Small sailboat Design - advice requested

[thesawdustmaker]

"She actually does like sailing, on a quiet, gentle day, and like me, isn't much impressed by a powerboat, just another form of motor transportation"

Sailing is to boating as fly-fishing is to angling as Formula 1 is to auto racing. Finesse, deftness, and style count for a lot.

[matoi]

On a Wayfarer you can stand on the gunwhale and it won't tip over. And if your better half still feels unsafe, you can install a steel centerplate making it even more stable. All that aside, anything can be capsized in an accident or by bad sailing. I managed to capsize my W before I learnt how to gybe properly, and my girlfriend did become less enthusiastic about sailing in a dinghy. So, skill is required in any small boat.

But, until you develop the guts to sail to Iceland, with a Wayfarer you can do things like this:

http://sites.google.com/site/sailpinchika/Home/logs

Best wishes

[PI Design]

Hi,

Don't worry about a Wayfarer being too quick/tippy - they have a reputation in England for being the most solid, stable and manageable boat around - even more so than the plethora of new rotomoulded designs. At my club there are around 60 Wayfarers, none are raced - they are all owned by the more mature sailor going for a gentle potter. They aren't light though and you have no chance of putting one on the roof of your car!
I have to agree with Bistros - don't look at anything less than 14ft if you want enough space to take you both in comfort.

What about a GP14? http://www.fyneboatkits.com/trolleyed/3/23/index.htm

[millionswords]

hmmmm - now I know what you have been doing!
Actually PDRacer was one of the first pages I researched, and thought it is more of a boat than a Kayak, so headed away to find Kayak designs!

Good Luck on your PDR sail boat! hope to see it done and sail in peaceful waters! Might make one some day later, will keep an eye on what you do, I might want to make one for the family when they are comfortable and confident on my skills

[BOATMIK]

Originally Posted by PAR

but still only a child a mother could love in the chick magnet department, no matter how much bright mahogany trim you install.

I am sorry?

Pardon ....

The PDRacer NOT a Chick Magnet????

You will like these pics I got today (yes TODAY) from the philippines where a couple have been built.

Some show the happy owner



but others show something else ...



the full set can be seen here so you can see the girls were drawn to the boat of their own accord. You can see them walking along the beach towards the humble PDRacer
http://s104.photobucket.com/albums/m...aunch/?start=0

hehehe

If I was an advertising type I might suggest that this was a common risk for all PDRacer owners.

Best wishes
MIK

[matoi]

MIK,

I take my hat off to you. Your propaganda is way better than mine :-)

Best regards,

Mato

[PAR]

Of course it had nothing at all to do with the "Free Beer" sign just out of camera view . . .

[bistros]

Terry:

Michael Storer's homebuilds/.

The Goat Island Skiff and the 14' Raid boat look like great candidates - big enough to comfortable fit two. I'd personally opt for the Raid boat - I'm a long ago convert to boats that recover dry. I wanted to put bailing behind me a long time ago, and our cold Canadian waters are better kept outside the boat than inside. Easy rowing would make this far nicer if you get caught without wind. Built with the birdsmouth hollow masts, either would be a great option.

Although you want a boat that basically can't capsize, you have to plan for the worst and assume it could happen. I know without a doubt I wouldn't want to pull my wife into a PDR if she swam. An older British homebuilt that also fits is a pretty blue sailed Enterprise (I sailed them 30 years ago and loved them).

--
Bill

[ancient kayaker]

Matoi, I will take great care to ensure the missus doesn't see THAT site until after she has enjoyed a relaxed, leisurely trip around a really small lake! Boatmik: same goes for the chick pic! There's something about a really small boat that just draws them in, isn't there! Par: shame on you, you old cynic! 'sides, when they're that young, they go for free Pepsi.

Bistros: hauling the wet missus into anything afloat is definitely not in the plan, but I was thinking of having a boarding ladder so she could climb back over the transom, while I jeer from midships or perhaps something more appropriate. I was thinking earlier about the GI Skiff. I don't know much about the Raider, it seems a hair heavier but less beamy, perhaps that is due to the self-bailing feature. They are both light, obviously easy to build, probably easy to cartop, and they'll certainly have the legs of the PDR. although significantly heavier. My boats usually end up lighter than average, I know where I can skim off the odd pound or two. I don't want to bother with a trailer. I'm thinking that a 15 ft boat is going to need 2 to cartop, whereas I can easily manage the PDR on my own. The missus is not into helping to load boats. My son has no interest in boats at all, on the other hand, my daughter can be talked into anything! Decisions, decisions ...

10^6 swords, you found the thread already! I needn't have sent the email! These guys are throwing so much good stuff at me that I will have to go through a major exercise just making up my mind which boat to build. Of course, I don't have to stop at one.

[PAR]

They're not that young, you're just old enough to think they are. Doesn't "experience" suck . . .

There's plenty of them out there. Here's two of mine, DragonFly and RYD-8.4. DragonFly is 16', fractionally rigged Bermudian and fast, though fairly stable as far as performance dinghies go. RYD-8.4 is a load carrying tender for a larger yacht. Lightly loaded and hiking out, you can get some performance out of her, but she's really just a tender, but a stable and easy to build one. Basically the two ends of the spectrum. If you want real fast, I got them too. I've been working on a new 15' boat that's cool looking and if you can hold her down, very fast. Bring a harness, you'll need it. Full up weight for the whole boat is less then 150 pounds, rig and all. Your reward for screwing up, is a quick dunk in the drink.

[BOATMIK]

Originally Posted by matoi

MIK,

I take my hat off to you. Your propaganda is way better than mine :-)

Best regards,

Mato

Cheers Matoi!

I think ... maybe not propaganda ... I think more LUCK that Dylan sent me the pics the same day as this discussion!

MIK

AK, have you seen this? http://www.atkinboatplans.com/ Scroll down and click on "Sailboats and Auxiliaries". Then on the 10' Tri Trainer(not a trimaran).

[ancient kayaker]

Par, the RYD-8.4 looks very suited for my purpose, what does it weigh? It's not much larger than a PDR.

Doug: I added the link to my favorites for later consumption. thanks.

As an aside, I notice that, on many Gunter rigs, the boom and gaff are similar in length, and I would assume in section too. Is it practical, if becalmed, to drop the rig and use the boom and gaff as oars, with a clip-on blade? They look to be about the right length and diameter. Sounds like the sort of feature a cheap ready made boat might have, and reduces the on-board clutter.

[PAR]

Less then 100 pounds with full exterior 'glass sheathing and rig. The bare hull is about 60 pounds. The daggerboard case moves around for the different rigs. I'd strongly recommend the Bermudian cat for best performance.

[JotM]

AK,

I'd say there are quite a few candidates among the designs of Paul Fisher (Selway-Fisher) and Gavin Atkins.

Regards