20 replies to this topic

[maligno]

Belhaven Hull No. 30 has been unfolded and wired:

[Scott Dunsworth]

Brings back memories, don't forget to get those in-er shear battens and the batten inbetween the shear and chine in before you tape the joints. It will make the hull much fairer.

Scott

[maligno]

Thanks for the tip Scott. I'll keep that in mind--just as I am keeping all your Belhaven build photos in front of me all the time.

Rolando

[Scott Dunsworth]

Rolando your quite welcome. If you have any questions you can PM me and I'll send my email address. I'm not an expert boat builder, but I have been there on the Belhaven and will be glad to help when I can.

Scott

[Brent Kennedy]

I keep looking for as much info on the Belhaven as I can find and this may just inspire me to start my build! I keep cycling through a few sets of plans I have but the Bel has everything on my list so keeps coming to the top. In my opinion, the slab sided look is improved with Scott's wide blue boot top so I am running out of excuses! Keep the pics coming please. Brent

[Scott Dunsworth]

Brent I wouldn't think about it to much longer, just order the plans!!!!! It really is the best design for a boat this size anywhere. You can set her up at the boat ramp in less than ten minutes once you get use to it. She a great sailor, very forgiving, can be fast with the right person at the helm.
My friend has a Catalina 22, when we sailed together I was rigged and ready to go before he got his mast ready to start the raising and rigging routine. I could out sail that popular design except close to the wind. every other point of sail the 22 and my brothers Coronado 25 were left to look at my rudder till out of sight. They where so embarrassed that they always wanted to sail close hauled just so they didn't have to look at my beautiful transom.

I'm framing a house for a customer for the next few weeks and won't have Internet, if you have any questions, it will be a while before I will be able to reply.

I'll PM my phone number if you have any nagging questions about the Belhaven.

[maligno]

The tedious part of taping and gooing the hull panels is finally over. A double layer of biax has been laid up front. Not wanting to waste good FG I kept it going all they way up the bow rather than trim it at the chine.

Brent, with the messy part done, I should be able to take more pics. Here's how it looked before I glued the bottom doubler.

[Brent]

Brent, if you care about sailing performance you will not be disappointed with the belhaven. I had a chance to sail Scot's, and was delighted with the results. It is a unique combination of speed and comfort

[TrailerSailor]

Hi there

 

Im new in this forum and I would like to know where the limits of this boat really are. Is she really good for coastal sailing even in rough conditions? How is she to build to get the most passive safety (selfrightening) ?

 

Of course she is very roomy for her size and I like the rig too, but im not sure if she will be the boat for coastal trips even when its getting rough.....

[maligno]

Sorry but I have no answers to your questions at the moment though I am certainly hoping that's what she'll be good for when she's done.

This is her current status:

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[TrailerSailor]

So I wish you the best for you and your boatbuilding.

 

I ordered the plans for my Belhaven yesterday, but it will take around one year to start making her 3D I think....

[maligno]

Thanks and wishing you the same too and I hope you enjoy building it as much as I do mine.
It also took me over a year to get started after I got the plans. Part of that time I used for figuring out some modifications to suit my purposes. Now I can't wait to get it to the water to see if they work.

[TrailerSailor]

It would be nice if you show us more from your boatbuilding. I love to see more pics and ideas about building the Belhaven....

 

 

After reading many more lines here in this forum im shure that she will be THE boat for my needs, even in seaworthyness...Thx everyone who did and will write his expieriences with her!

[maligno]

Got to fit the motor in the well. Though I was able to wiggle the 8-in. diameter prop through the 4.5-in. slot I think I will have to widen it a bit.

Took some nerve to do the cutting:


Cockpit side with the motor upright:


Frames and bulkhead are temporarily clamped in case I need to make adjustments:


This much sticks out of the transom:


Tilted position:

[Gordy Hill]

Umm... isn't that where the rudder goes?

[TrailerSailor]

Hi

I think its next the rudder, but it looks as if it could become a problem with the rudder. Maybe its only because the photo, but I would take a good measurement for that..But I wouldnt do it in this way because hydrodynamics too.

Did you enlarge the boat/cockpit? Or do you maybe only want or need enough space for 2 people there?

Would be nice to hear your thinkings why you want to fit it this way.

[maligno]

Gordy: The slot is off to starboard of the rudder. By my measurements I can still get 30 deg. on that side; should I need more I can make a cut out where metal meets wood.

Gerrit: The cockpit footwell is same size as the plans; about 20 inches have been added aft of the original transom to accommodate the motor.

Rolando

[Scott Dunsworth]

One thing that always bugged me about motoring my Belhaven was the rudder would shimmy while motoring. It wouldn't do it under sail at the same speed. My motor was way offset, I hope you don't have problems with that.

[Howard]

Gerrit: The cockpit footwell is same size as the plans; about 20 inches have been added aft of the original transom to accommodate the motor.

 

Does this mean you extended the length of the boat by 20 inches? It is now a Bellhaven 21?   If so, hopefully you had plans or approval for doing that as the additional length would disrupt a lot of design parameters, such as center of lateral resistance, ballast location, etc.

 

As I recall, the usual plan is to have the motor mounted on the transom. My Montgomery 17 has the same arrangement and you do have to watch how close the motor is mounted to the rudder, or in a hard turn, the rudder will get into the prop. If that is the case, you may want to put a lashing on the aft end of the tiller to limit its range of motion.  When under power, because the tiller is running in smooth laminar flow adjacent to the prop, I have never experienced the any tiller vibration under power. Would be curious to know what caused that for Scott.

 

The Princess 26 plans have the motor mounted directly in front of the rudder, such that when under power, rudder will be operating in the prop wash......at least the upper portion of it near the surface. Bottom half will be in smooth flow. That seems to work well on the Princess 22 boats. On Wayne's Princess 26, I seem to recall he did something similar to the setup above, moving the motor slightly to starboard in a well, such that the motor could pivot on it's own mount, vs. riding a vertical sliding car. He also put a slot in his transom. We know he has motored some distance with it, but have not heard how it is working for him.

[maligno]

As in all the mods I'm doing, the fall back if it doesn't work is to revert to the original plans. In this case, the entire section aft of the bulkhead would be lopped off if I need to take it back to 19 ft.