Blackrock 24 (Build)

Sail #2 was a long time coming. It went quite smoothly. I believe most trouble issues were dealt with and now I’m working fine tuning different elements on the boat.

Light winds were expected for the day and no reef lines needed rigged. The boat launch was busy, so we wanted to get on the water quickly before no parking was left. Our launch time was only twenty minutes which is quite encouraging. Admittedly, the sails were not bent on and the boomkin was attached after launching. The boomkin stows in the cockpit and is extended through the transom where it is bolted and wing nutted in place. This was a too long 30 minutes more before we were ready to shove off. In the future, I think I could unfurl the sails in the cabin and install the full length battens before ever leaving the house. I definitely see further improvement in set up time.

Initially, there was almost no wind so the hour was spend motoring out to open water. Tiring of the noise, the engine was cut and it he sails hoisted. To our pleasure, there was enough wind to actually move us along at about 1/2 a knot and the course let the main shadowed the cockpit. I pulled out the unmounted wind indicator occasionally when I felt I had lost the wind and surprisingly it worked quite well finding the wind while being hand held in the cockpit. There was a wind shift after 30 minutes with a nice increase, also. Our gps speed indicated 3.5 kts.

I used one of the main reef lines as a down haul which worked well for tensioning the luff. Gravity is a wonderful thing, when it’s working with you. I will mostly likely set up a permanent down haul for the main. I’ve been successful so far in not needing a winch. Here the main is seen drawing quite well. I’m guessing the wind between 6 and 8 kts.



Here we have a couple of images of the mizzen. I really like how the full length battens help to set the sail shape. Also, then boomkin is in the lower image. It was definitely needed. You’ll note the fouled mizzen sheet. I need to extend the boomkin a few inches or adjust where the sheet attaches to the boom.




I had minor issues with the rudder still. Too much torque on the hinge bolt kept me from easily extending it. Once down and bolted, the rudder functioned perfectly. Balance on the boat is quite good and can be adjusted through mizzen sheeting. I hope to experiment with tying off the tiller (with lines and bungees) and adjust mizzen sheet angle to see if I can get some self steering happening.

Progress is still happening. I’m finishing construction on the inside and starting to work the electrics. Ordering cushions or ordering foam for cushions is on my hot list. Deciding whether to simply purchase the interior cushions or make them myself.

Cheers to all.

 

Here is a link to a short video taken during this sail.

 

Finally, after a summer of sanding and filling and sanding and filling and sanding and cutting and epoxying and sanding and sanding, followed by some more sanding with just a little more sanding after that. Whew! But then I able to do some varnish and priming and a little more sanding with some paint afterwards. I might have left out some of the sanding. The short version is that the interior of my vessel is now painter and varnished. Of course, nothing is ever really done and there are still hidden away areas that need attention.

Here are a few pics of the interior.




Enjoy.

 

Here is a video taken back in March while 10 miles off the southern shore of the Florida Keys. I believe the winds were gusting over 20 knots and the swells were running at 6’. We were running with 2 reefs in both sails. The boat quite flat and very controlled. The video runs a minute and a half views off both forward quadrants and a final view off the stern of the vessel.

 

Thanks for the update, very steady camerawork considering the conditions.
What was the final design for the centerboard winch?

 

Hi, Latestarter.

I am currently using a boat trailer type winch as seen in an earlier post. I do have a worm-drive hand winch that I am still hoping use instead. The advantage of the worm drive is that it is self locking when ever the handle is released. I have not weighted the centerboard, so at this point, it’s not overwhelmingly heavy, but still weighs 200 lbs. I am also still reconsidering a block and tackle type setup that allows for a more “dinghy” type control of the board via a line to the cockpit. So unfortunately, a still haven’t definitively nailed this final configuration.