Tabu

I am beginning construction of a 16' planing sailer that appeared in Boat Builder in 1972. The publication went out of print recently. Somewhere there exists a full set of build plans but no one seems to know where. I havent seen plans for a boat that suits my needs quite so well as tabu. Any syggestions on where to look for the plans?

David

 

Is this the boat?
http://www.svensons.com/boat/?p=SailBoats/Tabu

 

Yes Doug, that is where I found the plans that I have. The plans are sufficient for a build but it would be nice to have the full size set that are drifting around out there somewhere. The boat appears to be an answer to an old guy who doesn't weigh a lot who wishes he were younger and heavy enough to solo a Star class.
David

 

I think those ARE the full set of plans.

I remember seeing this design when I was a teenager back in the early '70's.

It was put out by Davis Publications, I believe, who published 'Popular Mechanix' magazine.

Their boat plans wee not big on offsets.

I built a boat from their plans myself.

It was a much more modest design called a 'Just-For-Fun' that was arguably a more modest version of 'Tabu'.

Both are fine rockered scows, both plane readily, and both, under the right conditions, go like hell.

Despite an absolutely terrible boat building job, the thing did sail. And when it did, it went quite fast.

It had a 2x4 mast, four stays which went straight to the masthead and down to the corners of the deck, and home made plastic sails.

I think there is enough info on the plans shown to build the boat.

Noodling the offsets out of it may not be as big of a challenge as it seems. It just takes a little time and careful thought.

The thing to remember is that you will not be working with any scale.

What you need to do then is to expand the drawings a large as your PC capabilities allow and still keep their exact proportions.

Then, measure everything with the smallest increments you have available, say 32nds of an inch or even millimeters.

This can give you the proportionate offsets. Then, with a cheap calculator, you can scale them up to the full sized, scaled offsets.

You may not come up with the exact boat this way, but you could come so close it's mother wouldn't know it.

Just remember, it's the boat's general weight and proportions that give it its performance, not its exact lines.

Exact lines are for rule beating.

Hope this helps.

 

Thank you Sharpii2 for your encouraging comments. Having a bit of lofting experience, I find developing a working set of drawings challenging but not overwhelming. FAST is my objective with Tabu! I have varied the design a bit to that end. Design plans propose a hull weight of 175 lbs. With sail area at 165 sq. ft. I am shooting for a 130 lb. hull delivering 200 sq. ft. of sheet to the wind. The accompanying photos will depict my approach weight conservation while maintaining strength.

Image #1 – Tabu Class Icon: Unable to find a Tabu class sailboat icon to display on the sail, I developed my own – Tabu class sailboat?

Image #2 – Hollow Dagger Board & Rudder: Using 3/16', mahogany ply with internal spline for shape, the rudder weighs 8 ozs.. and the dagger board 16ozs.before the Dynel covering.

Image #3 – Main Frame: My experience building fast motocross motorcycles in the '80s taught me that holes will disperse stresses in a stressed member with the added benefit that holes don't weigh very much. Light weight translates to higher speed with the same power input.

Image # 4 – Main Frame In Bondage. Level, square, and plumb are good things

 

Good luck on your project.

Show us some pictures when she's done.

She aught to be a real hot rod IF you can keep her sunny side up.

 

I do not know the history of this boat, but it is probably not ''the'' best design mankind could ever come up with. So instead of trying to approximate to it from a few sketches, why do you not create your own?
With your skills and knowledge , building a model, and taking lines off it should not be more difficult.
The end result may look a little less outdated and definately more rewarding.

 

Thank you Omeron! That is effectively what I am doing, using the sketches as a baseline and making modifications. My prime objective is to build a fast boat. As shown in the photos, I am pareing weight wherever possible and will not even paint it, only add some clear poly to protect the wood from water and to provide a slick surface.

 

Omeron, the Tabu is probably not ''the'' best design mankind could ever come up with, after all it's design is about 60 years. After doing some "speed" calculations on my modified Tabu (reduced hull weight) and comparing them to some ultra-modern quick boats it fares quite well. The ratio of sail area to hull weight always seems to indicate performance. The only small boat that compares to Tabu using that ratio is the highly touted Hobie-Tiger. The ratios compare favorably, if you add a spinnaker to the Hobie. Can't wait to get my Tabu in the water!

