Suggestions are welcome!!

[pbrito]

Dear friends,

I have just arrived to this wonderful site... and I am very happy to find so many enthusiastic members!!
I am a Sea Scout Leader from a Sea Scout Group in Portugal and a member of the National Sea Scout Team. We are facing a new challenge that is to find a new sailing boat to fulfil the following items:

- small sailing boat (4-5 meters long);
- to be handled by young scouts (aged 10-16 yrs);
- to take a 6 scouts-crew and their camping equipment;
- to make a week-end cruise.

We have a small sailing boat that we adopted similar to a Dot or Piaf class, aprox. 4,10 m long, but no good for what we are looking for (picture attached).

Does anyone have some suggestions or ideas?
Thank you!
Yours in sailing,

Pedro Brito

[Andy]

Hi Pedro,

A boat which fits the bill perfectly is the Nigel Irens designed King Alfred class. You can find out more here:

http://www.sailingnow.com/mag/boats/...a/release.html

Andy

[gonzo]

Are you planning on building these boats?

[Tim B]

Andy, a great general boat at a quick glanse. Looks good too.

Several questions arise, for example, is the boat for sea-sailing, or inland waters (or both)? As Gonzo suggests, do you have anywhere to build? You'll need a double garage or bigger if you want that route. You'll probably need 5, maybe 6 meters length, it's tight getting four people into most 4 meter boats. Having said that, if you used a keel, you could spread the crew more evenly, so not need too much length. Storage is obviously a question, what size and weight is the gear? (length, width, height and mass). If we know a design displacement, then we'll beable to take a shot at suggesting, or designing the right boat.

Cheers,

Tim B.

[gonzo]

Six people with gear would be too tight in 4 meters. I agree that 5 to 6 is better. A longer boat would have more reserve floatation too. The most carrying capacity for the draft is with a flat bottom skiff. Also, they are easy and cheap to build.

[Tim B]

A flat-bottomed skiff you reckon?

Oh well, have a look at this,
Length 5m
Beam 1.5m
Loaded Displacement 600Kg
Unloaded weight 220Kg
Keel bulb - 100Kg

Cheers,

Tim B.

[gonzo]

For a keel boat a flat bottom doesn't work all that well. However, I thought they were looking for a centerboarder since the intended use is camping. The scouts would need to beach the boat to unload the gear. My ideas were along the lines of a sharpie.

[Tim B]

I did toy with the idea of a centerboard, but the keel gives a more permissive lateral loading capability, especially useful if you need to stow gear etc. That said, I could always redraw it. It is also benificialwhen anchored, which saves the job of beaching what would be a hevy boat when loaded. My loading estimation is 480Kg for crew and gear. In a five meter keel-boat, there is space for a small inflatable for use as a tender.

Anyway, don't let that put you off, gonzo, I'd love to see what you'vecome up with.

Cheers,

Tim B.