Dave Newell

gday john - im down on the far south coast (cobargo) and have a cs17 - and very happy with it! at the moment shes in "dry dock" while im fixing a few problems from the previous owner/builder (he didnt stick to the plans!). should have it back in the water by the summer (and would love to sail her on the harbour sometime) - or come down and have a look at a cs17 with the insides removed! david.newell@cma.nsw.gov.au for correspondance cheers dn

thanks Brent - will keep that in mind dn

Gday all - i am getting close to rebuilding the seats on my "the six million dollar boat - we can rebuild her we have the technology" project (just hope it dosnt cost that much!). because of the previous builders construction techniques (read - lack of techniques!) i need to finish the seats about level with the front of the centreboard case. i was wondering if not having the seat sides/tops go all the way to the front bulkhead will make any major difference to hull strength/stiffness. thanks dave

thanks guys! great advice happy building and sailing dn

Howdy all - well into fixing up the problems with my 2nd hand cs17. im about to fit new seat tops and wondered how they should be fixed to the framing - should be glued in or sealed with something like sixaflex to allow flex? thanks for the help dn

Gday Antony - have a look at my previous discussion strand: "first sail out bent the mast!" i bought a boat (cs17) with 6060 masts and its way too soft for "hard sailing" (rob blackburn from queensland also had problems). i cant remember how 6063 compared with 6060 - but the advice from all the mast people i talked to pointed to 6082 - more expensive but worth the peace of mind. i had goldspar masts cold draw me a couple of lengths. Graham did do me some calculations re extra wall thickness and from memory 6063 looked ok with a thicker wall - but i decided to go the "bomb proof" option. cheers dn

yes please Graham! any design specs would be great. david.newell@cma.nsw.gov.au thanks heaps dn

Gday all - anyone got any ideas/thoughts/designs/experience/pictures of a light air staysail for the 17? thanks dn

Gday - i bought a 17 that has a cut out for the motor - but while it might look neater than a bracket, it is not as practical. the mizzen sheet constantly gets hooked on the motor when running or broad reaching with the sail on the same side as the motor and its a bit fiddly to attach the motor when turning the screws. it also collects water. hope this helps dn

thanks Graham - will experiment! D

Well we are back on the water after bending the main mast (first time out!) and discovering out that the original builder of our CS17 didnt bother to profile the centerboard at all! it was a bit like sailing with a vibrating lump of 4x2 stuck in the water! I now know heaps about alloy for masts and whats available in Australia (let me know if anyone wants some info) and had a steep learning curve on profiling, laminating and finishing centerboards. The finished result was not too bad and the boat certainly seems to sail better - and no annoying vibration! I would like some advice on the optimum angle to have the centerboard at when fully extended (when beating to windward). I dont have the plans so cant really work it out other than the pic on B&B's website. Check out the attached pic of the new centerboard - beautiful isnt she? (and the model aint too bad herself!) Happy sailing DN [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

hey thanks Brent great advice - will make sure i set up the mizzen with rudder and motor hooked up to get it right. Dave

gday all - well my new custom made alloy sections for the mats arrived today - you beauty! so will change hardware over and be back sailing soon. i also want to change the main and mizzen sheeting arrangement back to the original design, as i reckon the previous owners design helped contribute to the mast bending exercise. i need some help with the exact measurements of hardware placement for the mizzen and main sheet blocks - specifically for the mizzen - how far either side of the centreline should the two blocks be and how far in from the edge of the transom? and for the main - how far either side of the centre line and how far from the front edge of the thwart? any good pics of the layout? - had a bit of a look but none are really clear and close-up. hope this makes sense thanks Dave

Thanks Andrew! good to know of another wooden boat person "down the road" - make sure you come for a sail down this way when you get your boat finished. i learnt to sail on lake burley griffin, racing cherubs and ns14's from the YMCA club - lots of thrills and spills with that fluky wind. i have just managed to track down a solution for my mast section which others on the east coast of OZ may be interested in - Goldspar masts (02 9997 1211) in sydney have some 6082 (the good stuff!) 60mm x 2mm wall which they are going to sleeve for me with a 1.5 mm collar (to come up above deck level) - if i bend that ill eat my life jacket. bit more expensive but worth the peace of mind i reackon. as graham said to me in an email - the important measurements in the mast sections are outside diameter (which really needs to be the 2.5" (63.5mm) he specifies in the plans and the alloy type which needs to be 6061 T6 as a minimum). happy building/sailing DN

well here is a pic of the bent main mast - it bent right at deck level. im pretty sure it was a result of changes to the designers specs not sailing conditions and style. the mast alloy used was 6060 instead of 6061 (lower tensile strength) and smaller in outside diameter than recommended (60mm instead of 63.5mm). also the main sheet system is different from specified and pulls the sprit end down at a bad angle when sheeting on hard into the wind. heres my recommendation to current and future builders - DONT MUCK AROUND WITH THE DESIGN! :evil: unfortunatly as far as the mast alloy goes the smaller and weaker section is what is readliy available in Australia and I have so far been unable to find the right one, even after countless calls and hours on the web - got a bit closer but not spot on. in the end close enough might have to be good enough and see what happens - will keep on searching for a while but i want to get back on the water! anyone who knows where i can get a 3m length of 63.5mm 6061 T6 tube with 2-3mm wall please let me know! (by the way check out the gallery for pics from our first outing with the Wyvern) Cheers DN [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]