed - Francis Lee
So I wasn’t totally surprised when Kim finally called and suggested we get together to discuss a new boat. During that initial meeting we discussed our mutual love of double enders and our preference for narrow boats. For me narrow is a performance issue. Narrow boats sail well and are generally very well behaved. We like double enders because we just like the look. It’s an aesthetic element that clearly defines the boat. After about an hour I began to sketch and in short time Kim and I were in agreement on how to proceed. The boat evolved way beyond that initial sketch but the seed was planted and the formal part of the design process was initiated.
Drawings were emailed back and forth and soon we were honed in on a type with minimal overhangs, deep draft, narrow beam and a very modest interior layout. The boat was to be by design an “old man’s day sailer”. After some severe arm twisting I convinced Kim that the boat needed a comfortable interior if for nothing else than to satisfy his wife and his two sailing sons, Derek and Brent. The deck layout was to be fine tuned for one man’s operation of all sailing functions. Read more.
The Taiwan Connection
Despite the fact that it is now about 20 years since I have actively worked in Taiwan my time there starting in about 1977 remains a very important part of my life. I connected to Taiwan. I was half way across a very busy intersection one Sunday afternoon when it flashed on me, “I am happy here.” I enjoyed the country, the people and of course the food. I maintain a huge collection of Taiwanese Facebook friends. I do my best to try to keep up on what is going on over there.
My Chinese name is Pang Roa Bor although I’ll answer to Da Beedse ( big nose). Read More.
Robert Perry Used Boat Consultation Service
Bob's advice is available for $500. That gives you one year's e-mail support with a couple of phone conversations thrown in. Bob will also provide pdf copies of relevant articles, he has written on various technical aspects of boats and performance. The better you can articulate your needs and practical constraints, the more value you will get out of the service. Bob is very, very good at sharpening your focus, but it is a two way street, if you are all over the map and completely unrealistic with respect to what the boat of your dreams will cost, Bob will show his curmudgeonly side until you come to your senses.
If you think the consulting fee is too much, then consider Bob's book: Yacht Design According to Perry as a low cost alternative. It provides a solid primer on many aspects of boat design and will also help you ask better questions, if you do engage as a consulting client.
For the truly frugal there is Cruising Anarchy, where Bob is a frequent poster. Be warned, the language is salty and the restaurant slogan "Tacky, yet delightfully unrefined" describes it well. However, when the conversation stays on track, an awful lot of useful information is available and a couple of collaborative design efforts with Bob as guiding light have taken place on the forum.
Since 1976 Bob has written the monthly design review column in Sailing Magazine where he reviews four boats in each issue. Chances are that the boat you are looking at is in the archive. You can find it here. Bob also writes technical articles for Good Old Boat.
Classic Perry Designs - Production Boats
I have two suggestions for you: you may be interested in consultation so we can discuss your boat in detail and I can pass along what I have learned about your particular model. ( see the consultation section of the web site) You may also be interested in having a set of plans for your boat for reference. These can come in very handy. See the section of Drawings and Plans.
If you have random questions about your boat do not hesitate to call me. I’m kind of gruff and taciturn in person but having grown up in Australia I was taught that coming straight to the point is a good character trait. But here in the US I can often come off as “rude”. Don’t worry, I’m not rude all the time. I’d like to hear from you. My office is in my home so you can almost always reach me. If you email me and do not hear back within 24 hours I probably did not receive the email. I make a point of answering emails asap. If you bombard me with a long list of questions I will probably refer you to consultation. If you have one or two questions I’ll help any way I can. It’s sad to say this but in many cases I’m the last one left alive in some of these projects. I think it’s very important to keep the history and information surrounding these production boats alive and accessible.
I’m also interested in gathering all the digital photos that I can of my various designs. If you have any great photos of your boat please send them along to me so I can add them to my archives. You never know, your boat may show up on my web site one day.
If you live n the Pacific Northwest I have a mooring buoy right in front of my beach shack and you are very welcome to use it any time. I love to see my boats sitting peacefully I front of my shack. Just give me a heads up that you are coming. My GPS coordinates are:
N 48.06.021
W 122.20.734
If you can’t stop and spend the night just wave as you sail by. My shack is the only one on the beach with a red metal roof and solar panels on the south side.
Classic Perry Custom Designs
Bob will usually try to deflect the question about which one of his designs he considers his favorite. It used to be, that if you pressed him hard, Night Runner would be the first one he mentioned, but now Francis Lee is competing for the honor. The Perry custom designs tend to stand out in any harbor, and they are not all sail boats, there are a few power boats among them. Above you have Night Runner, and on the right Wild Horses, a frequent visitor at the Perry Rendezvous. Just below is Woodson, the launch for the Little Palm Island Resort in the Florida keys, then a 116' racing canoe for a Samoan village and Capaz a 50' motor sailer. For more detail on custom projects go here.
The Cartoon Boats
December sees a flurry of very special boats leave Bob's drawing board. They are the cartoon boats Bob draws for his friends as Christmas cards. What the casual observer may sense, is that these are not simply drawings of random boats. Each and every one is in fact carefully drawn to illustrate a particular theme that relates to the recipient. The drawings are treasured gifts and they also appear on the T-shirts made for the annual Perry Rendezvous. See more cartoons here.
