Dinghy Design: Ideas for High Performance Disabled/Physically Limited Sailing

Discussion in 'Sailboats' started by Doug Lord, Mar 7, 2011.

  1. wheels
    Joined: Jun 2010
    Posts: 28
    Likes: 4, Points: 3, Legacy Rep: 64
    Location: Folsom, Ca

    wheels Junior Member

    I have unfortunately never been sailing. only in the last year or so have i picked up the interest. Ive driven houseboats, jetboats, waverunners, ski boats, and an offshore racer.

    dingy and sportboats have caught my imagination. Next month I'll be starting to build a PDRacer. (gotta start somewhere) and who know's what it will lead to.

    Always been a bit of an adrenaline junky, grew up crashing dirtbikes, dune buggies, helped build a couple 8 second dragsters, and broke every traffic law on the books (young and stupid is well... young and stupid)

    So I guess I'm just drawn to stuff that is light, nimble, and fast. Being a test monkey just sounds like fun :D
     
  2. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
    Posts: 16,679
    Likes: 349, Points: 93, Legacy Rep: 1362
    Location: Cocoa, Florida

    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    ========
    Man, that's fantastic! Welcome to sailing! Good luck with your project and I hope things work out down the line that you can try a boat like the Trapwing.
    Speed under sail is one of the great pleasures of life and some of us just can't get enough.....
    PS- you might start a thread under "boatbuilding" or in this forum as sort of a construction blog of your project. It would be fun following along and if you run into trouble there is a lot of talent around here that would willingly help.
     
  3. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
    Posts: 16,679
    Likes: 349, Points: 93, Legacy Rep: 1362
    Location: Cocoa, Florida

    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    From Scuttlebutt tonight:

    DISABLED ADVANCES, FUTURE ASPIRATIONS
    By Brian Gleason, Charlotte Sun

    In 1980, at the age of 21, Paul Callahan slipped on a wet floor. His neck
    was broken and the prognosis was a lifetime in bed. More than 32 years
    later, the 53-year-old husband and father has represented the United States
    in the 2000 Paralympic Games, runs his own business and travels more than
    200 days a year training and competing in elite-level sailing events.

    In spring 2010, when the International Association for Disabled Sailing was
    looking for a South Florida site to hold its 2012 world championships,
    Callahan, who has a home in Cape Coral, Fla., told IFDS President Linda
    Merkle about a group in Charlotte County that might be game. He had read
    and heard about the Charlotte Harbor Regatta, held in February 2010. Before
    the year was out, Callahan would become a member of Charlotte Harbor Yacht
    Club, take an advisory role with the IFDS to help shepherd the event and
    begin training for the Jan. 7-15, 2012 IFDS Worlds on Charlotte Harbor and
    his second Paralympic Games in Weymouth, England.

    Callahan, who skippers a Sonar as a Paralympic member of the US Sailing
    Team AlphaGraphics 2011, shares his story, his motivations and some
    reflections on life and what the Charlotte County community can expect as
    the 2012 IFDS Worlds approach.

    * You represented the U.S. in the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney. How does that
    experience compare with other accomplishments in your sailing and
    non-sailing career?

    CALLAHAN: As the skipper of the USA team and representing our country, it
    was one of the proudest moments in my life. I was overcome with euphoric
    emotion and pride to enter this massive stadium with 110,000 people of all
    nationalities chanting, ''USA!, USA!, USA!'' At that moment, I realized how
    fortunate I was to be from America. Racing sailboats is about winning or
    losing, representing your whole country is more of a massive responsibility
    to do your best.

    * You are chairman of US Sailing's Council for Sailors With Disabilities
    and work with the International Association for Disabled Sailing as an
    adviser for event organizers. How do sailing opportunities (racing and
    cruising) for disabled people compare to when you first started sailing
    after your injury?

    CALLAHAN: There is no comparison. We were barely a blip on anyone's radar
    screen 15 years ago. Now, after competing on three different continents and
    13 countries, as well as numerous cities across America, disabled sailors
    have become folk heroes in communities and in the media, because we
    represent living proof that anyone can overcome their own adversities.

    It is gratifying to know that you have not only changed the lives of
    individuals, but also the soul and fabric of a community by having trained
    and competed in a city, town or region. After watching 100 disabled sailors
    conquer a sport originally intended for fully able-bodied people,
    individuals, neighbors, communities and cities ultimately realize their
    lives can be just what they always imagined.

