Trailblazer Renn Tolman ’51 ALASKAN BOATBUILDER DESIGNED THE TOLMAN SKIFF FOR THE COMMON MAN Renn Tolman moved to Alaska in 1970 and settled in Homer. He found work as a carpenter before moving into boatbuilding and developing his own skiff, which he considered a practical boat for a working lifestyle. He began building boats as an amateur in the 1970s and professionally in the 1980s.
Tolman Widebody. Photo by Schlecter. Licensed under Wikimedia Commons. Renn Tolman piloting Tolman Jumbo, March 2012, on Lake Michigan. Photo by Pcfithian. Licensed under Creative Commons.
It took Tolman nearly two decades of experimenting with several regional dory types and different building methods before he settled on the lines for his signature version of an Alaskan skiff. In 1992, he published a book, A Skiff for All Seasons: How to Build an Alaskan Skiff. Packed with personal stories, Tolman describes the advantages of the design and the construction method (stitch and glue) using plywood, fiberglass cloth, and epoxy. Many of these boats have been built and used around the world, garnering a reputation for being economical, seaworthy, and durable.
“ I spent 10 years building other people’s boats and I looked at what was good and what was bad. I took what I liked and left the rest behind and that’s what Tolman skiffs are today.” — RENN TOLMAN
as quoted in Alaska magazine, June 2012
Tolman developed three design versions of the Tolman Skiff, ranging in size from 18 to 22 feet, the Standard (18 feet), the Widebody (20 feet), and the Jumbo (22 feet). He published a second volume in 2003 with plans for all three of his designs: Tolman Alaskan Skiffs: Building Plans for Three Plywood/Epoxy Skiffs. Over the decades, Tolman was so successful marketing his three signature models that the name Tolman was, arguably, the only brand associated with an otherwise amorphous type referred to as an Alaskan skiff. Renn Tolman died on July 5, 2014, at the age of 80. At that time, he had completed a design for the fourth model called the Tolman Trawler (26 feet). Read Tolman’s obituary on page 60. Learn more about Renn Tolman and see working plans for the Tolman Skiff at vermontacademy.org/trailblazers.
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