Finished a 24' Wa'apa

Discussion in 'Multihulls' started by peterchech, Apr 19, 2011.

  1. peterchech
    Joined: Aug 2010
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    Location: new jersey

    peterchech Senior Member

    After a long winter of building in my dank basement, finally got it wet!

    Preliminary numbers are 6 knots downwind with 70 sq ft cotton balanced lugsail, 4 knots upwind, not pushing it and feathering in gusts. Sewing up a new 90 sq ft dacron lugsail now, probably gonna start on a jib soon too.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    3 people like this.
  2. Doug Lord
    Joined: May 2009
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    Location: Cocoa, Florida

    Doug Lord Flight Ready

    Congratulations, Peter-I know that's a great feeling! Good looking, too..
    Have fun!
     
  3. Brorsan
    Joined: Nov 2007
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    Brorsan Junior Member

    Looking really nice, got some sailing photos to sahre with us? :)
     
  4. peterchech
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    Location: new jersey

    peterchech Senior Member

  5. Dirteater
    Joined: Oct 2010
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    Dirteater Senior Member

    Hi Pete,

    Great looking rig :)
    just curous? did your design come with the out rigger
    or did you ad it?

    iether way looks great!

    DE
     
  6. peterchech
    Joined: Aug 2010
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    Location: new jersey

    peterchech Senior Member

    Well the design calls for an outrigger, but the one in the plans has pretty low buoyancy and is more reminiscent of the traditional indigenous proas that used a solid tree trunk for an ama. I wanted an extra margin of safety, especially as this is a tacker not a shunter. I also wanted to be able to just hang out between the aka's on light wind days, so I designed my own ama with about 400# flotation.

    [​IMG]

    Here I strung out a hammock between the akas as we were gliding around at 1-2 knots in almost no perceptible wind.
     
  7. jamez
    Joined: Feb 2007
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    jamez Senior Member

    Well done Peter. Happy sailing.
     
  8. Dirteater
    Joined: Oct 2010
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    Dirteater Senior Member

    Nice,
    pretty comfortable setup.
    Seems pretty stable for sure.

    Maybe down the road show us
    some summer sailing pics. :)

    DE
     
  9. peterchech
    Joined: Aug 2010
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    Location: new jersey

    peterchech Senior Member

    Well made some mods, added a quarter rudder and a way oversized daggerboard. Finished the lugsail, but am having some problems maintaining adequate downhaul tension on it. Also made a polytarp gennaker. I wasn't able to tack the boat, ever, until I added the jib. Now it tacks in the lightest winds. Really surprising. The rudder is a huge improvement, though the lower rudder post bangs into swells occasionally kicking water into the open rear hull. In some conditions it requires serious bailing.

    Here's a video of me and my father in law maintaining 7.5 knots in relatively light winds: http://s961.photobucket.com/albums/ae96/peterchech/?action=view&current=DSCF0467.mp4

    The ama is on the verge of burying. I don't think the boat can handle much more righting moment, unless I increase the buoyancy of the ama or else add a trap. If I get a better set of sail I may get more speed but to be honest this is a heavy boat, about 450# unloaded, and that lugsail just isn't as close winded as the jib. As apparent wind speed moves forward, it seems like the lug just can't keep up. If I put any more tension in the luff (to remove sag and prevent twist) I would need a winch!
     
  10. themanshed
    Joined: Sep 2009
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    Location: Palm Beach County

    themanshed Senior Member

    Looks nice I was going to build an outrigger then I decided on a small trimaran.
     
  11. peterchech
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    Location: new jersey

    peterchech Senior Member

    A small performance oriented trimaran will be faster and lighter, but less interesting :) and more expensive too. Total build cost including the mods was about $1500.

    I do get burned by the beach cats at my catamaran club though...
     
  12. themanshed
    Joined: Sep 2009
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    Location: Palm Beach County

    themanshed Senior Member

    Price was great! But I do have a need for speed.
     
  13. peterchech
    Joined: Aug 2010
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    Location: new jersey

    peterchech Senior Member

    Here's a pic of the sails finally:

    [​IMG]
     
  14. Dirteater
    Joined: Oct 2010
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    Dirteater Senior Member

    Hey Petercheck,

    just another quick note to say
    it looks great.
    Looks like she'll go for sure :D

    happy sails to ya.

    DE
     

  15. Collin
    Joined: Nov 2011
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    Location: Olympia, WA

    Collin Senior Member

    Really nice boat.

    I like the enlarged outrigger especially. You don't just get extra buoyancy, the weight of the ama gives better stability when it's windward and the extra mass means the boat heels more slowly.
     
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