A new Lapwing 16 on the water

[Peter Batchelor]

Hi all,

After a build taking almost 15 months, our Lapwing 16 has been launched. I was hoping for a much faster build, but the pandemic hit not long after I started, and work got busy, so I wasn't able to spend as much time on the boat as I would have liked.

This is a slightly modified version of the design, as, after consulting Graham and Alan, I didn't add the decking, and opted instead to keep the boat completely open. I also opted to build wishbone booms and birsdmouth masts.

We've called our Lapwing Pitthirrit, a Masked Lapwing in the Dhauwurd Wurrung language of the people of Gunditjmara country (South Western Victoria, Australia). Pitthirrit is pronounced Pitirit.

I've only had the chance for one sail in her so far, in very light winds, but we're very happy with her. I've put up some pages documenting the build, at  https://www.batchelors.net/boats/building-a-b-b-yacht-designs-lapwing-16

Quite a steep learning curve, and I'm glad that I build a CS17 beforehand, but I enjoyed the process, and am happy with the result.

Cheers, Peter

 

[PadrePoint]

It’s a beautiful boat that looks nicely done. Enjoy!  

 

Great looking write up on your link; I will be sure to read it soon. 

[Jknight611]

Beautiful boat, and your website is really good!  Takes a lot of effort to document your build, nice!

[Hirilonde]

It's taking a little adjustment in my views to get used to the changes. It just looks so different. The planking, the gains, etc look good.

 

I am a bit befuddled though concerning your rig.  You went to a lot of trouble to make varnished birdsmouth masts and then cover up most of them with a luff sleeve sail. You went the extra mile to build wish booms, which add a little to sail shape, but then used battenless no roach sails.

[Gira Gira]

Great build mate, very pretty boat.

I think I might copy your wishbone booms. Do you think alternate Tasmanian oak, western red cedar laminates would work?

[Peter Batchelor]

7 hours ago, Hirilonde said:

It's taking a little adjustment in my views to get used to the changes. It just looks so different. The planking, the gains, etc look good.

 

I am a bit befuddled though concerning your rig.  You went to a lot of trouble to make varnished birdsmouth masts and then cover up most of them with a luff sleeve sail. You went the extra mile to build wish booms, which add a little to sail shape, but then used battenless no roach sails.

 

Hi Dave, I went with the luff sleeve sails for now, as that's what I had used on my CS17, and I liked the simplicity and speed of setup. Like you, I keep my boat garaged, so leaving the sails on the masts isn't a particular concern. At some point I might decide that I do want to change over to sail tracks, and battened sails, and if so, then there's nothing stopping me from doing that.  I almost went with tracks, as I like the idea of faster reefing, but eventually decided that with the sort of sailing we do (no racing) then the smaller sails  were perfectly adequate.

I made the wishbone booms because of the technical challenge, and because I'd talked about them so often when sailing the CS17 that it was something that I just had to do

On launch day I was fortunate enough to have my old CS17 on the water to compare with, and the open layout of my Lapwing gave a much larger cockpit space than the conventionally laid out CS17. If/when we capsize, it will be interesting to see what difference not having buoyancy all the way to the gunwales in the bow will make with regards to ease of righting her.

Peter

[Peter Batchelor]

8 hours ago, Gira Gira said:

Great build mate, very pretty boat.

I think I might copy your wishbone booms. Do you think alternate Tasmanian oak, western red cedar laminates would work?

Hi Gira Gira,

I got the profile for the wishbones from https://grabcad.com/library/wishbone-boom-design-for-classic-day-sailing-boat-1 (the measurements can be seen in Wishbone1png), and then adjusted the size to suit my masts and sails, plus a bit of leeway.  I definitely didn't want to end up with the wishbones being too short...

Whilst the CAD drawings are for a single-piece boom, I made mine so that they could be opened at the aft end. There's enough flex in the booms that I can open the aft end to slip it around the mast, and then secure the boom on that side with a bolt through the connector piece that is glued onto the other half of the pair. I chose to open the aft end as it was closer to being a straight section of the boom, so there wasn't much sideways force through the laminates.

The contrast between Western Red Cedar and Tassie Oak would look great. I've found that Tassie Oak can spring back quite a bit, even when laminated (my rubrails are Tassie Oak, and whilst I managed with just two laminations it would probably have been better to make them in three laminates. So, thinner laminates for the boom would probably be a good idea, as would leaving it in the jig for a few days to let the epoxy completely cure, particularly now that it's getting colder here in Australia...

Cheers, Peter

[Peter Batchelor]

On 5/5/2021 at 2:14 PM, PadrePoint said:

It’s a beautiful boat that looks nicely done. Enjoy!  

 

Great looking write up on your link; I will be sure to read it soon. 

Thanks PadrePoint, I enjoyed the build, and I'm sure that I'll enjoy sailing her as well

Peter

[Don Silsbe]

@Peter Batchelor— First of all, let me compliment you on your Lapwing. She is beautiful.  I love the no-deck variation.

