Why I'm Following Sven Yrvind

Discussion in 'Sailboats' started by sharpii2, May 7, 2020.

?

Do you believe Sven's latest Ex Lex will make it to New Zeeland.

  1. Nope.

    50.0%
  2. Probably.

    30.0%
  3. Almost certainly.

    20.0%
  1. JPE
    Joined: Aug 2019
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    Location: Finland

    JPE Junior Member

    Well, as we already know, Sven is a tough nut. He's back in Sweden, and the next boat is being built as we speak (write?):

    THE JIG DONE https://www.yrvind.com/the-jig-done/

    Perhaps it is time to set up a new vote on whether or not this one meets its goals ;)
     
  2. upchurchmr
    Joined: Feb 2011
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    upchurchmr Senior Member

    Why keep beating this dead horse?
    He's entitled to the boat he wants, but to keep talking about it and showing it to others is just leading to someone wasting their life.
     
  3. JPE
    Joined: Aug 2019
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    Location: Finland

    JPE Junior Member

    Sir, you are certainly entitled to your opinion, but I must disagree.

    Following the path Sven has chosen is quite interesting. I personally admire his resilience (I guess I've stated this before), although I strongly disagree with many of his "dogmas" (this I have certainly stated before).

    It seems, or rather I predict, should he be granted enough years, he will make somewhat of a circle in his design choices. He is approachin the size of Bris, and I think in a couple of iterations he will end up sailing what basically is the Bris with a lifting keel.

    By no means is he or his work among small sailboats "a dead horse". Successfull his latest boats have not been, but when it comes to experimenting, a failure is just as valuable as success. Most of us know, that failing will teach us far more than succeeding, if we just humbly accept to learn.

    Edit: I just realized I made a poor choice of words in my previous post. Tough nut can be read as somewhat insultin, I my native language nut does not refer to mental issues...
     
  4. upchurchmr
    Joined: Feb 2011
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    upchurchmr Senior Member

    There are a majority of people who will not recognize the issues.
    This is like major politician - if you repeat lies enough there are lots who will believe them.

    That is what is wrong with this and other such threads.

    And I agree that is just my opinion. Other points of view are appropriate, no matter how wrong (that's just a very little joke, take it easy!)

    EDIT: And I've been wrong before, just ask my wife.
     
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  5. Will Gilmore
    Joined: Aug 2017
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    Location: Littleton, nh

    Will Gilmore Senior Member

    I am curious to see what lessons Sven has taken from this last adventure. I want to know if he sees the same ones I do.
     
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  6. skaraborgcraft
    Joined: Dec 2020
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    skaraborgcraft Senior Member

    Sven seems to be almost coming full circle back to his original Bris, at least in a double ender sense. If you read what Sven writes, there is ALWAYS a next boat. He seems to enjoy just as much time in the workshop experimenting as he does at sea......life could be worse. Though trying to sell the idea as a good way to travel in these days of almost free boats id never going to be a winning recipe. Most people would like to undertake basic hygiene and bodily functions in relative comfort, let alone somewhere to cook hot food. Not many people have his drive at his age, so more power to his elbows. The fact he himself has always reached land unassisted and never called for help is something worth noting, even if some think his boats are suicide machines.
     
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  7. sharpii2
    Joined: May 2004
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    sharpii2 Senior Member

    One thing I have noticed with his new design, is that it will have approx 8.0 sm of sail in its two sails, which is about double of what he has in his present creation, which has nearly the same displacement.

    Even though I prefer to sketch double-enders myself, I see little evidence that they are better in blue water than transom stern boats.

    I suppose they are better surf boats though.

    And maybe they are better for blue water as slow boats, where transom sterns are better for faster boats.

    This theory does make some sense to me, as with a transom stern boat the quarter butts can run all the way to the transom (when the boat is heeled), allowing a longer, flatter run.

    The pointed stern, on the double-ender, can probably part over taking breakers if the stern freeboard is high enough.

    The ones I sketch have the stern post as high as the bow post for this reason.

    I think he might be looking for the altimate balance between performance and easy workability. Perhaps this is why his boats are so small.

    He can raise and lower his masts himself, without outside help, dispite his aging body.

    He can beach them if he wants to, which may save him from needing a dinghy.

    True, his methods may seem disorderly and even somewhat chaotic, with someone else seeming to always pay the bills. But he is trying things no one else is. And he may be inventing a new niche in Ocean voyaging.

    His boats may not be cheap to build (we have no idea of how many euros goes into them) but they may be cheap to own once they're built.
     
