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griphos

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  1. That was a great article, on several levels! REALLY enjoyed the exploration of history. This issue is one of the best in a long time, I think. Great magazine. And following your exploits in Blue Peter is sure tipping me hard toward building the Lapwing.
  2. Any idea on when the Lapwing kit might be ready?
  3. Take a look at the videos here: http://wikiproa.pbworks.com/2009%20Texas%20200%20blog The one of Marty and Kim shows the mizzen being reefed on a CS 17 while under way at the recent Texas 200. Hard to see any detail, but you can see that the extra sail is rolled on the main and the mizzen is dropped partially while the reef is being put in. This appears to be under a good breeze. The one of Matt and Kevin also shows a CS 17 reefed.
  4. Thanks for the video! I've been champing at the bit waiting for news of the Texas 200. It looked as if there would be at least three CS17s and one Princess 22 from the website list of who planned to come. Can't wait to hear how they did. If the winds on the coast were anything like the winds here in central Texas this past week, it must have been breezy indeed! I plan to do everything possible to get to the 2010 event (hope they will continue to have it) in a new Lapwing.
  5. Hey Garry, You'll enjoy her I think. I also almost bought a CS17 kit a few months ago, but then decided to wait to see how the Lapwing turned out. She's a beauty, that's for sure. I'm waiting to hear how she sails and whether a kit will be available for her soon. But I do own a '75 Daysailer, and she is a fun boat to sail. Simple, roomy, and ghosts along in almost no air, and not too coltish when the breeze picks up. I sail in somewhat larger boats frequently, including very frequently in a Capri 22 and my buddy's Ensign, but the Daysailer is just a fun boat compared to those others. I always feel like I'm much more in touch with the wind in her, and I love how low she rides. Still, I have this great shop and LOVE wooden boats, so it's a CS17 or Lapwing kit for me in the not too distant future. It's nice to have a boat to sail while the build is under way. It may eat into the build time, but then that's the best of both worlds. Phil
  6. Yes, Pete, your wife seems to possess that universal wifely quality of cutting right to the heart of matters. . I think I have the helm balanced pretty well most of the time on the DS. She has a fairly light weather helm at most times, but rounds up quickly if I let her go in a gust. I found a "tuning" guide on the internet (lots of DS info on the net) and tweaked the stay tensions a bit. But you are dead on describing the kind of maneuvers I've been experiencing when sailing under main alone. That's a perfect description of how the rudder acts. I'm going to start leaving the jib up pretty much at all times, as you suggest. The only reason I was dousing her is new sailor jitters coming in or going out of a dock in a cb boat I don't still yet have much experience in. And as chance would have it, I'm racing for the first time this Wednesday. Found a local sail club on the nearest of the nearby lakes and they race every Wed. I'm going to crew this first time, to sort get the lay of the...ummm...ahhh...water, so to speak, but I'll probably have the DS in the thick of it before too long. I also may get the chance to crew on the Ensign in the next few weeks. And I have been fairly pleased with how high the DS points. I don't have a compass, but I might can get a hold of a hand-held one, if that would work at all, to measure headings on my tacks, Tom. But from Ray's description, it seems as if the CS would definitely win for ease of single-handing. I still haven't tried to single-hand the DS. I'm sure I could, but with my rigging, I'd have to hold on to the jib sheet at all times. The only cleats for them are on the front of the cb right at the cuddy, so too far to use when also at the helm. And I love Ray's description of working through the bridge. Wouldn't it be lovely to have a boat that makes for such crackerjack seamanship! Phil
  7. Pete, this is very helpful info for a novice sailor such as myself. Without the jib, I experience precisely this rounding up you mention. And I did indeed have a good bit of the weight forward (in the form of passengers) when I was experiencing the most difficulty in making smooth tacks. I've not learned either of these observations either from experience or the books yet. Thanks. Phil
  8. Thanks Dale for your comparison of the Haven and Herreshoff boats. Could you tell me a bit more about the differences you find, and why the CS boats excel? As for the backing, the frustration usually occurs for me while getting underway (mostly my own still poor skills) before I raise the jib, and when coming in after dousing the jib but misjudging how quickly the DS will lose way and bobbing around far from the dock, not wanting to dig out the paddle. I mean she seems to me to be barreling toward the dock at precipitous speeds, but when I luff the main, she just sits down and pouts! But, I have perhaps wandered very far away from BandB topics here. So any more thoughts you have comparing the Haven and the CS is appreciated. I'm really probably 98% convinced on the CS (I can't tell you how many times in the last several weeks I've come within a whisker of whipping off the deposit check to Graham for the kit), but, like I said in my first post, my own inexperience makes me suspect my judgment and more cautious about the decision. And, yes, that offset cb is one of the very appealing aspects of the design. Another is that Graham doesn't appear to design a boat and then move on. The picture he offered to Wes of his shock cord hatch fitting today shows that he's always tinkering with the design to improve it. Then there is this board....maybe I'm 99%. Phil
