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W. Micawber

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W. Micawber last won the day on July 14 2011

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About W. Micawber

  • Birthday December 31

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    Western Michigan

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  1. It is time for me to build another boat and I am selling my CS 15 because I have no room for all the boats I wish to build and own. This boat was built in 2009-2010. It sits on a galvanized Genesis Trailer http://genesistrailers.com/ which was bought new in 2010. It has never been in salt water. Both boat and trailer have been garage stored whenever they have not been in use. Sails were made by Brad Hunter of Gambell and Hunter in Maine. They have no reef points. I used the 3rd mast step as my reef point. I am asking $4K or near offer. If you are interested, please email Dennis -- thedumbox(at)att.net. Put CS15 #14 in the subject line. This will help me avoid dealing with scammers. Here is a link to my Flickr site. It will take you to her launch day photos. You will note that I do not have the standard rig in those pictures, the cat-ketch rig was added the following year. http://www.flickr.com/photos/fattylumpkin/sets/72157621908842357/ Here she is at the dock getting ready to take us out for the first sail of the season (May 6, 2013).
  2. Very nice indeed! Thanks for posting the pics.
  3. Rob, I like it. I've often thought an optional sloop rig for my CS 15 would be a lot of fun.
  4. Tom, My foils are probably shaped crudely indeed. I have no background in racing and can't say I understand foil shape. I did give them some shape as per the plan set, and these seem to work well enough. I am more a wood butcher than a craftsman. My sailing and woodworking have been learned while doing them (especially building boats). Ten years ago my wife laughed at the idea I could build a boat since "I couldn't hang a curtain rod," according to her. I've built 4 boats in 10 years and have learned a thing or two. The cat-ketch is a new rig to me, so I am still learning its secrets. I imagine I will discover many more in the future. As far as setting the mizzen, I am still experimenting. It does not take much adjustment on the sheet to induce weather helm, and given the speed and handiness with which she sails, I am not convinced that I have pinched the mizzen in too much. Nevertheless, you have given me much to think about and I will attend more carefully to setting the sails in light of your observations and see if there is any improvement.
  5. Tom, PAR and Ray: Thanks for the observations. I doubt my sprits are the trouble. They come nowhere near engaging the block when I have them pulled in hard. I had not thought about harder set sprits and flatter sails in light air. I will try that next time I'm out and about. I ought to sail with those 9 yr old Opti skippers more often. Maybe I'll learn a thing or two.
  6. Tom, In steady winds, 10-20mph, I trim the main until the aft end of the boom is nearly over the inside of the inwale/deck and then trim the mizzen in until the tell tales stream aft. This will be quite a bit inboard in comparison to the main -- the mizzen boom is situated midway between the inner side deck and the c/l of the transom. In this configuration, I get consistent speeds to windward between 6 and 7 mph. She goes so nicely and with such little fuss that you hardly feel it, unless you are going into a good chop and getting a face full of spray. By the time the wind has hit 20, I have hardened the snotter up as much as it will go for it will be time to reef soon (if single handing I reef around 15; when I have crew I reef between 20-25). I have very little weather helm at this point, in fact, it is so slight that I would be tempted to call it neutral. I cannot say that even in winds up to 30mph (reefed of course), that I have had to wrestle the helm. This is the most pleasant boat, handling wise, that I have ever sailed. In gusty conditions and during a gust, the boat wants to drive closer to the wind, if I am already sailing close hauled, all I need to do is make some slight adjustments on the tiller. Very little sail trim is necessary here. Fiddling with snotter tension during such flukey winds between light and gusty gets too exacting and finding a sprit tension that is not too loose and not too tight for the conditions is what I seek and then just leave it there. In light winds up to 10 mph, I generally have the snotters eased to induce more draft and I do ease the main boom out over the side deck some and ease the mizzen to suit. Thinking about my local conditions (the inland lakes of Western Michigan and Lake Michigan), once the wind is under 10, it is rarely steady and very capricious. So I am always adjusting the tiller and the sails looking for the sweet spot. I can't say I have, as light air sailing is one of my greatest frustrations. In these kinds of conditions, I have neutral helm to lee helm. Trimming the mizzen in takes care of the lee helm. Some say you can get the cat-ketch to self steer, but I haven't found the magic for that for very long. Left over chop or boat wakes do not make it easy, in my estimation. The feeling of the helm does not change much from light to heavy winds and I sense no difference in the feeling of the helm on either tack. NB: When reefed, I sail with the main in the third mast step. Helm balance is no different than with the two sail configuration in light to moderate winds. As I noted in another thread, I bet I could put the mizzen in the reefed position in winds above 30 and sail comfortably and confidently into the 40 mph range.
  7. Tom, I have found in my CS 15 that when winds are below 10, it does not point as well as when it gets to 10+. I don't know if it is the rig or the skipper's lack of knowledge with respect to sail trim in lighter conditions. But once in the 10+ wind range, look out! My boat can sail pretty darn close to 45deg off the wind. It is remarkable to me how the gusts tell the difference. As I recall, I did not have the luxury of the gust while sailing with the Optimist fleet. I do not think that the cat-ketch can out point a main and jib boat, and it certainly can't outpoint a well sailed Optimist in the conditions I experienced yesterday. Of course, it could be that I was just sailing in dirty wind caused by the Opti as I was leeward of him.
  8. Well, let's see -- I had full sail up on my CS 15. The winds were flukey blowing around 8 mph and gusting to 15 on occasion. I was pretty close to the Optis as my course took me right through their practice course and a bunch of us were on the same heading. I noted that the Optis were pointing about 5 degrees higher than I was, but when I tried to adjust my course and sail to theirs, I would start to luff. We could not have been more than 20ft apart at the time. Seeing this, I bore off and tried to get out of there as fast as possible and hoped the 7-8 yr old skippers did not notice. I did notice and was impressed by how weatherly that little boat was.
  9. Outpointed by an Optimist Pram. Where can I sign up for the Ray Frechette School for Remedial Sail Training?
  10. Wes and PAR, thanks for your replies. I will have to consider the matter further. One of the challenges of rigging the cat-ketch for the CS 15 is to make the sail controls easily accessible while providing optimum space for crew. The set-up detailed on the plans is fine for single handing, but room and accessibility are concerns when sailing with a mate.
  11. The base upon which the cleat and block would be attached would then ride on a piece of HDPE mounted on the thwart.
  12. Nope, just the base. Cleat and block will be attached to them.
  13. Dave, I ran across a discussion about alternate mainsheet rigging on the CS 17 by PAR, who made his own out of stainless. I thought such an arrangement would work on my CS 15. One of the problems I have with the CS 15 standard rigging lay out is that clam cleats and other gear clutter the washboard where you want to plant your butt to hike out. Further, when you have crew along, the crew is sitting in the way of the mainsheet cleat and makes it difficult to get at with dispatch, especially in a good breeze. So, I thought I would try to make a swivel block and clam cleat out of red oak. My concern is strength. I don't want it disintegrating under a load. The main on the CS 15 is 59 sq ft.
  14. Is it possible to make the bases for these from wood? If not, what kind of metal stock would I need to fashion the bases. Thanks.
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