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  8. skaraborgcraft
    Joined: Dec 2020
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    skaraborgcraft Senior Member

    He is not doing anything new. His boat Bris was double ended. Hundreds of people converted double ended lifeboat hulls after the war into cruising boats. Human powered hulls have mostly always used beam to length ratio of 6-1 or longer for efficient use of power, be it human at the oars or low sail area. Take a look at Irish Currachs or the Scilly Pilot Gigs, both have been sailed at over 10 knots speed due to low resistance. It may even go back as far as "my log is longer and faster than yours".

    I do not see this as a new niche in ocean voyaging. Small well found yachts have been avaliable for decades for anyone with the ability to sail them,to go almost anywhere. Mountain bike of the seas?, a gimmick tag line for those who do not know better and think lying in a composite coffin is good for the enviroment.

    Not knocking Sven, if i have half his drive at his age i will consider myself lucky, but there is nothing new here, just a new audience, and trying to make them feel guilty for the way they have been shaped themselves by society is not a good sales technique. I do though understand some of his frustration.
     
  9. upchurchmr
    Joined: Feb 2011
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    upchurchmr Senior Member

    A boat you only use for one voyage is not cheap.
    I've kept my truck for 17 years and have not had a payment for 15.

    If he beached his boat, could he relaunch into surf with the minimal sail power?
     
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  10. Will Gilmore
    Joined: Aug 2017
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    Will Gilmore Senior Member

    Depending on the boat, of course, it isn't cheap, just keeping the boat. At least you aren't paying slip or mooring fees while at sea, unless you're maintaining a home port.

    I know a lot of people trade their cars in every year or so while others lease. I tend to drive my cars until they won't drive any more. Then, I'm grateful for all those people who regularly trade their slightly used cars in for the newest model. New boats don't have the value a boat that had been continuously sailed, to me. I don't want an abandoned/neglected boat either. I have one of those already.

    Thank goodness for trailers.
     
  11. skaraborgcraft
    Joined: Dec 2020
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    skaraborgcraft Senior Member

    With regards to getting off a beach, im sure he would run out a long line with an anchor on it. He did have a winch aboard to pull the boat ashore.
     
  12. sharpii2
    Joined: May 2004
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    sharpii2 Senior Member

    I never meant to imply he would either beach or unbeach in a surf.

    The boat would be far too heavy, and he would have far too little manpower.

    What I meant was beaching in quiet coves or in very calm conditions.

    I think he gets at least as much joy in designing an building his creations as he does using them.

    His 2nd Ex Lex is probably at least adequately suited for the sailing he likes to do. I would increase the sail area by at least 50%. Maybe add topsails?

    But I think his experiments are worth noting. Putting a center board in the eyes of the boat, where it doesn't intrude in the cabin area, and somehow making it work, is one of them.

    Minimalizing the size of the rig, is another. It may not be the direction most would want to go, but I think it is well worth watching, to see if there are some unknown advantages to this strategy.

    I, for one, can imagine scaling something like this up, and putting a small engine and relatively large fuel tanks in it, and ending up with a relatively easy to use motor sailor, which would be reasonably kind to the environment.
     
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  13. skaraborgcraft
    Joined: Dec 2020
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    skaraborgcraft Senior Member

    I have been down that path using a Scilly Gig as a base with increased beam, Paul Fisher actually drew up a very similar design. I ended up going with a shorter box keel boat, based only on ease of towing and storage ashore or in a marina, the cost of a skinney 12m boat with hardly any accomodation is hard to justify when it is not actually making a passage.

    I see Sven is already at the turn of the bilge on his planking. No mention if he is actually glueing those as he goes.
     
  14. sharpii2
    Joined: May 2004
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    sharpii2 Senior Member

    I think what he is building is just a plug for another foam-core composite boat.

    I didn't mean to suggest that I would go for such a high L/B ratio. But I would likely go for something lower than what is typical today-- maybe 4:1 rather than the more typical 3:1.

    Like Sven, I would not use greater ballast moment to make up for the narrower beam. Instead, I would go with a shorter rig, minimal ballast, and shoal draft. Emptying fuel tanks would be replaced with filling ballast ones.

    This would reduce the need for fixed ballast to a minimum. And I wouldn't have to go with smelted lead or iron.

    The boat would not be expected to get to 'hull speed' under engine alone, but under engine and sails, or sails alone once the wind picked up. It would be able to stand on its keel when the tide ran out, so a haul out would not be needed every time the bottom needed to be serviced.

    What Sven is doing is not exactly what I am into. But it's very close.
     

  15. skaraborgcraft
    Joined: Dec 2020
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    skaraborgcraft Senior Member

    Its not a plug. He said he wanted to build a plywood sailing mock up. On checking his site today, he has already changed his mind. He will not use a strip plank rounded form, but a developable foam surface, but still double ended. He also took a mouthfull of acetone rather than water. Seems to me he just wasted a month and generous donations on a project he would not have started had he given it some thought. He has been using foam and epoxy for years, why come to this conclusion at this stage?
     
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