It started when I ordered the book “Rip,Strip,&Row”at the Wooden Boat Store. I liked the design and the “easy” construction cedar-strip wood-epoxy. At that time I did not yet know that most of the work will be sanding,sanding,sanding! After sanding the inside hull my back was so much bent that my wife had to help me get it straight again! But it came out beautiful.The design is for rowing, but I also wanted to sail, as we made plans to use the boat in the Venice Lagoon, Grado Lagoon (both in Italy) and at the island of Pag (Croatia). So, after consulting the designer John Hartsock, he sent me plans for a 16 ft stretched version.

As there were no plans for a sailing rig, daggerboard or rudder, I had to design all that by myself. The maiden-trip was at lake Klopeinersee in Carinthia-Austria and as everything went well, we put the boat at the roof of our car, heading for the island of Pag. There we took daytrips ,sailing and rowing along the coast in crystal clear waters with my wife and daughter.It was amazing !

Later on we had the chance to participate at several Venice Lagoon Raids, meeting other sailors from all over Europe and made many friends ! At the raids you could sail or row, as you like and the Cosine Wherry was really fast ! The wherry`s narrow waterline beam and low sides make it tender for sailing ,you have to be careful when “sailing at the rails” !

It is a fast rowboat, therefore one year we took part at the famous “Vogalonga” in Venice. Together with more than 2000 other rowboats,traditional Venetian workboats,gondolas,canoes,kayaks I was rowing, my wife and daughter helping me with paddles on that 32 km stretch through the lagoon.It was really hard, the sweat was running down to my ankles and afterwards a had a severe sunburn, but when we passed the finish line at Santa Maria della Salute in Canal Grande we were welcomed, calling our names and received the medal from the comitee. What a great experience !