getting started

Good morning,
I have posted a couple of times in an effort to get plans for a small sailboat. The original was about the chalana of Puerto Rico. The open transom design interested me. I also looked at the plan for a pram that someone was kind enough to direct me to. Thanks for that. After looking at dozens of websites and links I came across the plan for the i550. It is described as "one off sportboat." What is that exactly? I am ordering the plans but since this a first effort there will be lots of questions. Thanks for any input you can give in advance and I will add photos as work progresses.

 

Generally "sport boat" means high performance planning dinghy or a larger craft with good speed potential. The i550 is just one of these types of boats, intended for the reasonably skilled skipper that wants to go fast. Though the plans are aimed at the novice builder, most first time builders would have major "goo factor" issues. A bulb drop keel and a healthy sail plan will insure you need to bring friends along to help handle this puppy in a breeze.

A "one off" boat is any boat designed to be built one at a time, rather then produced in a mold or over a jig, so that several copies of the same can be assembled.

If your a reasonably good builder and skipper with a friendly crew available, this might be the boat for you. If you're looking to learn how to sail and build, this isn't the ticket for most folks.

 

Thanks for the help and the precautions. I have some power and sail experience and it does look like more of a boat than I am looking for. I was hoping to tame it a bit by reducing sail/mast with the proper guidance and maybe starting out with one sail only. That's a cat rig, right? "Goo factor" issues I am confused about. After reading a lot of the posts here I am leaning toward some painting and some "bright"(wood grain?) Would an experienced builder glass the bottom for extended life and use preservatives on other parts. I like the idea of a shallow draft with keel, daggerboard, or centerboard retracted. Not looking to set speed records but enjoy local waters on moderate days with a friend or two. Light weight, ease of trailering are other considerations. Must have cup holders!

 

Realistically, it isn't a good idea to modify one's first boat. The rig is half of the design, carefully arranged to compliment the hull, then tested and possibly modified to tweak the performance. Just eliminating the jib will increase weather helm. Stepping the mast forward to compensate will change staying angles and the structure where mast is stepped. It is far more practical to find a design just right for your needs and issues from building to sailing.
Without knowing about the size of the boat mentioned (but guessing it's 5.5 meters long), your preferred size range might be from 15-18 ft.
If I could suggest a proven design with good pedigree, how about a Lightning?
Nineteen feet, centerboard, built in plywood, solid fir planks (as originally done), or any number of methods, the boat is made up of flat panels, so it is relatively easy to build.
Quite a fast boat, it can be single-handed or double-crewed, has a big payload, and can compete as an established class.
There are so many other good designs, most of which have stood the test of time. Snipes, Windmills, too many to list, all with easy construction in plywood. Good for the novice builder, in other words.

Glassing the bottom is practical for abrasion resistence if the boat is of plywood, and necessary if of typical strip construction.

Alan

 

Alan and I are in complete agreement on this one (as usual). I've many memories of fine and fast sails in Lightnings. The list of boats in this class (quick, but forgiving enough to let you learn) is quite long.

Goo factor (my term) is the amount of epoxy and fabrics necessary to make the i550. It's typical of many designs and though a lot of first time builders have completed these type of builds, they much more often are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of epoxy (goo) effort required to build them. You'll go though it by the gallon and have to teach yourself how to mix, select and add fillers, apply (using several different techniques) and then sheath (fabric) and fair it smooth.

For a first build, this can easy double the materials cost and effort needed to have a little day boat, which in my mind (as narrow as it seems at times) isn't what the first round of boat building should be. After you've learned to torture yourself with building boats, then you can jump into more ambitious projects, which require more advanced gooing skills.

 

Thanks again for all the help. I am now looking at Lightning plans on ebay. The fiberglassing methods, techniques will be a struggle but with access to this forum and some other resources may be able to slog through it. Lots more questions to follow but maybe I can get started in time to launch next summer. I am in Richmond VA and we have some rivers and lakes here that will make for some good days.

 

The Lightning is easily built in plywood.

 

Here's one avenue, a recent plan for ply construction, available from woodenboat for the price of three back issues---

An excerpt from the article (I think)----

The magazine commissioned boat designer Ron Smith to draw new construction plans. The original 1938 design called for a planked hull built on wooden frames. The new boat has a cold-molded bottom and plywood sides and is glued together with epoxy. It was built by professionals - Nat Bryant and Craig Picard, alumni of the Landing School of Boatbuilding and Design. The new plans are available from ILCA for $120.00.

Why is this such a big deal for everyone in the world of Lightning sailing? Because Wooden Boat magazine itself is a big deal. It¹s a slick, first-class publication with high-quality writing, photos and drawings. For Wooden Boat to select the Lightning class over, say, the Snipe, Thistle or Flying Scot, tells you that the Lightning class has, well, class.

Here¹s what Wooden Boat says: ³The 19¹ Lightning, designed by Sparkman & Stephens, is today one of the world¹s most popular one-designs. Racing fleets have been established around the globe.²

"Why the Lightning?" I asked Wooden Boat Editor Matthew Murphy.

"How many Lightnings have been built?" he asked me.

"About 15,000," I said.