    Read on:
    http://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/news/11/0430/
     
  4. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
    Posts: 16,679
    Likes: 349, Points: 93, Legacy Rep: 1362
    Location: Cocoa, Florida

    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Canting Keel 18

    This is from a thread long ago and should be included here.With some modifications, it is a potentially ideal solution to a faster keelboat for disabled sailor/physically restricted sailors if the Trapwing, SRT and other current solutions seems too radical or too tame. What's more, the prototype has been sailing for some time. Many thanks to Dennis Clark for the info and inspiration: ( also see the following post # 35)
    -----------

    This is one of the neatest 18 foot singlehanders I've seen yet. The canting keel makes this boat in my opinion-and its a powerful 50° system too. Very, very cool!
    From an article here:
    Sailnut.com - Sailing Related Sightings Round-the-Sound
    Address:http://www.sailnut.com/sightings/ Changed:6:56 PM on Monday, May 14, 2007

    Canting Keel 18- 2.17.07
    With a lack of fanfare, Dennis Clark launched this 18 foot home built boat in January of 2007. Since then he has been testing it on the waters of Puget Sound near Gig Harbor. Of course this boat is hardly typical of a home built boat. With many molded fiberglass parts, a modern rig with asymmetrical spinnaker, and a canting keel, this isn't a slightly modified Thistle or C-Lark. Fortunately, Dennis was nice enough to chat about his boat after a day of testing on a brisk February day.
    My first question was 'Why?'. Dennis wanted a boat that could be single or double handed in a wide wind range. To this end he needed a relatively light boat with substantial sail area. The canting keel allows the boat to carry lots of canvas without requiring lots of human weight on the rail. Dennis contacted Andy Vance to design the rig and hull. Dennis also talked about the concept and design to his friends, family, and neighbors. And he listed to what many of them had to say. By the time the boat was finished he had incorporated ideas from many different individuals.
    Dennis built the hull by hand. It is a cedar strip core covered with fiberglass and epoxy. Carbon fiber was also added in high stress areas. A mold was created for the deck which is also fiberglass but with a balsa core. This hull is narrow compared to most modern boats. Just 36 inches of beam at the waterline. The boat is self bailing with bailers positioned on the sides of the hull to evacuate any water scooped into the cockpit.
    The canting keel is the star of this show. With a maximum 50 degrees of cant, it is able to get the 98 kilogram bulb way out there. The keel currently uses a 10:1 block and tackle purchase system. A canard handles lateral forces. The canard is removed like a daggerboard for trailering. The rudder is not transom hung on this 18 footer but is 'cassette style'. This design was chosen to allow removal for trailering.
    The rig is designed to be built from a shortened star mast. Both lower and upper stays are swept. Despite it's Star heritage, the mast does not utilize any backstays. The top of the mast is approximately 24 feet of the water. The boom is a modified Laser spar. Dennis did not know the exact area of the asymmetrical spinnaker but it is not insignificant.
    With just a couple months of sailing under it's keel, Dennis seems happy with his toy. He reports that the boat is quite responsive to the canting keel. And it has a neutral helm even while heeling.
    After discussing the boat I changed the subject. I was curious if Dennis planned to get back into the boat business. He wasn't sure. His first goal was to work out the bugs in this boat. He wants to sail it in various conditions, get more feedback, and see what needs improvement. He also offered to take me sailing. Sounds like this article might have a 'Part 2'. Stay tuned.


    Canting Keel 18 Specifications:

    Hull LOA 5496mm / 18'
    --
    Hull weight minus keel approximately 133 kg / 292lb.
    --
    Beam 1371 mm / 4.5'
    --
    Waterline beam 914 mm / 35.9"
    --
    Keel-keel bulb 98 kg / 215.6lb

    Keel strut, bulb, and pivot approximately 133 kg/
    292lb.
    --
    Draft-1676 mm/ 5.5'
    --
    Maximum keel cant 50 degrees
    --
    Rig:
    a. mainsail area 10 square meters-107.6 sq.ft
    b. jib area- 6 square meters-64.56 sq.ft.
    c. sprit length 550 mm / 21.6"
    ============================

    click on image:
     

    Attached Files:

