chuckpierce

On our Harpoon we use a cheap 6 volt lantern battery type flashlight. Go get a 4 cell MagLite bulb and put in it (lens built into the bulb makes the beam angle smaller hence the beam is brighter) and shine it on the sail as necessary. Don't look at it and you'll keep some of your night vision. We only sail that thing at night 2 or 3 times a year, so IMHO it is not worth putting nav lights on it...

So now that the Texas 200 is over, the new kitchen and bathroom that I promised the wife will occupy the next 3 months of weekends. This means that I have to have a boat project to think about and use as a carrot stick to get me through the remodel . Been studying the Devlin, Atkin, and Michalak books for about a year now, and I am thinking that next year I'd like to build a small sailboat. The problem is figuring out which one! Here are the requirements. 12ft-16ft. Rig and in the water in 15 minutes or so. Has to hold me and 2 grandkids or me and another adult. Ability to row is a plus, there will be no motormount. Light weight, reasonably fast, but when we are over on the Louisiana side of Lake Sabine it has to get us back across the lake when the wind kicks up to 15kts and there is 3 feet of chop. Ability to sail onto a beach. Enough space (and weight capacity) for a singlehander's camp stuff and supplies for 5 or 6 days . Cheap, easy build, hopefully could be built in 8 or 9 Saturdays. This will be the first build for me, and I am not interested in building a work of art, but in utility and in what such a boat would allow us to do. Any advice/opinions you guys can give on which set of plans to order would be much appreciated! Thanks! Chuck

I have one of those cleats on the new rudder I built this winter for our P19 and it works like a champ. I can sail up to the beach with one hand on the tiller and one hand cranking up the keel and the rudder takes care of itself. Great piece! You can see it on the underside of the tiller-

OK-here is the result of my efforts and your advice- I sailed with it several times in March, the tiller was extremely light and in 10 kts of wind still had very little weatherhelm. I changed the angle of the top piece so that the bottom of the blade moved back a couple of inches and the blade was not as far under the skeg. Sailed with it in April a couple of times, and liked it. Tiller pressures are still much lighter, but not so light you can't feel what is going on. As the boat heels, tiller gets heavier (although never as heavy as the original) and weatherhelm increases. The boat is more responsive at slow speeds as well, and according to the Navman we get steerage at .2 knots. The boat will no longer round up on her own with the rudder all the way over. She WILL however round up if you keep the tiller where it is when the roundup starts. If a short gust starts the boat on its way into a roundup you can wait until it starts then pull the tiller to weather and she heads right back down without completing the roundup. Before, in gusty winds she would round up when heeled just a little over 20 degrees for a second or two. Now I can let her roundup if the gust continues or if the gust just lasts a couple of seconds I can turn back down without it completing. I realize that this calls for quick and correct decisions about what to let it do, but I like being able to decide for myself rather than being at the mercy of the boat. Following seas are easy to deal with now-smaller tiller movements and much lower pressures. The advice to not worry about a NACA foil was dead on. Week before last we completed the Texas 200 with the new rudder and it performed very well in contrast to the rudder problems we had in last year's event. Much thanks to all of you for your advice and opinions, you saved me a lot of time and trouble and experimentation! Chuck

If your jigsaw is shaking the plywood you might try clamping the plywood off better and get a better blade as well. The high end Bosch jigsaw blades cut plywood like butter...

Beautiful John. That's a job to be proud of!

Enjoyed Kim's article in MAIB. What a great week that was!

I have seen his posts on some of the other forums recently-Don't know what is going on, but think that he just made the decision for whatever reason not to participate here for a while....

OK, thanks for the advice. I think I am going to leave the spur on the front for balancing with the idea that I can always cut it off later if I don't like it, and do the shape that you suggested leaving the center thick enough that I can shave it down to a foil shape if I need to later. I should be able to sail with it in February and I will let you guys know what happens with it. I really appreciate you all taking the time to help me out with this! Chuck

Yes, she has some weatherhelm. PAR asked how many degrees off centerline the tiller is when we are sailing close hauled, so that is an answer for him . The weatherhelm gets extreme at high angles of heel in gusty high (20+ knot) winds. On this years' Texas 200 we rounded up uncontrollably at one point - we like to sail aggressively :smile:. This WAS the first time we almost hit someone- :shock:. One of my goals here is to have more control in those conditions...

Sorry for the delay replying to this it has been BUSY here- The tiller is 4-5 degrees to weather close hauled. No vibrations. One big problem is that in a quartering sea from astern keeping the boat on course will wear you out. 7-8 hours of that and you're exhausted. Will more surface area help with that or am I barking up the wrong tree here? I have been looking at the breakaway cleats that Duckworks sells... You make some excellent points about making changes in steps. The lower blade shape and size are actually based on a one piece "high performance" rudder that the manufacturer used to sell and that got good reviews in terms of performance. The only negative I could see about that rudder (besides the high cost) was the lack of kickupability (don't know if that's even a word). We sail in shallow water some and the boat has to be beachable. I have never personally sailed with one of these rudders although I know folks in other parts of the country who have them and like them. So you think the foil shape may be a waste of time and just fairing the blade fore and aft would be sufficient? Maybe as you suggest a better course of action would be to shape it less radically, try it, then I can always take off more material if needed... I am building it initially from Douglas Fir so that I can experiment cheaply (the epoxy to glue it up cost more than the wood). When it is the way I want it there are a couple of pieces of African mahogany on the woodrack waiting... Thanks

I am building a new rudder for my P19 because, well, the old one stinks. It kicks up when I don't want it to, doesn't kick up when I do want it to, isn't well balanced, and doesn't have enough authority at high angles of heel. I have built a jig for my router that will allow me to shape a NACA 0012 foil onto the lower part of the rudder. My question is this-How far up does the foil shape need to go? Does it just need to be on the section that is lower than the skeg? Or should I take it up to where the lower (kickup) blade enters the housing that attaches it to the upper piece? There is a 8-9 inch area on the lower section that is in the water but above the bottom of the hull even with the tiller all the way over. What do you guys think? Thanks Chuck

I agree that the new boat needs its own name. It will become apparent at some point, it is just a matter of waiting for it to hit you (hopefully not across the bridge of your nose ). My son and his family moved from Houston to Tulsa a couple of months ago, he is the branch manager at Delta Steel there. We are already planning a trip up to visit coordinated around Spring BOOTS - look forward to seeing you there. Again, the Lapwing looks great! Chuck

Boat looks great, John. Have you decided on a name? Chuck PS sofa table is done, new rudder for Aldeberan in progress. Two Paw to follow.

"Chuck, I'm not sure whether I should say congrats or apologize for helping you start down the path :-) " Well say congrats to me for having the sense to get the good stuff although it will take a while, apologize to the wife because after researching the brand, I see other Festool products in my future and it is largely YOUR FAULT!