Rob Blackburn

I am going to re read the Hornblower/Aubery Maturin novels and get a full concept of all the rigging of the Nelson era before starting work though. Sailing wise, we went down the coast an hour for the weekend with friends and took 5 kids and 4 adults for a sail which was good. Then the wind died. Had lunch at the pub and Kay Cottee who was the first woman to sail solo around was there in her little launch so we sent the kids for an autograph. Otherwise I am busy building "expedition boxes" for our trip up to the Sandy Straits in 10 weeks. Photos are of kids rowing, Kay Cottee in green shirt and becalmed... [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

OK guys, how much faster do you go for a given eg 5-10knot breeze? Have you done a GPS run? Sounds interesting... How about an extension to windward on the sprit on the main sail to allow a sort of blooper to go out there and sheet back around? You could end up like the Cutty Sark with a bit of thought. With the initials CS... maybe Graham was thinking of this subliminally when he designed it and wants us to put more sails up? Rob... (bored at work)

Get the 20. You won't regret it. I have a 9 and 11 yr old and with their obligatory 2 friends there is room for everyone. You can take 4 adults 4 kids easily. This keeps the little dears attention spans controllable. The weight/rigging/towing issue is a non issue. The boat looks right at 20 foot. Have put a couple of shots here that show the size of kid vs room in boat... http://homepage.mac.com/blackburns/filechute/KIDS%20IN%20CS20.zip I would put a chocolate locker in if we built again though. Rob

Done a bit of sailing over the past 2 weeks and thought a couple of photos might give you blokes something to look at. http://homepage.mac.com/blackburns/Expeditions/PhotoAlbum69.html Strong winds and cold (for us) last week, and we had a hoot, just 2 of us out sailing around. Had a funny experience, reaching along at a fair clip and all of a sudden we started shipping water up through the centreboard case top. Had never happened before so must have been a unique combination of speed waves etc. It was a real welling up of water effect. Only shipped about 15 litres so no great shakes. 2 days ago, summer back for a weekend and we had a kids fort building morning down the river. Rob

I would love a boat like that. The other boat that I have singled out for a few years time maybe is the Baltic Lugger by Selway Fisher in UK. It is more like the Welsford designs. It is a bigger, deeper boat. I would like a 21-22 foot version I reckon with a cat ketch. Neither would sail as well I don't think as the CS but they would be better further out to sea. I have this sort of plan/fantasy to do some bigger open boat trips up the coast. (I have read too much Shackleton and Flinders stuff for my own good) I reckon either of them would do the trick. The CS would get you there quicker but the thing I like about it now is it's low freeboard and relative lightness, good for family use and sheltered water with families would go against it in deeper water. Having said that we had some serious wind/current/tide waves in it in the Sandy Straits and it was fine. The stability is good but you are close to the water and it is not a dry boat. This is their website. http://www.selway-fisher.com/OtherDB.htm#BALTIC I don't want to sound too I am ish about winning that race though. We started it like it was a Laser regatta and went at it competitively where as the instructions were to have fun. My only point really was that the design is really good and prospective owners have nothing to fear of building a wood duck. Cheers Rob

Had a look at that Wellsford site. That is definitely it. It really was a pretty boat. The guy who built it had daughters/family that did not like it leaning over so he put a tiny rig on it. It came last by a country mile iin everything on the weekend. Very sad but the new owner is working on it. I would leave it in the shed until I had a new rig myself... It looks heavy, and would be really good out at sea I reckon coastal passages etc in good weather but it looked sort of heavy. I would certainly have one though. It made the CS 20 look a little plywoodish to my eye , particularly from the 3/4 aft view, but we came first and he came last. Rob

Went up to Bribie Island on the weekend and entered the Bribie Classic Boat weekend. Had a fantastic time, lots of tragics like Col and myself fooling around in boats. Cruised up Pumicestone Passage on the Saturday am and stopped for lunch and checked out the other boats. Saturday night, dinner at the pub and a few quick presentations, then watched the footy and off to bed. Sunday, big brekky bbq and then a public inspection. The race started at midday and our CS 20 simply drove away from the fleet. As the breeze picked up we got further ahead, particularly upwind. On the final lap we had the whole crew of 400kg or 880lb up on the rail and we just trucked up wind. This is the best bit about the boat to me. I just love the way it drives to weather if you have enough weight in a blow. No hint of needing to reef, the rig does that for you. One 24 footer lost it's rig in the wind. Picture in the paper and much comment on how well the design worked. It was great fun. We had to keep dispensing chocolate to the young crew to combat the spray though. Need some sort of dodger but what can you do that looks OK? Maybe better wet weather gear. Rob http://homepage.mac.com/blackburns/Expeditions/PhotoAlbum63.html

