Law abiding Kiwis.

Discussion in 'Multihulls' started by Gary Baigent, Mar 31, 2020.

  1. cavalier mk2
    Joined: Mar 2010
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    cavalier mk2 Senior Member

    I think the Nicol classifies as interesting vs good looking but it is great for barnstorming off the grid in the PNW. I'm south of you in lower Puget Sound, the land to the left of the schooner is the tip of Harstine Island across Dana Passage.
     
  2. jamez
    Joined: Feb 2007
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    jamez Senior Member

    Bonjour Gary, ça va? Found this pic of Groucho taken 2010 (sorry about the quality) from ye olde Wharram.
    Groucho 2010.jpg
     
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  3. Gary Baigent
    Joined: Jul 2005
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    Gary Baigent Senior Member

    Cav, did Nicol ever do any drawings with foil assist - because he was ahead of the times and somewhat radical.
     
  4. Gary Baigent
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    Gary Baigent Senior Member

    Hi Greg, tres relaxez vu here. Jacques came round; strictly kept his distance, to pick up his monstrous sail board that I had stuck back together. Otherwise reading/gardening or secretly cleaning boat bottom when tide is out. Found this old shot of Jimmy Keogh helming, Heather Northey passenger (only time she ever was on boat) me doing who knows what on bow.
     

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    Last edited: Apr 7, 2020
  5. cavalier mk2
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    cavalier mk2 Senior Member

    Nobody will ever know Gary. His son told me he was very secretive when designing his next generation of boats and took all the drawings in progress with him on the last voyage. The peeks Alan got were open wing boats. For sure Hedley was tuned into all the AYRS research of the time but he would keep what was suitable for racing separate from what was sensible for family cruising. Dick Newick wasn't very familiar with Nicol but we both were surprised to find out a Vagabond with a 9.9 Yamaha would get over a 1/2 knot more speed than a same length Newick like his Echo designed 20+years later so Hedley clearly had good insights. Too bad those 2 didn't get the chance to push each other.
     
  6. Gary Baigent
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    Gary Baigent Senior Member

    Have probably told you this earlier but when I was on Drumbeat (stretched Nicol to 38 feet - builder spaced frames too far, maybe on purpose or maybe not) owned by Keith McClane, we held a continual 20-21 knots going down south side of Waiheke Island, the tri feeling like a big dinghy. In those days boat was light, later when sold the new owner removed centreboard and replaced it with a long keel. I told him in my usual diplomatic way that it was a backward step but he disagreed.
    On the point of easily driven hulls, Newick designs had more rocker than the Nicol tris?
     
  7. oldmulti
    Joined: May 2019
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    oldmulti Senior Member

    Hi. A photo of a boat I had some sailing time on, Yumi Maru. A Crowther Kraken 55 with a 70 foot mast. Reason for the jpeg is I remember the day we had the tip of the float bow just on the surface, the rest of the float under water with spray coming from the cross beam fairings do a steady 27 knots in a straight line and the helmsperson having no control as the only rudder on the main hull had so little left in the water it effectively was useless. Good fun. The headsail had to be released to get it onto its feet. We changed the headsail and continued at 28 knots. In a later race off NSW the tri capsized. Crowther and the owner Phil Smith built bigger full buoyancy floats, strengthen the cross arms and improved the rudder. The boat went faster and was more controllable. This was a seriously fun boat. The photo was taken from the deck of Ian Johnston's Bullfrog Sunblock, Spirit of Australia et al, 40 foot tri during the Melbourne layover in the around Australia race.
     

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  8. Gary Baigent
    Joined: Jul 2005
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    Gary Baigent Senior Member

    I remember reaching back (here we go again, old farts reminiscing) from top of Te Kouma harbour across Firth of Thames to bottom of Waiheke, 15 n. miles covered in one hour and a couple of minutes, in a Crowther Buccaneer 24 - and like all Crowthers, this one had too small a rudder. At top speed (guessing 20 knots) the rudder went slack because it was in completely aerated water and you just kept it centred until the gust eased and helm pressure returned. After that we added foils to floats, built new under hung and deeper rudder and foam filled and lengthened the main hull after section to reduce rocker. Problems disappeared.
     

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  9. cavalier mk2
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    cavalier mk2 Senior Member

    Yes, a Newick is like a big kayak and a Nicol main hull is like the German high speed patrol/torpedo boats of WW2, the transom touching the water tricks the wave train into thinking it is a longer waterline. The skinny amas carry part of the load to keep the main hull shallow and don't make much in the way of waves. The Newick has to go deeper for the displacement so more rocker and what amounts to a double end for a smooth exit.
    As for top speed Hedley got the stripped out Vagabond MK1 up to 28 knots in flat water with the wind at 50 before the wing took it off and it barrel rolled. Pretty good for a 36 foot boat in the 60s without foils.
     
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  10. Doug Halsey
    Joined: Feb 2007
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    Doug Halsey Senior Member

    PunctuationSavesLives.jpg

    Sorry. I must have too much time on my hands.
     
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  11. Gary Baigent
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    Gary Baigent Senior Member

    Doug, instead of being an English teaching/joking pedantic, thought you would be deep into designing and building your large 12 metre? version of your famous foiler. A word in shell-like ear, don't be a lunatic like me and think it will be stable without floats. Oh, you know all about that too. We both are beyond lunacy lunatics? Here's a shot of another pioneering crazy, Noel Fuller, no floats just large angled foils, way back in the late 1970s. Photograph taken while standing on fore deck of power boat using Noel's 6x6 Bronica - was published in an AYRS journal. We thought we were champions in those days?
     

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    Last edited: Apr 9, 2020
  12. cavalier mk2
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    cavalier mk2 Senior Member

    Well there, see? (punctuation) My missing comma didn't put Gary in a coma.

    P.S. Don't mention the time on your hands, I'm getting double overtime for still being upright.
     
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  13. Gary Baigent
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    Gary Baigent Senior Member

    Old times: Gulf two handed race on Crowther 24 Miranda; we broke the traveller wire strop (Mickey Mouse thing) a couple of hours into race and bodgied up a repair; we, Malcolm Cheadle and I, were on the smallest boat in fleet, came in 6th and cleaned up on handicap. Owner Chead got all the prize goodies. Photograph of me after helming all through the night.
    Sorry, nothing to do with the shutdown, just getting bored.
     

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    Last edited: Apr 17, 2020
  14. cavalier mk2
    Joined: Mar 2010
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    cavalier mk2 Senior Member

    The bear here is getting into boat working weather and having epoxy essentials like gloves and masks for sanding off the store shelves. I've got my pre covid stash but now it has to be rationed out. A pair for oil changes or wash the hands? Hmmm. Can I bake a used work mask in the oven for dust mask reuse when my supply runs out? Good thing I don't have much extra time so I can stretch the stash out for the odd weekend but getting the boatbuilding fix in will be challenging even after things open up with the "essentials" taking who knows how long to return to the workers pipeline.

    Good thing winter is coming down the road there Gary! You can always hibernate with a pint of Trappist ale.

    Sorry, Cheers...
     
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  15. Gary Baigent
    Joined: Jul 2005
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    Gary Baigent Senior Member

    Ideas for a cruising 10x10 metre foiler. Double rig based on my Cox's Bay Skimmer.
     

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