Desperate to sail 2015

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Nice job! Congratulations!

 

Well, as they say, all good things come to an end. The days on water passed quickly, and the time to depart has caught up with me.

I had few more sailing sessions with my girlfriend days ago, quite enjoyable. And today, another friend who came to visit us by this lake (he has little experience with sailing), so today we went out together. For the last time this year.
Winds were fair, about 15 knots and pretty stable, so we went out from our branch to the main body of the lake. There we met 20 knot wind and very steep waves, only to discover that the boat cannot make any windward progress - the best angle we managed was about 80° to TWD, taking drift into account. Every wave slammed into the bow and stopped our little boat, making it impossible to gain any speed. Any attempt to point higher would result in sail fluttering (the damn leech would curve into C-shape), and horrible drift with little speed.

The feeling is ambiguous. On one hand, I realize I did pretty much everything I could that contributes to boat reaching ability. All the upgrades that would improve it were made, or almost all. Better rudder and battens would improve weatherliness somewhat, but I doubt that it would be a lot. And I know I handled the boat not in the worst possible way.
That being said, there is certain sadness in knowing that despite this fact, the boat is still damn unweatherly, and that sailing upwind is more of a frustration than a challenge, and in certain conditions (like waves) it is totally impossible. And although I stored all the rig for the next summer, I know there isn't much I can do to improve the situation.

Probably it's the hull. If the boat were longer, with round cross-sections and decent rocker, I guess the rig I made would be good enough for sailing at least 45° into the wind. But I can't change it.

So I think it's time to quit desperation, save up some money, and make myself a boat, self-designed or from plans, with which I would have a decent reserve of performance, so that I could enjoy sailing itself rather than wondering every time how the hell I will get back home in time with the wind ahead of me. I will put some though in this, and then post a topic in this forum.


By the way, the people who rented us the house by this lake, have a grandchild. He is 10 year old boy, wild, crazy and adventurous, and has followed my attempts to make a sailboat with great admiration and support. He would often offer his help, but I only gave him small tasks that are safe. Nevertheless, he went crazy about sailing.
As it happens, his birthday is today. So I make him a small model boat from some scrap wood I found around. It is only 12cm in length. Took me about 10 hours, but it's finally done, high-peaked gaff cat. Working rudder, two functional halyards, mainsheet with traveler, and a sail from the same material I made the sail for my big boat. I just finished varnishing it with marine-grade yacht varnish, and left out to dry. The boy should find it in several day's time. I hope it will inspire him towards sailing more...

For a memory, I took some terrible-quality photos from my phone (very bad camera). And I attached them here too, take a look. Now, before you say it, I know it would have severe lee helm, but... Live and learn, live and learn!



I say Thank You to everybody on this forum who helped me out this summer. Your support, advice and commentary were invaluable to me. Although I didn't accomplish all that I hoped for, the experience was priceless, and will help me on whatever I'll take on next. I will attempt to help out fellow sailors and boatbuilders on this forum, now that I have at least minimal knowledge.
Thank you again, and please enjoy these last photos

 

Hi Laukejas.

Can't say I blame you for giving up.

With such disappointing performance after so much work, who can blame you?

That's what I did with my Asthetic No project.

I still maintain that, with a proper rudder, Both boats would have been greatly improved.

The trouble with the oar, or long canoe paddle, as it was in may case, is neither has anywhere near enough area. And what little area either has is oriented to wrong way, in the form of a very low aspect ratio surface.

Both require a great deal of attention to use, not to mention a lot of physical strength.

Such has been used and has worked on long narrow boats, such as sailing canoes and outriggers. But with a wide hull, that is not designed for sailing, and has a dagger board way off to one side, it just isn't up to the job.

The rudder doesn't merely steer the boat. It stabilizes it too, by creating a second lifting foil to play off the dagger board. The oar, or the canoe paddle doesn't really do that, unless its blade area is greatly increased.

When I played with the Asthetic No, I had a great deal of theoretical knowledge, but very little sailing experience. I suppose, even as she was originally rigged, the No might sail better, if I had her now.

With the changes I had in mind for her, she would have definitely improved.

I had planned on doing three things:

(See sketch of original in attachment below)

1.) Lowering the boom, so I could get more sail area ahead of the mast,

2.) increasing the depth of the clamp boards, to insure adequate lateral area, and

3.) adding a rudder.

I have a feeling that if I only did #3, the boat would have worked much better.

Anyway. Best of luck to you in whatever you decide to do.

 

for next year you might consider making the dagger board and a proper rudder assembly before your trip and bring them with you. It will save time. you could even plan on making a better sail and bring that with you, than you would just have to adapt the rigging and mast to the sail you bring with you, saving some build time.

 

Hi Laukejas.

Her, attached below, is a sketch of what the Asthetic No would have looked like, if I had made the changes on her I had planned.

As it was, I had oiled all her woodwork, rather than painted it. I soon found out that oil and Fir plywood do not make good shipmates. The Fir plywood checked grossly, with ridges sticking up as high as 2 mm.

When confronted with dealing with this mess or a cheap alternative boat, a seven foot dinghy for $50.00, I went with the alternative.

It turned out the seven foot dinghy had a cracked mast step, which I had no idea of how to repair.

I sold the dinghy for $30 and went boatless for four and a half years.

Had I kept the No, I would have sailed those four and a half years.