This may be more of a question for Dave:
I've had the plans for Nutmeg for about two weeks. I won't be able to start on it for a bit as I'm finishing up a wooden boat. But I have had time to look over the drawings and put pencil to graph paper. I'm planning on building floatation boxes very similiar to those that Steve Henshall, built but with crisscrossing bungee straps over the hatches as is often seen in canoes.
In his write up on Featherwind Bolger mentions that the gunwales are too thin for comfortably hiking out. I think I've come up with a method that would provide a nice surface for sitting on if sail and wind dictate.
The big benefits to this method would be that
a.) it's much easier/cheaper for novice woodworkers/boatbuilders than side decking which I've done before
b.) It doesn't significantly add to the boats weight. or take up space in the rather roomy hull, so you should still be able to sit on the bottom when it's wet and cold.
c.) to my eye it's rather attractive, giving the boat a salty look.
d.) It provides a great place for tieing things off, and a great way to mount a leeboard.
Once I've had a chance to slap it together and test it I'll share some pictures. I think with the ability to hike out the boat might be able to carry a bit more sail. This brings me to my questions:
Dave reports that Bolger told him the lateen rig was a large improvement on the original, and that the original boat "had problems coming about." My question is does anyone have any more specific information as to the problem? The Bermuda Sloop should be and is usually very efficient sailing to wind.
My current boat project has a Lateen sail, so I will certainly place a mast step for the lateen. It's a simple sail that will be perfect for single handing or a quick trip around the lake.
However I've found that it's alot easier to get my children excited about sailing if they are given a "job" to perform. With a staysail that job can be managing the jib. This is also a good way to teach non-sailing adults before turning the tiller and mainsheet over to them. So I'd like a jib. I'm very fond of the Gaff-rigged sloop in particular, and have some neat ideas and found some materials that I think would be great for home-builders to build gaff rigs on the cheap. I'm familiar with balancing a sails center of effort over the leeboard in practice. And balancing two sails in theory from Michalak's essays. Two things are stopping me:
a.) Not knowing what was causing the initial problem.
b.) being uncertain of the interaction between the jib and the main. I fear that there may be something I'm missing here. Looking at Bolger's original plans for Featherwind, the COE of each sail and it's area is marked. The combined COE and area is placed over station 9. The Leeboard is roughly centered on station 10. Michalak mentions that with a mizzen and main he sometimes offsets the COE because "the mizzen seems to operate in the scrambled airflow of the main." However I have a hard time believing that the jib negates this much of the mains effeciency. Wouldn't this sail plan result in Lee Helm? Could this result in the boat's reported problems after tacking? Or is there something I don't understand? Is this a question I should direct at Bolger before trying to modify the sail plan?
I realize some of these questions are a bit advanced. Does anyone have any suggestions on books dealing with the interaction between jib and main? I've devoured most of Michalak's writing.
Last edited on Wed Aug 27th, 2008 11:18 pm by Pathfinder |
