Schooner Designs

In my search for my next set of boat plans I realized sometimes a man should stop being sensible and start reaching for his dreams.........

With that said here's what I am looking for, a shoal draft schooner, easily trailerable (not one with a 2' draft and a crane to launch, must actually be trailerable)

Perhaps a small cabin but that is not required, and should be able to be made to be single handed.

I have read to many horror stories about the light schooner and the folding schooner to feel safe taking my wife out in the middle of our lake, and dont particularly care for the Selway-Fisher Firecrest.....

Any more suggestions, I know a schooner rig overpowers most small boats hence them being few and far between.

I am not particularly concerned about sailing perforance as I am sailing style.......

Call it my "tabloid cruiser" or my "fantasy ship" but that's what i am looking for can anyone help me out by posting a few design links..............

Thanks to all.
Josh

 

Try woodenboatstore.com, check out thier plans, you might find something interesting.

 

The funny thing is that you never mentioned the size craft that you want. Although it sounds much like a sharpie with a schooner rig....

 

Drop me an email and I'll show you what I have and some possible options with other small schooners. It's called the Light Schooner for a reason . . .

 

I agree with Seafarer. You should mention what you want to do with this schooner. How many people do you want to take out on it for example.

As far as shoal draft goes, you have three options:

1.) a centerboard which, by the way, does not have to be in the center of the boat but has a case that really intrudes,

2.) a dagger board which you have to insert like sticking a knife into its sheath. It has a much shorter case but the board itself is suseptable to damage should it hit a submerged object, or

3.) a leeboard that hangs off the side of your boat (so you usually need two) and usually doesn't look too pretty.

There is a less popular fourth option. That is a long shallow keel. It has three disadvantages. One, it doesn't retract. Two, its not the greatest for windward work. And three, it probably will make your boat slow in turning. It is, however, reliable. And it can help the cause of trailering greatly. It can help guide the boat on to the trailer.

I wouldn't be too afraid of 2ft draft either. Not all draft is the same. A long keel usually slopes downward as it goes aft. This can mean the front of the keel could be quite shallow and the aft end be much deeper. This can pretty much match the contour of your typical launching ramp, so you don't have to back your trailer half way across the lake to get the boat on.

I imagine you want your schooner to have at least three sails. That gives it the classic 'schooner look' though, technically, a schooner can have as few as two sails.

Bob

 

You could start by checking out designs by Phil Bolger & Reuel Parker (Google them)

 

I'm planning on building a modified Light Schooner.

I haven't read any horror stories about the boat that wouldn't apply to any open boat of similar displacement. What have you heard?

My concerns about the design are self-righting and self-rescuing. I want the boat to be self-righting from 100 degrees heel (masthead in the water) with 100 pounds at the masthead. This requires a righting moment at 100 degrees of about 1600 lbs/ft. My calculations show that about 200 lbs of lead in the bottom of a dagger board 1 foot deeper than the original design will provide the RM required. The stability curve of the modified boat is positive to over 140 degrees heel and peaks at about 60 degrees.

For self-rescuing I'm looking at increasing the width of the side decks and adding buoyancy tanks to limit the amount of water in the boat after a capsize.

I'm designing hollow wood spars with carbon and glass reinforcement. The spars will float to reduce the chance of turtling the boat.

Another design kink I'm working on is the flying jib. I want to be able to lower the sail without it going over the side. I want to retain the balanced jib club.

I'd like to be able to use a halyard as a tackle to raise the daggerboard for trailering, so I'm playing with the sail plan and mast position so the daggerboard can be centered under the main mast and retain the lead of sail area to lateral area. If I can't work it out, the daggerboard will become a fixed keel.

I'd be very interested in what design you choose. I'm more concerned with sailing performance and less concerned about ease of trailering than you, but I'd love to look at some other designs for ideas.

 

Ballast would make it heavier, of course. My sailing dinghy experience tells me that having "side tanks", i.e. enclosed side decks such that the boat will come up dry from a capsize rather than swamping, is to be encouraged.

 

Yep. We never intend to tip the darned things over, but it's nice to know that your day isn't ruined if you do.