Russell Sova

Hey Tex, Why aren't you helping George clear brush? You can find this info in Royce's Sailing Illustrated. The pressure is figured by wind speed and sail size in sq.ft. ; for rexample on a day when winds are force 3 on the Beaufort scale, 8 to 12 knots the forces are .16 to .33 lbs. per sq. ft. The pressure increases exponentially as you sail in ever windier conditions. At a Beaufort scale 5, winds 17 to 21 knots you would experience pressure of .96 to 1.4 lbs. per sq. ft. Since you need a 10 to 1 ballast ratio a 100 sq. ft. sail area at 21 knots would experience 140 lbs. pressure centered several feet above deck at the heeling arm and you would need 1400lbs. ballast to keep it from heeling, ballast in form stabilty like a weekender/vacationer counts, too. Oh if I could just type without mistakes!~

The boat we were using until this year was a flat bottomed keel boat. I wouldn't sail it without stone ballast. The ballst was put in between the bottom and the deck. Once the deck was put in the stone can't move. If an extra frame or two needs to be put in in this area it'll only add a couple of pounds weight. The ballast will be under the waterline and 40 lbs. of stone in a 16ft boat goes a long way. 100lbs. in a 21ft boat would really help. I've tried it and it works. You can see the difference right away as your boat doesn't heel as much and just seems more stiff.

Did I say Frank's question I meant Robert, sorry.

In answer to Frank's question I've built 4 boats, the last two of my own design. The last one is a radius bilge. The one before was a flat bottomed full keel boat. I used the urea glue "oh, you mean yellow glue?", and every other kind in 9 years of building. Building and sailing is my hobby and passion. Before that I was a semi-professional ship modeler. I've got two models in museums, one the British Consolate office and one in a law office in NY City. I've been studying boats and plans for 18 years and I believe that the more traditional the building technique the better. I started out using the same techniques used to build Stevenson boats. Water always somehow can get into a hull so it's best to be as thorogh as possible. Fast and cheap does cut it on the water. I was drawn to the Stevenson boats by their salty appearance but I believe that carpenters etc. can surely build more strength into the hull. I wasn't kidding about stone ballast. It's been used for hundreds of years. The British and scandinavian boat builders use "beach shingle", flat rocks from the shore. Moreover many, many boats for many, many years have been built by farmers who farmed in the summer and took their families out fishing in the winter. They sunk their boats all summer to keep them swollen. They used no paper plans and their boats survived for a long time. Use the right wood, use common sense and you can produce a boat that is safe, fun, fast etc. It's not rocket science and now with everyone not just well read but saturated with information no one with the desire to build a boat can lack from knowledge. Especially someone like Tom who has planned for this since Childhood. I'll bet he already picked out the name.

Tom, there are alot of sharpie boats 22 to 32 ft. that you can get plans to. Some are quite handsome like the Princess boats mentioned, Your passion will shorten the building time. It litterally takes on a life of it's own. I poke fun at these Stevenson boats because these "safety" conscious builders of boat(s) use YELLOW GLUE. Most boat bilders shun such nonsense. And their larger version failed structurally......hmm.

So Patrick, you probably don't want Dennis Kucinich's website address?

Don't forget your life jackets.

Nope, I wasn't kidding. You guys take yourselves way too seriously. I too live right next to Lake Erie. I have all my life. There is a guy who built a flat raft for fishing that has a chair and a trolling motor on it. When it's flat calm it looks like a alot of fun. Regarding boat design, many boats that are over 25ft. between pperpendiculars are 8ft. wide. Tom, you could also add some pig iron to the keel, say, as a shoe on the outside. Have fun.......Still sailing on the the "dangerous" lakes.

Go for it Tom. I doubt if any of the nay sayers has ever tried it. Get rid of the goofy beakhead while your at it. Extend the length, add some stone ballast, put it in burlap bags if you want and remove it or put it down low and ceil over it. It might take a season or two fooling around with the rig to get it right but so what? You can use tarps for sails so there is very little cost involved. If anyone in your family doesn't like your boat just throw them overboard (with a life jacket on).

My guess is that if you do a lapstrake plywood hull your boat would cost about $1000 including the paint. I use a waterproof glue called PL400 that holds plywood like epoxy. They also make another glue that is waterproof that is polyurathane that holds just as well and will not come off when the wood gets wet. Using gun applicator glues such as these cuts costs remakably. You can save the epoxy for the bottom of the hull, just put it on like paint. Just make sure you buy the glue at the hardware store and not a boat store.