 

Mainly, I wanted to share my thoughts on attaching sails without sail tracks.  I have been sailing boats with sail tracks for about 40 or 50 years, depending on how you count it.  I was tired of beginning and ending my day with a hull full of doused sails in my lap.  When I built my Bay River Skiff, I went with sleeved sails.  Since then, I’ve switched to the  “lace-on” type.  I’ve been experimenting with different types of lacing.  I started with the traditional method, but didn’t like it.  Graham suggested trying zip ties, which I thought was unusual enough to try.  They worked great!  But they do stick a little, when adjusting the downhaul.  Currently, I’ve made cord loops on my main.  I’m trying double-sided Velcro on the mizzen.  The Velcro is working well, and looks very “clean”.  Needless to say, part of my fun is in experimenting with different configurations.

 

Finally, I wanted to tell you that I store my boat outside, under a heavy duty opaque poly tarp.  To keep my sails healthy, I have sewn up some long sleeves out of waterproofed nylon.  These are slipped over the sails to prevent damage from road grime & 70 mph wind wear.  They also are extra protection from the rain and sun.

 

I am intrigued about your wishbone sprits.  I’m very tempted to try that.  But for me right now, sprits are cheap and easy, so I’m holding back.  Please continue to tease me with photos and videos of your Lapwing under sail.

[Steve W]

She's a beauty! Nice work! And like Don, I like the wishbone sprits.

[Peter Batchelor]

14 hours ago, Thrillsbe said:

Mainly, I wanted to share my thoughts on attaching sails without sail tracks.  I have been sailing boats with sail tracks for about 40 or 50 years, depending on how you count it.  I was tired of beginning and ending my day with a hull full of doused sails in my lap.  When I built my Bay River Skiff, I went with sleeved sails.  Since then, I’ve switched to the  “lace-on” type.  I’ve been experimenting with different types of lacing.  I started with the traditional method, but didn’t like it.  Graham suggested trying zip ties, which I thought was unusual enough to try.  They worked great!  But they do stick a little, when adjusting the downhaul.  Currently, I’ve made cord loops on my main.  I’m trying double-sided Velcro on the mizzen.  The Velcro is working well, and looks very “clean”.  Needless to say, part of my fun is in experimenting with different configurations.

 

Finally, I wanted to tell you that I store my boat outside, under a heavy duty opaque poly tarp.  To keep my sails healthy, I have sewn up some long sleeves out of waterproofed nylon.  These are slipped over the sails to prevent damage from road grime & 70 mph wind wear.  They also are extra protection from the rain and sun.

 

Hi Don,

I like the idea of nylon sleeves to cover the sails. I might have to try that.

Do you have any photos of your current lacing system?

Peter

[Peter Batchelor]

10 hours ago, Steve W said:

She's a beauty! Nice work! And like Don, I like the wishbone sprits.

Thanks Steve,

Skeena looks like a great boat as well

Peter

[Don Silsbe]

@Peter Batchelor—. She’s all covered up right now.  As soon as I am able, I’ll send you some photos.  The velcro idea came out of Woodenboat magazine, Issue 279, page 38.  I used something much narrower, but it was available.  I’d like to upgrade to this stuff (see link), but I’ve got enough other irons in the fire at this moment.

https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-8136W/Velcro-Brand/Velcro-Brand-Self-Grip-Straps-3-4-x-75-White
 

[Don Silsbe]

@Peter Batchelor—I went down, and uncovered her.

 

Here are my protective sleeves.

 

I used velcro on the mizzen.  They are on a little too snug, and need to be loosened.  But they are a clean-looking solution.  These have seen 20 mph gusts.  Still not what I’d call an acid test, but that’s about the limit of the conditions that I choose to sail in.

 

I used 3mm lashing cord on the main.  It responds better to downhaul adjustment.  But the knots are big and ugly.

[Peter Batchelor]

Thanks for going to the trouble of taking the photos Don. Lots to think about

Peter

[Don Silsbe]

I just bought the 3/4” (19mm) wide velcro.  I’ll update you on that later.

[Peter Batchelor]

Thanks Don

[Don Silsbe]

What I like about the wishbones is that they eliminate my biggest complaint about sail tracks.  If you have lacing around the bottom, it catches your sails.  If you’re cruising, you don’t need to unbend them.  My #2 complaint is still there— the time to unbend, fold, and bag the sails at the end if the day.  Just thinking out loud.

[Hirilonde]

Thrillsbe, I get the part about catching the sails, but why do you have to unbend at night when crusing if you don't have this? Just tie them up to the sprits and use a topping lift. In Peter's case, with luff sleeves he can't drop his sails into the webbing anyway.

 

I was going to build wishbooms with my boat. A few of us were discussing them about 10 years ago.  I decided to try sprits first because so many, including Graham suggested I try them. And as we have all learned by now, we can change our minds and make the change happen.   Now, I don't think I will ever bother.  The big advantage to them is sail shape, and it just isn't that much of a thing. If cruising, and with track/slides it would be convenient to flake the sails into the net and leave it all hanging from the topping lift. But I don't cruise my Lapwing. If I raced, or cruised, I would have wishbooms w/track and slides.

[Don Silsbe]

@Hirilonde— I guess you actually could tie them to the sprit.  Mine are laced on, so I don’t know about that stuff.  I know Peter has sleeves.  I was just thinking about the advantages of the wishboom.  I always liked how the sail on a Nonesuch would drop into a sort of net slung below the wishboom.