Steve Clutterbuck

I came across this setup which I think I will be using on my boat. It seems it will act as both topping lift and lazy jacks. It also stows away against the mast when not being used so it shouldn't upset the sail shape. http://www.tcsn.net/bosun/lazyjack.htm

Jake, Have a look at the Huntingford's Helm Impeder. It may be just what you want. Congratulations on the launch, the boat looks magnificient. Steve http://www.dca.uk.com/articles/himpeder.htm

Thanks for all the words of encouragement everyone. I have just returned from a Victorian Wooden Boat Association gathering in the township of Paynsville, which in on the Gippsland Lakes, about 4 hours drive east of Melbourne. I was stunned by all the messages, its really nice to know there are so many people out there who love these boats. My wife and I had a very pleasant surprise when we arrived in Paynsville. Staying at the same caravan park was a fellow member of the WBA who I knew was building a Weekender. I didn't think he was anywhere near finished though, but boy was I wrong. Bill and his wife arrived with their brand new boat that still hadn't been in the water. The main activity the following day was to be a cruise on the Nicholson River so we decided to try to get some photos of the two boats together. Once again there are no pictures with sails. I still don't have mine and, although Bill does have his, he didn't quite have enough time to finish his mast. The photos are attached, hope you like them. I have a few shots of some of the other boats if anyone's interested. No more Stevenson's designs though. Knut, my motor is a 3.3 hp Mercury. It has more than enough power to do the job. The speed limit in most of the rivers around here is 5 knots. The Merc pushes my boat to this speed on less than 1/3 throttle with plenty in reserve to punch into a headwind. [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

Hi Everyone, Finally after nearly three years of very spasmodic work my Weekender

Hi everyone, I'm a very infrequent poster here but I lurk regularly and greatly appreciate the shared knowledge of the regular contributors. I think it's time I made a contribution so I would like to share the following thoughts. Firstly thanks to you Knut for sharing you experiences. This sort of information is invaluable for those of us who are building but have never actually sailed a Weekender. My sailing background is in dinghys and catamarans, in fact I have never set foot on a keel boat. Right from the start I have regarded the Weekender as a big dinghy and since I have managed to capsize every dinghy I have ever raced I don't feel at all worried about it provided the boat can be righted easily. The water here in Australia is relatively warm though so I can understand why capsizing may be a bit more of an issue for those of you living in cooler areas. Knut's experience shows that righting isn't a problem but bailing is. When I first started building my Weekender I read the previous account of a capsize that some of you have already mentioned. It was obvious that a swamped Weekender would sit very low in the water and would need extra flotation to allow bailing out so I decided on a few modifications to provide some extra flotation. My solutions may not suit everyone and in fact have yet to be tested, but in the hope of at least throwing some more ideas into the ring this is what I have done. I have gone for a tiller instead of the wheel for steering. This is partly because I like the tiller but partly because it eliminates the hole in the transom. My tiller goes over the top of the aft deck not through the lazarette. I have also extended the walls of the lazarette all the way to the sides of the hull so the lazarette becomes a watertight area which should provide plenty of flotation. To allow access for ventilation and storage of light equipment I have made a sealed hatch cover on the aft deck. Similarly I have sealed the front storage compartment by making a sealed hatch for the deck and sealed covers for the access holes through the bulkhead inside the cabin. The seat backs are sealed as usual but will have access ports to provide ventilation. Hopefully these three sealed areas will provide enough flotation to keep a swamped boat high enough to allow easy bailing. In the event of a swamping I also plan to carry some watertight storage containers so that delicate items such as cameras etc can be kept out of harms way when not actually being used. I was also very interested to read peoples opinions of the weight of the mast. I have actually been considering a sealed alloy mast but had almost decided against it for asthenic reasons. I may have to reconsider this though. Has anyone tried an alloy mast? Sorry for the long post but hope I may have provided some food for thought. Steve

Simon, You're right it was my jig. There is a picture of it in the MSN site under Steve's Weekender. I used a coarse sanding disk (40 grit from memory) and kept the guide stick more or less straight up and down. Making the jig is a 10 minute job and it makes fairing the stringers really easy. Lots of dust though. The jig consists of nothing more than a length of timber screwed to a 90 degree angle bracket. The bracket is attached to the grinder through one of the handle mounting holes. Good luck. The way I'm going you will probably be finished before me.