That, pretty much, is the answer, said Murphy.

http://www.lightningclass.org/Articles/ABigDeal.html

Alan

 

Alan and PAR,
You've been a big help. Actually this whole thing started when I picked up a Wooden Boat magazine in an airport in May. One more question, when you get a chance to get back to me. What is a "cold molded" bottom?

 

Cold molding is a method for making hulls that are rounded (developed shapes, like an egg). It entails laminating two or more layers of thin strips at different angles, resulting in a custom-engineered "plywood" that can be shaped like fiberglass.
The Lightning has a bottom that is somewhat developed. I don't have sections to look at in front of me, so I can't say how much. I'm pretty certain I've heard of all-plywood Lightnings, and maybe PAR knows, but I saw this article:

http://www.lightningclass.org/Articles/CedarSpruceEtAl.html

Unlike most cold-molded hulls, the sides on a Lightning are flat panels. There is a hard chine, or corner, and so it is certainly a very simple cold-molding lay-up compared to a fully rounded hull.
Short of going with a foam core composite hull (which is fragile in terms of puncture resistence), cold-molding has to be the strongest and stiffest build method for a Lightning.

 

The Lightning doesn't have a "developed" bottom, though the topsides are (not intentionally) pretty much so. There is a slight amount of athwartship rocker, which can cause issues if you're trying to slap some sheet goods over bottom molds. The bottom can be molded, double planked, carvel, Ashcroft, stripped or diagonally planked (single or multiple layers). A cold molded bottom will produce the lightest and strongest bottom, without resorting to fancy techniques. I've seen them tortured into place with three panels per side, though do question how close they got to the actual dimensions, even though one was said to be "measured" and passed.

I'd opt for a single diagonal plywood planked bottom myself, just for the ease in building or double diagonal for the same reason (which is how it was done in WoodenBoat if memory serves me). A single diagonal with a sheathing would be light and tight.

The plans are reasonable priced http://www.lightningclass.org/new_store/plans/building_lightning_plans.htm and you get the original plan set as well as the WoodenBoat article, detailing the updated build of the molded bottom.

Aside from the Lightning, there are hundreds of designs in the range you are looking to build and skippering level you have. Don't get married right away, the design selection process, can be lengthy and somewhat painful for many folks. Anyone can build a boat they'll not like, it takes a fair amount of research and honest soul searching, to find the design that best suits you needs, desires and future growth as a sailor, with a craft that can challenge you along the route.

 

From what I have been able to find so far the Lightning looks like it would be a good project. I am a big believer that anything popular, as the numbers point out, must have something going for it. I ordered the booklet rather than the plans at first to do a bit more research. The next smaller class might have to be my first boat but I will be reading posts and looking at sites and other resources.
Robert

 

Chalanas

I beleive I can help you, I own a chalana, The one that appear with a red spinnaker in wooden boat. You really need to have a stable team for sailing these ones.

 

chalana

Mr. Manas,
Thanks for your reply. I see the picture in the magazine. It is the description of the construction method which was interesting. I would be interested in a 16' foot version and have many questions regarding joints, fasteners, glassing, and others.

 

Hi, Im not great at english but i would do my best.

For start if you stop against everything that somebody told you that this won't work you will never do anything. That is our example, I can die here telling you things related to that. My boat has a J-24 mast, Melges 24 mainsail, Martin 246 Jib, Spinnaker of a 18 footer skiff "the one with the TNT letter in the picture", and I swear that for every one of those things somebody told "this is not good for you". "You nedd to adjust the luff curve that mainsail is not compatible with that mast you need a custom mainsail" and sort of things like that, just keep you stoped. I remeber when I bought the spinnaker, a sailmaker ask about the bowsprit needed to hoist the spi. When I told him that I need 12 foot he told me "you would never make that happen thats impossible, and if you did it, it would be impossible to keep the boat under control when it start to planing. After a test, I gave him some credit we split the rudder in too halfs, we build a stronger one and we split it again we build a stronger one an then.... we destroy the transom were the upper gudgeons were attach. Now that everything is fixed we are hitting 23 knots on a broad reach with 16 knots winds. Lot of work, but still 1/6 the price of a melges 24 and lots of fun for those who love speed. Sorry for the chit/chat I enjoy telling this things.

About the construction, very simple, everything is build with 1/4 marine plywood, were we need to be stronger like the chainplates, transom, bottom, we do extra laminate. Epoxy or polyester depending on you budget. The thing is that we are not engineers and we don't really know if we are over strong or too weak like my rudder and my transom but since australia and america one, split their boats in half,,, we don't really mind about that. We just keep going on, we read the instructions and did it. thats all.

How I screw or fastened to 1/4 plywood?
We add what we call a vest to the ribs and were ever you need to fastened. It is like a frame over the ribs, "I dont' know the correct name but lets keep it like as ribs, you know what i mean" We do a frame of solid wood attach to the borders of the ribs transom and were ever is needed. this is more lightweight than using and entire rib if one inch solid wood just because i need somewere to screw. For a 16 footer, you can really have lots of option to make it financially, like the Hobby 16 mast, the old one that is entirely aluminum you can found it everywere for a cheap price in great conditions, International 14 mainsail, there are lots used in mint conditions for less than half the price of custom one. On that footage you really have lots of options.

I hope you enjoy your project,
Don't hesitate on keep asking buddy.