 

Best of luck with your Tabu!

Don't fall into the silly trap of using simplistic ratios and calculations to predict performance. Although the Tabu was a good design for it's era, it would not have a chance keeping up to a modern Beiker, Bethwaite or MacDougall design around a race course. There have been many areas of research and design evolution, many of which resulted in the 1990's 18' Grand Prix skiff designs, B18s and subsequent efforts like the 49er and the newer foiling boats.

Mathematics is at best a crude predictor of performance. Frank Bethwaite's work "HIgh Performance Sailing" debunked a lot of myths, and in it's final postscript sections outlined design changes that have led to boats (monohull) averaging speeds exceeding windspeed around racecourses.

There has been major advancements in:
- rigging (carbon masts, synthetic rigging)
- Sails (higher aspect ratio, better synthetic fabrics, better batten systems and shape/draft control)
- foils (NACA sections, higher aspect ratio, gybing boards, T-foils)
- hull developments
- materials science (epoxy, kevlar, carbon, e-glass, foam core, vacuum bagging)
- righting moment systems (twin trap boats, sliding seats, racks & tramps)

Yes, your Tabu will potentially "blow the doors off" Snipes, Lightnings, Flying Scots and the like. Don't put up your pink slip with modern I-14s, 49ers, current new rules International Canoes, F18s or A class cats. You may run into the odd situation where conditions are right and you can embarrass someone, but don't bet on it.

Great luck on the build and I wish you nothing but the best. If you are serious about modern performance I'd get a current designer to update your rig, foils and sails.

 

Some excellent comparitive ratios and their resultant statistics here for high performance dinghies(not foilers): http://www.int505.org/boatstat.htm
Good luck!

 

Reminds me of an old fella that came into my bike shop in Adelaide one day, he was sprouting off about how his old Norton 500 would blow the socks of any of these few fandangled Jap Crap, I sent him out on a CX500 that I was riding myself, he came back very quietly and bought it............

 

Just what (and a person I politely did not mention) I was warning you about.

If you must, the real numbers worth looking at are the RYA's Portsmouth ratings. They are based on real world race results over time, not obscure mathematics. When theory and the real world collide, the real world wins 100% of the time.

Given your Tabu's general design, hull shape, rocker & type, rig, spars, sail type(s) and aspect ratios I would expect your boat to be in the general area of a Fireball. If your low weight compromises hull stiffness, maybe not. You've got less righting moment - the Fireball has a trapeze for the crew.

Fireballs are scow type planing boats from the same era.

If you can get your boat to perform on par with a Fireball, you've hit a home run on your performance targets. I'd expect a 505 to eat your lunch uphill, and unless you've got a big assed spinnaker, you won't stay with them downhill either.

Best wishes,

--
Bill

 

Bill,
I just checked out some of the boats you mentioned and was especially impressed with the 49er. I watched an on-line video - what a rocket ship! Like Landlubber's old fella, I would quietly walk into a shop and buy one except for the fact that it costs somewhere about 17 grand. As mentioned previously, I expect to bring the Tabu in for under $800. That cost is helped greatly by my fashioning the sails myself. Landlubber's story reminds me of my motocrossing days when I ran across a guy (a Dick Mann fan) who thought his BSA 500 thumper could do it to any bike until he road my CR250 that just came on the market. As a go-fast compeditor from the past I would accept any challenge to race my future Tabu against anything - any reason to get on the water. So far it has been a joy to build! After I get the mast rigged and the frame members finalized and layed out I'll post some pictures. Thanks to everyone for your comments - they inspire me to spend more time in my shop.
David

 

All I was trying to do was give you some perspective - not to discourage you at all. If you can build your boat and get it on the water for $800, you might have a career ahead of you selling them at $1995.00 .

If you want to really warp your perceptions search Youtube for "foiling moth" and "bgulari". You'll see Bora (the guy's name) doing gybes and tacks while elevated on hydrofoils at 20+ knots speed. Blows you mind.

A new race ready 49er with new design carbon mast and sails is about $30,000 - not a discretionary purchase in my house! Top level I-14s are $35,000 plus, depending if Paul Beiker is willing to sell you one - you have to show up with a race resume, world championship level results and a blank cheque.

It is rumored they've clocked 49ers at over 34 knots - over 40 miles per hour.

Best wishes,

Bill