Spindrift sailing

[Garry]

I finally finished rigging my Spindrift 11N. I've used it for a couple of years as a dinghy with the Princess 36 and a few times as a lake boat with an electric trolling motor.

We had a cold front move through and the air was a little cool which here in Florida is Cold! But I was anxious to get her out anyway. The wife wisely backed out and took pictures from the shore.

The wind was a little gusty so I started out with a reef. She heeled a little tenderly at first but once the leeward chine dug in she seemed to stiffen quite a bit. She seemd fastest with about a 10 degree heel to get the windward side partially out of the water and present the leeward deadrise flat to the water.

The boat handled fine, well balanced and quick. The wind was calm near the shore where Victoria was taking pictures. After I gained confidence I shook out the reef and had some great sailing. She reached planing speed a few times and once on a broad reach with a gust she took off like a shot with a slight hum from the centerboard. Wow!

Shaking out the reef.

When tacking I responded to the gusts in different ways, pointing higher to ease the pressure or easing the sheet and falling off to gain speed. She was well mannered at all times. If I let her get over-powered and off her feet, she would try to round up just like she should.

The wind began to pick up and, after I ran down the lake, I had a little trouble on a tack and shipped about 10 gallons of water. It took a little time to steer with my knee, tend the mainsheet with one hand and scoop the water out with the other.

Now I was wet and getting a little chilled. The beat up the lake was a little rough but we made it fine. The wind was onshore to the beach at the ramp. To keep the centerboard from getting banged up I pulled it out early and ended up drifting into the marshgrass and shipping some more water. After a little struggle I managed to get into the beach. With the onshore wind, I had to wade in to get the boat to line up on the trailer. That hot shower when I got home sure felt good.

[JeffM]

Great to hear a sailing report, Garry! Is that a sleeve luff sail modified for reefing?

[Hirilonde]

Looks like she sails just fine. Hopefully your action shots will help motivate me for the home stretch

I ordered my sail from Carla just recently and I'm in the sand and fair phase. If all goes well I will have to consult Jeff's cold weather thread and get out my Mustang float coat as I should be done a little early for the season up here.

[Garry]

Is that a sleeve luff sail modified for reefing?

Yes. I bought it from Graham. The sleeve stops at the reef point so it can be reefed. I could see no difference in the shape of the sail where the sleeve stops. It might be a little easier to reef on the water with a topping lift to keep the boom from dropping into the cockpit or the water.

I have to say that Graham did an excellent job on this design. Everything seemed to work very well!

[Tom Lathrop]

Garry,

Good on you. Brass monkey cold wind from nothwest today. Hope Gaham gets the woodstove going today.

You were bailing with your hand! Did you install an Andersen bailer? No sailing dinghy should be without one. Not too late if you didn't. Happiness is a good breeze and a bailer going gurgle, gurgle, gurgle.

[Garry]

I was certainly considering an Anderson bailer yesterday! The dinghy has spent a lot of time in the water as a tender to Rosita. Under oars and the trolling motor, there is little need for a bailer and I didn't want to have to deal with any potential leaks.

Now that the sailing rig is up and she is so fun to sail, I need to reconsider. How watertight are the bailers? I certainly don't need the boat half full of water every morning!

[Garry]

Here's a close-up (love the zoom on the new camera, Sony DSC-H2).

Nicely making way under a reefed main!

[Joe Nelson CS#35]

Nice pic's Garry, especially in the dead of Winter. Much appreciated!

Looks like a generous sail plan. Did you ever post pics of the finished boat interior? Curious about how it looks. I have the plans for a nesting Catspaw 9. Looks like a nice boat too. How did you decide to build the Spindrift rather than a Catspaw?

Like I need another hobby, but I a getting started in racing model radio controlled sailboats. Low investment as compared to real racing and seems like it will be fun. Anyone else here doing this?

[Greg Luckett]

I was certainly considering an Anderson bailer yesterday! The dinghy has spent a lot of time in the water as a tender to Rosita. Under oars and the trolling motor' date=' there is little need for a bailer and I didn't want to have to deal with any potential leaks.

Now that the sailing rig is up and she is so fun to sail, I need to reconsider. How watertight are the bailers? I certainly don't need the boat half full of water every morning![/quote']

Does she have any sort of anti-fouling paint on the bottom?

