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]

Gday all - after my mast bending excursion i have finally tracked down some suitable alloy for the main mast replacment section. any advice appreciated on choosing between: 6061 T6 2mm wall and 6106 T6 3mm wall the mast was a 6060 T6 2mm wall - the only readily available off-the-shelf tube in NSW - but obviously not strong enough for my style of sailing! thanks DN

thanks graham - have pretty much scoured the countryside for a single length of 6061 t5 2or 3mm wall tube. have checked out all the major manufacturers and they say that 6082 (slightly harder) has pretty much replaced 6061 in australia. 6082 seems to be only available in 6mm and up wall thickness. 6060 is the most widely available alloy and i would guess has been used by most cs builders in australia - looks like rob blackburn used the same alloy in his masts that broke/bent. will try mast manufacturers but didnt find much joy in my initial research. thanks for the tips will keep you posted. dn

thanks joe - will check it out dn

Gday All - well we named our second hand un-named CS 17 #36 "Wyvern" and re-launced it amid much pomp and ceremony, wise words and cheap champagne. What a great day on Wallaga Lake - took a bit to get used to the "big" and stable feel after sailing racing dingeys - never felt out of control even with 15-20 knot gusts. took the two kids out and three-four adults at a time - heaps of room! and comfortable for the pregnant and more elderly amoungst the group - just sat there and enjoyed the ride! beating upwind produced just enough spray to let us know we were really sailing (reminiscent of hanging off a trapeze as a teenager - without the exersion!) need to work a bit on motoring and mooring up to the jetty - nearly had a spectacular collision - thank goodness for the tyres! went a bit slower next time. the cat ketch rig is so easy and safe to sail and we got the hang of it pretty quickly - but on returning to the boat ramp at the end of the day, noticed that we'd managed to bend the main mast at deck level! bugger! rang the previous owner to get his thoughts and he thought we were sailing too hard on windward beats and had the mainsheet cranked on too hard. could be as im used to sailing racing skiffs pretty hard. also found out that he had used a softer aluminium alloy tube than recommended in the plans - 6060 instead of 6061 - about half the strength of the recommended. so it was probably a combination of my sailing style and the weaker tubing. any thoughts on how hard you can/should sail into the wind? - the boat does seem to point quite high when pushed. i cant seem to find 6061 tube (or its equivalent) with a 2-3mm wall anywhere in Australia. i can get the right strength but only in a 6mm wall. my question is will having a thicker wall in the bottom section affect the mast bend and therefore the set of the sail, wind spilling effect, etc? also, the centreboard got quite a vibration up at speed and wondered if anyone had experienced the same and what they did about it. will post some photos when i have a bit more time. thanks Dave

Wow! thanks for the warm welcome guys and the great info - i really feel like part of the "club" now. will let you know how the first sail went on a different thread. oh and my partner reminded me that this boat isnt owned by my mate and me but by the whole two families! cheers DN

Gday All - Myself and a mate are the proud new owners of a second hand CS17 we bought in Sydney last week - I have long admired the design and almost got the plans myself a couple of years ago - so couldnt believe my luck when one came up for a very resonable price in the local trading post paper. Im interested in making a dodger to provide shade and wind/spray protection for kids and less hardy passengers (my mum!). This boat has been built with a square finish to the cockpit coming - not nice and curved like the original plan - has anyone got/seen any plans or designs? Thanks for the help - and I'm glad to be joining the B&B family! Been reading the postings with much interest. Will have the first sail tomorrow, weather permitting (raining a bit here at the moment - nice but need lots more to get out of this drought). Wish me luck with my first go at a cat ketch rig! Cheers DN