I have a 20 footer and it is not hard to rig it single handed. I store the sails wrapped around the masts and tied off. So put boat in water with masts on carriers in the mast holes. Drop them on the boat, take off covers, pick up and drop in the hole. If it is windy I do it into wind and get one of the kids to hold the bottom of the mast to facilitate locating it into the hole easier. You could easily rig up a shock cord loop to tie off on the foot of the mast if you were by yourself and the wind was up to locate the mast bottom. Piece of piss as they say. If you can rig a laser, you can rig a 20 and then the 17 must be easier... If you have the sail wrapped around then you don't have that monster flogging in the wind..

http://homepage.mac.com/blackburns/PhotoAlbum49.html This is some shots I took for someone whose name escapes me about 6 months ago. It was under the big blue tarp before the boat shed was completed so it all looks a bit weird. I am amazed by Brents efforts. He is more motivated than me. We have gone down the laser path and kept it as simple as possible. I have just redone the booms with a webbing loop to go on the outhaul end and some sister clips on the snotter to make it easier to rig again. I derive a fair bit of pleasure from arriving at the ramp, dropping the masts in looping the sails on connecting a couple of clips and away we go. I use my 9 and 11 yr olds to run forward and adjust the downhaul.... But what Brent says about speed is true, not many boats get past us. We sailed up and away from an RL 28 on Sunday in the river. In the end he started footing away to make out he was not trying but we lost him completely. If I had my time over I don't think I would go bigger sails as you would need some sort of ballast if you did not take crew and it then becomes a circular argument I feel. More sail, more crew, more weight etc... I feel the performance is helped by being able to completely adjust weather and or lee helm out of the tiller thus reducing induced drag etc. I find if the conditions are heavier I tighten up the mizzen by half a spiders cock to give a bit of weather helm and then the boat seems to lift itself on the lifts in gusts etc to weather. I have got off the subject.. Sorry. We are off to Bribie Island for their Classic Boat regatta in 10 days. Shall send some pictures of us with the trophy from Sundays race.... (hubris here...) Rob

I know this is a bit off the track but what do any of you blokes know about rowing boats made of ply? I have seen one by CHesapeake Light Craft in Wooden Boat and one called the Merry Wherry. I want something light enough to get off the roof racks of my 4wd, into North Creek and go for a sliding seat style of row with out falling out or swamping.. Any suggestions? Rob ps and it should look nice too.

I know we did not go with the aft deck but here is what we have for what it is worth. I like it as there is no sign of the motor if you don't take it for the day... apart from discolouration of the white paint but that is fixable with a different rubber mat. http://homepage.mac.com/blackburns/PhotoAlbum60.html I also had an outboard in a closed well when I had my Norwalk Island sharpie and it had a problem in that the fumes from the motor did not escape easily and choked the performance of the motor. It was quite a significant effect even with the hatch off it tended to bog down and give the appearance that you had a major fire happening in the back. It was also awkward as I had it on a set of rails/bars that let you lift and lower the 10hp. It was not user friendly to say the least. Nothing is perfect as we all know though. I still think an electric would be good for occasional use though. You could have it up under the deck suspended there on rubber shock cord loops or of course in the stern locker if you built that option. If you got 4 hours out of a moderate battery you would probably go 15-20 miles in calm water. If it was not calm you would be sailing probably. Our 5 works well for what we want though. It looks bigger in the photos than when you stick it on the boat. I took 4 kids fishing last week with out the sails and the tiller and it worked perfectly. Sort of a suv of boats as you guys in the US call them. See you Rob