  5. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
    Posts: 16,679
    Likes: 349, Points: 93, Legacy Rep: 1362
    Location: Cocoa, Florida

    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    18' canting keel boat

    From Dennis Clark(in the original thread) :

    I am pleased at the interest in this new boat.
    As far as selling plans, I would not be interested. This boat was meant as a testing platform of ideas for a "Laser on steroids". I am keeping most of the molds and tools used to build the boat that could help with a next generation small canter.
    To produce this boat would take more than some interest from some of us wing nuts (actual boats on order and $ or maybe someone tired of the AC game that needs a new cause.)
    I would visualize as inexpensive a boat you could get away with similar to laser construction technology. No kits. We would probably make it a little bigger for perhaps 2 guys or 3 girls. It seems that this could be a great type of boat for women's sailing.
    The keel mechanism is two parts inside the box. Sheaves in the keel head, becket cheek blocks on each side then up through through deck blocks turning forward to get enuf throw then a five part tackle, ratchet, and cleat. It is a continuous line. This part of the boat has worked very well and I feel really lucky that it worked out.
    The keel is retractable for ramp launching (crane launching seemed problematic) the steel strut fits into a lead bulb which detaches and lives on the trailer. The rudder is in a cassette and the canard is just a dagger. So the boat is about like launching a Thistle, no big deal, but you probably want a totally awesome trolley dolly like I have (my wife) to help. Our launch and retrieval is pretty well greased but it still takes an hour and a half.
    I haven't measured the actual area of the sails.
    The keel is pretty easy to use once you get in your head that pulling on the leeward string tilts the boat toward you. The boat sails well with a lot of heel so you can precant the keel for the new tack but make sure it's cleated as the boat leans
    over like it's capsized if you "get on the wrong side of the keel". It will scoop a pretty big load of water and take a couple minutes to drain after a tipover event. The boat is very stable downwind. I have sailed it alone in 22 knots upwind and it could use more crew weight than my #200 as well as a couple more hands. We were hoping to get a 0-30 knot boat and are pretty close to that, and a couple of reasonably good Laser sailors should have no problem. The keel is a lot like having a crew on the wire.
     
  6. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
    Posts: 16,679
    Likes: 349, Points: 93, Legacy Rep: 1362
    Location: Cocoa, Florida

    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    From the first page-a call for ideas:
    There have been a couple other threads discussing this concept to some degree. I'd like to hear any ideas people might have for a high performance dinghy that would be safe for disabled sailing or for people whose physical abilities aren't what they once were. I know what that is like and I still have the need for speed.
    There are a lot of imaginative, intelligent people on this forum: rack your brains and see if you can come up with an idea to be much faster than current single handed boats used for disabled sailing-maybe we could make a real contribution to design by coming up with viable concepts.

    --
    pictures- Trapwing model, see more detail on the first page-click on image-
     

    Attached Files:

  7. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
    Posts: 16,679
    Likes: 349, Points: 93, Legacy Rep: 1362
    Location: Cocoa, Florida

    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Attached Files:


  8. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
    Posts: 16,679
    Likes: 349, Points: 93, Legacy Rep: 1362
    Location: Cocoa, Florida

    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    DSS + Trapwing

    As I've learned more about DSS-Hugh Welbourn's innovative horizontal sliding foil, the more I think that a DSS foil could be coupled to the Trapwing ballast wing so that they both move simultaneously. The reduction in required ballast in the wing could be substantial. And the buoyancy of the "wing" would remain as it is now adding to capsize resistance/recovery.
    The lifting foils shown in the pictures below could be eliminated(at least as far as "foil assist" goes) allowing 100% retractable foils making beaching and trailering easier. Sure worth considering further....
    Biggest negative is the narrowness of the proto but that can change.
    More on DSS: http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/sailboats/quant-28-foil-assist-keelboat-dss-38421.html
    =========================


    Pictures,L to R: 1) Trapwing proto, 2) Trapwing proto with ballast wing extended, 3) DSS drive system, 4) DSS foil

    click on image-
     

    Attached Files:

Loading...
Forum posts represent the experience, opinion, and view of individual users. Boat Design Net does not necessarily endorse nor share the view of each individual post.
When making potentially dangerous or financial decisions, always employ and consult appropriate professionals. Your circumstances or experience may be different.