designing a fast rowboat

Wrc

Over the winter,I milled up all the western red cedar I had given to me. It came out to be 2600 L.F. of 5/16 X 1" stock in lengths up to 10'. Next problem is what to build with it. I'm looking at Pete Cullers book and the lines for a 20' Cornish gig. Does anyone with more knowledge than me have any feed-back on the design. To my untrained eye, it looks pretty good for a double open water boat

 

Take look at "Donoghue" too . Not Quite as long but proven on the Open water circuit. Plans are available from Anne Baker. You could go look for it at Mystic too. Its in the " Mystic Seaport Watercraft" book.

 

I get the feeling you want a proven design that is American. Try a big guideboat then. They seem to win all of these races regardless of weather conditions. These are usually 16-17' boats rowed solo. You would want twice the displacement, so get a 16-17' guideboat and scale it up 25% in every direction. That will give you the displacement you need, along with a beam pretty close to what you would want for your preferred 50" spread just outside the gunwales. Freeboard may be a bit high, but you know what you need in the way of freeboard and could eyeball it and maybe trim the sheer a bit for height if required. The result should be one of the fastest boats out there, and with the rough water capability to keep it afloat under any condtions. It would also look damned cool.

ETA: If you want people to give you feedback on Culler's gig you should find a way of posting the lines. However, having seen the lines for his Quitsa you already know my opinion of that (ie: not that great).

 

I think blowing up the guideboat in the above fashion may be a bad idea...doesn't feel right in my gut. Keeping it narrow, bit beamy enough so you can get the oar length you want with outriggers like these I am working on...these were put on a number of boats...Culler and Donoghue and I first saw them at Mystic. They will be available again.


Oarlock 1 by Clint Chase Boatbuilder, on Flickr

 

Which is fine, but as soon as he puts riggers on a boat Norvindcrew gets classed with the sliding seat ocean shells, etc. He's said numerous times that he specifically wants to avoid this, and needs to have the rowlocks on the gunwales, and prefers to row with a 50" spread between them. That imposes limits on the hull shape. I'm trying to take into account his preferences rather than just suggesting a theoretical ideal that he has no interest in.

 

If keeping the oars on the Gunwales is required why not curve the hull out just below the sheer, A lot of sailing dinghies used this 505's spring to mind. Flashboats have exagerated flare as well.

 

Do the class rules allow that sort of trick? Some classes have specific rules against concavity in the sections to prevent people doing things like this.

Oh and it might be worth asking Teroholme what sort of rough water his boats can race in. They seem to have enough volume above the waterline (quite high-sided in fact) but I'm not sure if they'd handle running down waves without broaching. Judging by the profiles they seem to be predominantly flat water racers.

 

While unaware of the precise rules I believe that although it might not be strictly illegal, any extreme measure to achieve a wide spread with a narrow waterline would be against the intent of the class.

This could result in rule changes which would leave any boat designed to use this loophole unable to compete in future races and Nordvincrew would be left with a boat of little use. Just my 2c.

 

guide boat

Scaling up a guide boat might very well work and is an idea to consider. The riggers do bump me up to a class that would not be competitive to me. Another possibility is the gig in, I think, Bill Gardners book "Building small craft". It is the General La Fayette which was built for four rowers but could possibly be shortened down enough to work. American designed would be nice, but unique and traditional looking is more important to me

 

General Lafayette? Isn't that the same hull as American Star and Salish Star?

 

Port Townsend 2010.

 

Yup, same hull. Wouldn't scale well to a double. Can elaborate on why if you like, but although it works well as a coxed four a double is a different matter.

 

Oh Well

Thanks for the info on Salish Star etc. It looks like I'm still searching. Any thoughts on Cullers 20' Cornish Gig? As a by-the-way, There's no rules on concavity in the hull, but I Hate the look and probably wouldn't go that way

 

How about a stretched Cosine Wherry? A standard one has been a proven race winner over many years in the Great river race. True the veteran crew are very fit but they must be getting lonely out there in front all the time!

 

NORDVINCREW,

Not exactly what you are looking for, but what about a stretched MRW (John Aborn's Monument River Wherry)? Didn't Andy Hall use that as a rough base for his DANIEL J MURPHY? And are you familiar with this recent project?
http://www.tsca.net/johngardner/lastchance.htm