Had the phone interview with the sailmaker and he is not convinced by the whole sprit boom thing... In the end I had to tell him I wanted to go to hell in my own way and to humour me.. I heard a groan. Have settled for doing it with a webbing loop on the outhaul end of the sails but have added a dead eye/ cringle/ eye thingo to the webbing loop. The reason is that we have very slim booms at the outboard end and when I do as suggested and drill longitudinaly into it and insert a hardwood dowel, it would be too thin for the webbing loop to stay at the aft end. So shall turn a bit of hardwood with a slight chamfer to fit the 12-14mm dead eye when it arrives back this week. Otherwise no sailing to report. (If you guys have any sort of access to black magic could you help out my mate Eric (the boat builder) whose ex wife is giving him merry hell at present...) Rob

Had the phone interview with the sailmaker and he is not convinced by the whole sprit boom thing... In the end I had to tell him I wanted to go to hell in my own way and to humour me.. I heard a groan. Have settled for doing it with a webbing loop on the outhaul end of the sails but have added a dead eye/ cringle/ eye thingo to the webbing loop. The reason is that we have very slim booms at the outboard end and when I do as suggested and drill longitudinaly into it and insert a hardwood dowel, it would be too thin for the webbing loop to stay at the aft end. So shall turn a bit of hardwood with a slight chamfer to fit the 12-14mm dead eye when it arrives back this week. Otherwise no sailing to report. (If you guys have any sort of access to black magic could you help out my mate Eric (the boat builder) whose ex wife is giving him merry hell at present...) Rob

Had the phone interview with the sailmaker and he is not convinced by the whole sprit boom thing... In the end I had to tell him I wanted to go to hell in my own way and to humour me.. I heard a groan. Have settled for doing it with a webbing loop on the outhaul end of the sails but have added a dead eye/ cringle/ eye thingo to the webbing loop. The reason is that we have very slim booms at the outboard end and when I do as suggested and drill longitudinaly into it and insert a hardwood dowel, it would be too thin for the webbing loop to stay at the aft end. So shall turn a bit of hardwood with a slight chamfer to fit the 12-14mm dead eye when it arrives back this week. Otherwise no sailing to report. (If you guys have any sort of access to black magic could you help out my mate Eric (the boat builder) whose ex wife is giving him merry hell at present...) Rob

Where does the engine go on a rounded transom?

My sails are at the sailmaker and I have some seriously technical new and expensive stainless steel bits and bobs in the shed.... More news next week when we unveil the new updated boom system....

Well, what a funny weekend we had with dear old Allecat. It was the inaugural father eldest daughter camping and sailing weekend. 2 eleven yr olds plus 2 43 yr old dads. First up when we went to set up camp, no tent pegs. The wind was picking up... so had to go and beg off an old bloke up the road. Matches were the next casualty, followed by knives, we had about 25 spoons but only 2 knives, one of which was broken. I then took the masts through a pair of power lines and knocked down the phone line. The boat ended up with one power line in front of the mainmast and one behind the mizzen. Wedged in. Had to take the trailer off the car, rotate 90deg and then pull the masts down and start again. sigh. Very bloody lucky. Big black stripe on sail to prove it from the insulation. Then headed off and had a nice sail but the storm front coming sent us for home and we got back to the car just as the wind and rain got ugly. Rained all night. Then we had no insect repellant and they were serious mosquitoes... Borrowed some matches from up the road then got dinner going. Luckily we did not forget the wine. Next day no wind and about 3 knots of tide so went up river against the tide with the motor and had a nice sail back with the current. All in all good fun but we were left looking rather stupid with our omissions and stuff ups. Next time will be better. Rob http://homepage.mac.com/blackburns/Expeditions/PhotoAlbum59.html

I personally feel that my boat is wet. Fullstop. If you arrange it so that your wife is sitting about halfway down it is not too bad but you will hear about it. I think when you look at the CS 20 from the front it has a quite vertical side angle (can't think of the right term). This tends to slop spray aboard in my experience. But it is the way the bottom of the hull carries out to the sides a long way instead of how a dory is built that gives it it's stability. This is purely my theories on it. My mate has a dory and it has exagerated flare in the bow section, is incredibly dry at all points of sailing but is very tippy and slow. So, I prefer a bit of spray and the dory behind me about 2 miles... I don't know about a dodger as you would have difficulty seeing over it. Face facts, it is a low boat that goes quickly, you must get some spray. Rob [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]

