Capn Trey Posted December 19, 2003 Author Posted December 19, 2003 Trey I also think adding to the keel is wasted effort. It will improve the tracking ability but will definitely make her harder to tack and jibe. The weight addition will do more for your righting moment than 4" more keel. I used to be able to put my rail in the water with a moderate breeze but since adding the ballast I need a stiff wind and have to force her down. No such thing as accidental water over the rail now. I suggest you play with the ballast first and add the wood later if you still think it would help. These boats are supposed to pivot around the deeper keel portion under the mast. Yankee boat huh? I wasn't extending the keel to help with stability, but to compensate for the fact that by adding another mast and sail, the center of force from the sails on the hull will also be shifted aft therefore shift the 'pivot point' aft as well. Ya see what I'm saying? :oops: yep a Yankee Quote
Craig Posted December 19, 2003 Posted December 19, 2003 Yes. You are right that does need to come back some. I have a profile that may give you a head start with that. I will scan it in and send it over to you in a couple minutes. Quote
Tom Holder Posted December 19, 2003 Posted December 19, 2003 Pardon my ignorance but I'm wondering if a centerboard wouldnt be more useful than adding ballast. The way I'm thinking is that the beauy of the craft is its light weight and responsiveness (other than the salty appearance of course) and adding ballast will make it stable but sluggish. What occured to me was that the ballast is really only required when under heavy winds with lots of sail and would be detrimental to the boat unde normal conditions. While extending the existing keel will offset some of the heeling motion it will make the boat track straight and lose some of that manouverability. So how about a centerboard that you can drop when required? I've seen some that kind of pivot down from the front looking like a fish's fin for lack of a better description. Put it down when things get fast and pull it up when coasting into shore. That idea comes from hours and hours of experience poring over boat plans and sailing books - no actual boat building experience Quote
Craig Posted December 19, 2003 Posted December 19, 2003 Tom your comments have much merit. The Boloxi Schooners that we were discussing use the arrangement that you describe. Trey must move the pivot point back a bit as he will move the center of effort of the total rig aft The the boat should pivot somewhere near this CE point to function correctly. I suspect many of the places Trey uses his boat there is less than 36" of water. In the open bays the center board would be a better choice. Part of our problems with modifying these boats is like the government buying a new aircraft. We are not sure what it should look like, but it has to do everything! Any changes to these craft, regardless of the type, is a study in practical, compromise engineering. Difficult sometimes, but oh so much fun!! Actually the ballast doesn't seem to hurt the responsiveness. It does tame the bow from wanting to wander in high winds and adds a very large stability factor to sailing in higher winds or more open waters. Quote
Capn Trey Posted December 20, 2003 Author Posted December 20, 2003 Well I guess I am committed to doing this radical mod. Today I took a jig saw and removed the aft section oF the cabin, cut it off just behind the aft portlight (hole). It felt sorta strange sawing through the planks on the cabin top, put a lot of time into planking that cabin roof oh, well half of it is still there. it had to go need the room for a bridge deck to support the new main mast, which by the way will be hollow as is the current one (soon to be Foremast). BTW Tom, extending the keel is not intended to reduce heel, but to balance the force of the new sail plan. Due to ready availability of Steel Plate I'll likely use it verse Lead, which at the moment I am having more difficulty locating locally. Cap'n Trey Quote
Capn Trey Posted December 20, 2003 Author Posted December 20, 2003 [If you would prefer to try lead ballast due to it's benefits over steel' date= (Non rusting, easier to shape and drill) Try local garages or tire change places for used wheel weights. Locally, I pay $20.00 for a 5 gallon bucket full. I melted the lead in a 12 quart aluminum pot with a propane turkey frier burner. This gives you about 100 lbs of lead once you skim out the steel clips that float on the top of the molten lead.[/quote] Not a bad Idea, I had forgotten Wheel balance weights! 8) cool Thanks Ray Cap'n Trey Quote
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