Joe Anderson

Jay and Carol Flinders is looking incredible. More pictures please when you get a chance. Don't worry about any clutter. Simply amazing having watched you bring her to life out of a pile of wood, some epoxy, and B&B Designs.

One of the things I love about going to the Messabout is learning something new. This year Graham asked me if I had seen any of the Swedes videos on foam core boat building. I told him I had not. Graham knows I am interested in foam core boat building, perhaps he also knows two of my grandparents immigrated from Sweden. Anyway my interest was piqued. So now I am learning a little more about the interesting life of Sven Yrvind. He is a bit of a blue water sailor so his mindset is a little different from us coastal cruisers but his emphasis on the advantages of keeping boats small and simple certainly resonates.

Todd I caught this short clip of your boat sailing so smoothly. Sailing at the Messabout 2021

Thanks Padre that worked. Now I have the video showing in the thread.

Ted How do I post so my video is visible in the thread like yours?

Just got back from the 2021 B&B Mess-about. Thanks to the B&B family for hosting such an amazing event. This is a short video of Paul sailing around just after the Mess-about. You can see that he is not always the serious racer. During the "race" some sailors notably Alan and Paul seemed to have an edge on the windward leg. One of Graham's bits of wisdom was try lowering the draft of your sail for improved performance when close hauled. For us sprit boomed folks that means tighten the heck out of your snotter. Graham mentioned that it can be difficult when sitting to windward to judge how much camber is in the sail.

Ouch ! this could hurt. That is tough love.

Nice job on your assignment and good documentation. Also very nice launch video with good camera work.

I did a search on the web. I did not realize how much information there was on the advantages of sailing by the lee in a cat rigged dinghy. That is sailing on a run with the boom on the windward or 'wrong' side of the boat on the verge of a gybe. About the only time I sail my Spindrift by the lee is when I am maneuvering around something and I don't want to gybe and than gybe right back when I resume course. For me sailing by the lee takes a lot of focus. I would not feel comfortable sailing by the lee in winds much above 10 knots. I use the technique that Dave suggested of varying my TWA to find something that feels comfortable with the wind speed and waves I am dealing with. Thanks for bringing this up. I am looking forward to experimenting with this technique.

Alek I think you have raised a valid point. When the wind is up I have always felt more comfortable sailing close to the wind, you do have the waves crashing and the spray but as Amos said you can just head a few degrees up into the wind, feather a little until a gust has past, or heave to and reef. Downwind is another story. when the wind is light no problem, when the wind builds I feel a little panicky because you have to commit yourself and the safety of pointing up into the wind seems a long way away. Daves advice is sound but a little from the perspective of a racer. He has a point though. If you want to improve your sailing and push the limits at some point you have to embrace the chaos and go for it. Many times I have found the boat to be much more capable than I thought. I am not following you here. My understanding of sailing by the lee is to have your sail on the windward side of the boat when you are running before the wind. In a cat ketch putting the mainsail by the lee keeps both sails in clear air and gives you more power. Letting the sail out forward of the mast is not sailing by the lee. On my Spindrift the gooseneck will not allow the sail to move forward of the mast. It is good if there is someone to have your back. Or you can reduce sail. Thanks for bringing up some interesting points. Let us know how it goes.

If your boom is set up for reefing there is a cheekblock about a foot from the end of the boom that the reefing line runs through. This helps keep the reefing clew close to the boom. If your outhaul is coming from the end of the boom you would want an extra line tying the reefing clew down close to the boom. Its sounds like you have a very interesting area to sail in.

Oh that is interesting. I guess when Graham said self righting he meant self righting. Somehow I thought the SR meant the boat would not turtle, but you are saying the SR is not stable with the sails laying out on the water. She will come back upright. That might make it very difficult to lay it over in the first place. Your diagram has VCG and LCB and they are offset. That is I presume what gives the boat it's righting moment. CG is center of gravity not sure what the V is CB is center of buoyancy not sure what the L is I think this baby needs to attend capsize camp. Since the first task at camp is to capsize. She might flunk out.

Nice work Jay. Keep the photos coming. It is exciting to see your progress.

If I had to raise and lower the Spindrift sail while on the water on a regular basis I think I might be forced to carry a small anchor. That would keep you head to wind and out of trouble and you could take your time.

You might try some McLube Sailkote on the zipper. I replaced the clevis pin on the gooseneck with a quick release pin, which I hope does not release while I am sailing. I eased the outhaul if it has a lot of tension it makes installing the gooseneck difficult. I am not sure I am the one to assist with that