Oh boy, I just seem a bit thick on this one. Could you put some digital shots up of both these answers? I think I see what Gordy is saying but Brent has me foxed. I also must admit to not knowing what the terms mean in Brents post. ie what is a bullet? If the sprit shooting across the water is an issue, and wouldn't that only be if the outhaul is slack and everything is flogging? Could you not put a loop around the end of the fork or a clip or something to keep it where it should be? I think I will need a picture. Maybe we should start a web page of this sort of detail for new builders? ie pictures of curly bits in the boats or maybe Graham should look at this? I could put in on my Apple page easily. Rob

If you are going to buy a Mercury as I was fine but the Tohatsu is the same motor made in good old Japan and here in Oz was about 400 bucks cheaper ie 1300 vs 1700 for the identical motor. I got the one with the external tank as I don't know if the merc comes std with that. You may have to check that. I can't quite remember the details but there was something to do with this. It could have been something to do with there not being a hose fitting or some such rubbish. Have a look first. Rob

Oops my colloquialisms obviously don't travel that well. I filled the standard 12.5 litre tank and took two more 10 litre tanks with me. I used about 14 litres in the week and that included two big motor legs. I would plan on under 2 litres per hour off the top of my head. And we weren't sparing it either as my mate has a 15hp on his dory and we had to keep up. It was interesting to see how much he used for the same trip as he took 70 litres and used about 50. For the same distance travelled. His boat had a lot more weight and is not as easily driven as the cs 20. (It was dry with his crew reading on the way home with us in our wetsuits/oilskins soaking wet.) Cheers. Rob

In a recent subject Graham kindly sent me a photo of the webbing loops at the out haul end of the sails. Could someone send me some close ups of how they have done their sprit boom ends. We could not figure the loop thing at the time and in a hurry just drilled a hole. So I am planning to make two new booms and get my sails changed. I thought I would continue with the clove hitch around the mast and what I am thinking about doing is buying a couple of sister clips. Leave one on the bit tied to the mast and have the other on the outhaul rope. In other words cut the current outhaul about 2-3 foot back from the mast and then use the forked boom end design. So to go sailing. 1.Unroll the sail/mast and connect the sister clips together. Removes need for stuffing around on the deck in the wind tieing knots. 1.( Put outhaul over forked stick style luff end of the sprit boom. 2. Loop leach end in webbing loop. 3. pull tight my 2:1 laser style outhaul 4. Voila. Pick holes in this please. At present I have a pulley block bolted to the luff end. So. Could someone put up some details of what they have at each end for me please???? Just back from a weeks holidays with the family in Tasmania. It was like National Lampoons "American Vacation" as I took the wife the kids and the mother in law in a People mover for the week. No sailing all week. Cheers Rob

Well, I am a self professed authority on this one. A bloody expert as we say in Australia. There is only one motor to get. 5hp. Max power to weight. Only one cylinder so not as smooth as you would like at some rpm settings. But lighter than a 6hp by far. If you are just fooling around near home, I would get an electric trolling motor for dead calms. Rowing is fine. We have done it a few times and it is fun and you cover the ground. You need to move the mizzen out of the thwart though if you have followed the plans otherwise you can't get a good go at it. If you plan to go places and expose yourself to wind and waves, you need a motor that gets you there. My Tohatsu 5hp cruises with 4 guys, camping gear and food and alcohol for a week at 4.5knots (GPS) at about 60% power. 6.5knots is about hull speed and it will do that at full throttle. Not pleasant on the ear but that is life. Also it uses stuff all fuel. http://homepage.mac.com/blackburns/PhotoAlbum48.html Shows us cruising... Rob

Shall get it changed straight away.. I will have to change my sprit though but that is no drama. Do you just have a hole in the end of the sprit and then tie off the block for the mainsheet ? That seems my easiest route. I am pondering putting the block tie rope through the sprit then knotting it with a stop knot either side and a couple of medium sized sister clips so that I can get the whole thing on and off quicker. I reckon if I did that and used the webbing loops it would work a treat. The advantage of the clove hitch is that the tighter you pull the outhaul, then the tighter the knot gets. It has not slipped at all. I also rigged up a laser style 2:1 outhaul system with loops to act as blocks to get some purchase that works well. Rob

Meant to put this photo on... oops [attachment over 4 years old deleted by admin]