Old designs - Nice memories....

[Wynand N]

Sometimes I do something, enjoy the moment with it, then pack it away and forget about it. For me only today and tommorow count.

Last night I spring cleaned my study and came across some of the first plans I'd drawn after taking up design studies. This brought back some nice memories.
Comparing it with current and more recent work, the same old lines are still there. Seems to me first "impressions" are indeed lasting....

My bows are still plumb, beams carried well aft with wide and powerful sterns (most of my boats are downwind flyers) with flat buttocks runs. Today my favourite rig is a double headsail sloop where the younger me preferred fractional ones. Other than that it is still the same old me.

I attached copies of the two designs.

The first design ever was the St. Criox 24.
LOA - 7500mm (24.5ft)
Beam - 3000mm (9.8ft)
Disp - 1300kg (2900lbs)
Draft - 1500mm (5ft)
Ballast- 520kg (1160lbs)
Sail area = 25.3m sq (main & 100% fore ) = 274ft sq

The second design was the St Croix 40
LOA - 12200mm (40ft)
LWL - 11500mm (37.8ft)
Beam - 4000mm (13.2ft)
Disp - 6400kg (14080lbs)
Draft - 2500mm (8.2ft)
Ballast - 3150kg (6930lbs)
Sail area - 81.2m sq (main & 100% fore triangle) = 879ft sq

Both were drawn in 1990 and the 24 was built and a beaty to sail. She was designed as weekend and coastal cruiser. The interior echo that of a larger boat.
The 40 was designed with no rule in mind other than a fast blue water cruiser/racer.

[preacherman]

Hi Wynand,
your 24 is not much different than what I am building today,
either you were an old and wise guy then or I haven't grown up since 1990

nice ships

[sharpii2]

Hi Wynand.

I'm interested in your St Croix design.
How far aft did you put the keel?
How did it handle? Did it round up into the wind ferrociously like most design texts I have read said it would?

If my memory serves me right, the idea of extremely wide transoms started in the Southern Hemisphere and because of their success on the race course were quickly copied here in the North. Is that true? If so, where did the idea come from? Local work boats? A blinding flash of insight?

The American cat boat had a relatively wide transom but it also had a rather full bow and racing versions evolved into longer and narrower hulls. Did southern Hemisphere boats evolve differently?

Hope to hear from you.

Bob

[Wynand N]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your interest. The keels placements were as follows:
St Croix 24 - 47% aft of LWL
St Croix 40 - 52% aft of LWL

As these boat (as a matter of fact, all my designs) have very wide transoms and relative fine entries, but with well defined U shape for extra lift in the bow areas short of slamming the waves.
The placement of the keels are in a big way responcible to trim the boats level to lwl.
On the St Croix 40 the CF = 58.5% aft on LWL and has a CP of 0.485!! Yes, you read correctly. She have very good performance to windward in light conditions and really flies downwind. She has a very nicely balanced helm with a touch of weather helm. This boat went like clappers - unfortunately, only one was ever built. (custom)

Wide transoms just came naturaly to me, even my steel designs have them.

Bob, I think the frogs started the "wide stern" evolution of boats. Always liked their radical approach to boat design, a bit of the frenchman in me as well (grandfather) In my part of the woods the only real designer with balls at the time (early 1990's) was Angelo Lavranos - now residing in NZ - and his master piece was "Allied Bank" with John Martin at the helm and who was subsequenly saved by old Bertie Reed at night somewhere of Cape Horn after hitting an iceberg. At the time "Allied Bank" was leading the BOC.(1992 race?)
That boat had it max beam at the stern!. A real flyer....
I think our boats are designed better (different) in this way that we cater for our local waters and I do not need to explain our treacherous coastline and rought conditions, rouge waves et all when it blows up.

[sharpii2]

Hi wynand

Thanks for the info. I'm always interested in the developement history of sailing craft.

Bob

[mackid068]

Nice looking hulls. Still, they don't look too different from certain models of more modern vessels.