  9. Well, as I expected, very helpful answers so far, and from three knowledgeable members. I suspected that simple physics dictated the characteristics I was experiencing on the DS. It's just that she will lose way so quickly, I'm even suspecting poor sail aerodynamics. It's the original sail, I think (1973) and a bit baggy at the foot. Tom, I'm going to pass your observation about tacking the Ensign along to the fellow who owns it. He's started racing his Ensign and is wanting to do better, and I don't think he's noticed the dynamic you mention. By the way, when are you going to get that Lapwing in the water so you can tell us all how she sails?! Ray, your description of getting out of irons on the CS sounds great. I have spent a number of frustrating minutes backing the mainsail on the DS only to get close to pointing well enough to get under way and then losing rudder input and slipping back, particularly under mainsail alone. By the way, very nice write-up on your boats in the most recent Small Boats. There is one lapstrake version of the Haven 12.5, or close to it, that John Brooks is working on. He calls it the Somes Sound 12 1/2. He doesn't have the plans ready, but he's built the prototype and is doing a class on it this summer. I don't know if it has a keel ballast like the Haven. If so, I suspect it is there to affect the compromise Paul spoke of in the direction of stability, which, according to Tom, is a sin. Cardinal or venal, Tom? I'm a novice and haven't fully learned my marine catechism. Still, it seems that stability is not a problem on the CS, which seems to me to be one of the many, many nice features of the rig Tom mentions, since it's CE is much lower than a Marconi sloop, and even my DS. Plus, the ability of the hull to translate force into planing rather than heeling has got to help a lot. And I'm with Ray, not having yet gotten into racing, the FMG value is the one that matters most to me, and at least my wife finds that value increases in inverse proportion to the angle of heel. Phil
  10. Hello everyone, I'm new to the board, and fairly new to sailing as well. So a little introduction before my question. (For those who want to skip the blather and get to the question, go to the little ******s). I've been reading the board for some time. Lots and lots of really useful information here (some of it archived on my laptop for future reference!!). I've also been a furniture maker and construction worker (no longer for hire) and have long admired wooden boats. Did I say admire? I meant lusted after in a way that isn't, most likely, entirely healthy. I don't want to tell you how old some of my magazines and books on wooden boats are. But I never got around to sailing. Always wanted to, never did. It's funny how some things just seem so alien if you don't know anyone who does them. Not long ago, though, a friend bought an Ensign and has been teaching me to sail on it while I'm helping him recondition it, particularly the woodwork. This lit a fire under my age-old desire to build a boat. In the meantime, having gotten the whole family bit hard with the sailing bug, I bought a used DaysailerII that was up for sale locally and have been sailing it in the area lakes (Central Texas) so I can sail while I figure out what boat to build. I go out every chance I get and have been learning a lot. That's about the sum of my experience: a nice keel boat that's comfortable and roomy, and a decent cb daysailer that's a bit coltish (and, I think, sluggish, but what do I know) but teaches me a lot. So, I've been researching and thinking hard about what boat design to build. I've always admired the Haven 12.5, both for it's beautiful lines and reputation, but I don't want to build a carvel boat, and I will need the boat I build to be easily trailerable (on shallow ramps) including stepping the mast(s), and perhaps just a bit roomier (like I said, I got the whole family involved...wife, two kids, mom, sister, her daughter....). So, something that fits four comfortably is a goal. I've also always admired the Oughtred designs, again for their traditional lines. But I know almost nothing about them, and they don't seem to be a design that offers a lot of comfort or dryness (very low freeboard it seems to me). Then, a few months ago, I came across Graham's designs while learning about these wild races I kept hearing about (I wish I could have done the Texas 200...maybe next time). They seem to offer a great deal. Very interesting performance envelope, nice stability, wonderful rig, and the new kit for the CS17 has come pretty close to cinching the deal for me. I like woodworking, but the advantages of such precisely cut parts for a first time boat builder are very impressive, from what I've carefully read here. (The Lapwing is also very seductive, with her traditional lines and that lovely clinker hull....if only she were just a little bigger....). But, I have very little experience with sailing very many boats, and this breeds some caution in me. ******* And, (you thought I'd never get to the question, didn't you?) since the only cb experience I have is the DSII, I'm wondering if her characteristics are typical for cb boats in general. And the one I'm most talking about (no, not capsizing!, I'm comfortable sailing on my beam end if the need arises) is inertia. By which I mean the ability to gather way and lose it. The Ensign, a very heavy boat for its size, is decent about moving out in a light breeze. Decent. But all that weight sure comes in handy when it's time to tack, or even just maintain course and speed between the gusts. The DS I have (and this could be my woeful sailing skills and not the boat) will move under the lightest zephyr if pointed right, but will also just die a sudden death when depowered for whatever reason. That makes her slow up considerably while tacking (those dreaded irons), and I can't tell you how many times I've thought I was coming in to the dock way too hot only to wind up bobbing head to wind 20 feet out, having to back the sail and gather way and looking like an idiot. In the same conditions, the Ensign would have been ON the dock. This may all just be simple physics, after all. But I'm wondering if there are differences between cb designs in this regard and whether those who have sailed the CS boats have thoughts about this aspect of their performance. So, what say you all? I've searched through the archives, but haven't found any discussion of this (perhaps I didn't use the right keywords, because I've found discussions for just about every other question I've had). Thanks for any thoughts. Phil
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