Thanks.

[Garry]

For Joe Nelson:

I don't yet have any pictures of the finished interior, partly because I'm not proud of the paint job. Now that we will be sailing her some, the wife is interested in doing a nice paint job! You can see the structure of the interior at my website on the Expedition Dinghy page.

I am happy I chose the Spindrift rather than the Catspaw because it is very easy to tow. The semi-planing hull handles the hull speed of the Princess 36 with little drag. I believe the displacement type hull on the Catspaw would cause much more drag like the similar pram style nesting dinghy I used to have. However, for capacity vs. length you can't beat the Catspaw.

I have considered maknig an RC model out of the model I'm building for the Princess 28. I'm not sure about the appropriate ballast ratios etc but I can learn. Post info on your model hobby and maybe I can learn from you!

For Greg:

No anti-fouling paint on her. I tried to keep her bottom clean by dragging her up on the beach occasionally, scrubbing her bottom and letting the sun kill everything. It worked okay but for a longer cruise, I would put some bottom paint on her.

Garry

[Howard]

I didn't consider the Anderson bailers due to the potential for leaks, but rain and spray is going to happen, so the inside is going to get wet for a lot of reasons other than a leaky bailer. When you think about it, a dinghy that bails itself out once it starts moving would not be all that bad to have. I am done building and ready to paint, so now is the time.

On the nesting models, that would mean 2 of them? Where exactly would they go? In other words, on a Spindrift, where are the low points where water collects?

[Greg Luckett]

Where is a good place to purchase the Anderson bailers?

Thanks

[Garry]

Howard

Where exactly would they go? In other words, on a Spindrift, where are the low points where water collects?

The low point will be as close to the cent bulkheads as you can get for both sections.

Greg

Where is a good place to purchase the Anderson bailers?

Defender usually has good prices. Their small Anderson Bailer is $60.00!! (times two for nesters!)

http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|118|299320&id=1885

Graham and Carla might be able to provide them at a good price. If you check with them, let us know.

[JeffM]

B&B supplied all the standard hardware for my cs20 in one package. If I recall correctly, their large Anderson bailer was about $50 (almost 2 years ago, though).

[Joe Nelson CS#35]

Garry,

The ballast seems to average 50% on an exaggerated length keel with a lead bulb. I am starting in the Victoria Class. It is a one design class and considered an entry level class. $300 gets you a good boat, as compared to $1,500 for a lot of other classes.

If you wanted to sail your Princess 28 model, I would recommend making the keel fixed and deeper than scale and cast a lead bulb of the same weight as your boat with all rigging, but without the ballast.

[Howard]

That brings up a good point. If I understand this right, the way they work is to create a negative pressure (vacuum) to suck water out, but the boat has to be moving at some speed for that to happen. You have to manually open them when underway and close them before you stop. So this isn't something you can leave open while towing. Water from waves, spray, rain water, etc. is going to have to be bailed out anyway.

So for a nesting boat, you would have two of these to open and close....sounds like it could be quite a fire drill to do all that and sail too. How much water ships in the front half? Do you really need two?

[Hirilonde]

You have to manually open them when underway and close them before you stop.

You don't have to close it as you slow down or stop. There is a flap door that keeps water from coming in during times that it isn't actually bailing. This flap may not be 100% leak free, but works well enough to leave it open while towing. The only reason you wouldn't leave it open all the time while sailing is the extra drag.

[Tom Lathrop]

Ray,

Agreed. Having used many of these bailers since Paul Elvstrom first made them, I have never had one that was leak free when the boat is stopped. There are no seals on the little trap and is is bound to leak and was mever claimed to be otherwise. Still it is a very worthwhile addition to any small sailboat capable of sailing at about 3 knots or more.

In addition to the auto bailer, I recommend a drain in the transom for towing and storing in a bow up position. The transom drain on any proper tender will be above the waterline when at rest with no load and will keep the boat empty when towing.

[Garry]

Hm.. Oh yeah, on a nesting dinghy, when you put the bailer where it does the most good in the stern section, it will interfere with the bow section when nested. It would have to be placed where the difference in the shapes of the bow and stern sections would allow enough room for it.