Pirate Ship computer lofted ready for build

Are we still talking about the Kangaroos and Koalas?
The jaws on those american bears would be a bit bigger than the ones on our little fella's.

 

I did the masts replacement project for a schooner a while ago .

Her masts are way smaller in proportion as your ship.
However, both structurally (cross section) and for stability (her righting lewer is only about half the usual value for sailboats) everything is on the very last edge indeed.

With so lofty rig you will probably face insolvable dilemma -if masts are thick enough, they will be too heavy and detrimental to stability; if you make them light (thin) enough for good stability, they will buckle under load.

Nothing personal, just observation of proportions.
And I know only too well there are VERY good reasons behind sailing ship proportions...

 

The more I read these comments the more disapponted I am. I am guessing the people making these comments design for a living? Without fundamental basic information it's just pure guess work isn't it? Sorry but true!

No displacement given so far, it could range from 20 tonnes up to 55 tonnes? Cannot get more basic than that. This influences every single aspect in the most fundamental way.

No profesional being paid to make a judgement either for or against a design would do so without a lot more information. This schooners design stability can vary hugely with the limited info given:- No CoB no CoG no CoE no displacement no crossections. Really come on!

Anyone in the business would know this and asked for a lot more information before making a comment. An informed judgement could then be made.

 

Love American schooners have done since I was a child. Reckon the schooner the nicest looking rig around. Have designed and built a couple of them before:- a 44ft New York Pilot boat replica, the lines I also got from one of Chapplles books and more recently a steel 40 footer loosely based on the ' sharpshooter' model. Thanks for the info will end up looking at these rather than working!

 

I would think the canted(curved jaws) would have less tendancy to move about (hug the mast more) especially when tacking. Possibly this results in less movement above and less strain on the upper gear. I Don't have alot of experience with gaff rigging so this is just conjecture on my part. I like the look of a traditional rigged vessel but not the extra work required in their operation. Many frown upon the old square riggers but once fully developed into the clipper form with generally fixed trade routes they were very efficient making use of the prevaling winds. Magnificient ships.
In the topic at hand -- I doubt pirates made much use of the small fishing schooners as their regular vessels. It would put them at a big disadvantage in both crusing grounds and escape other than shallow waters but thats not generally where their prey are.

 

Displacement and cross sections are indicated in the drawing.

 

American East coast pirates used beamy shallow water vessels. They were known as the Balimore schooner type. With their centerboards, they could point higher than Navy ships and also escape into shallow waters. They were banned in Europe.

 

Yes agreed "some" of the north american pirates did make use of shallow draft vessels but the majority of pirates in general made use of the biggest and most well armed vessel they could get their hands on as they were basically world wide travellers, especially so on the Atlantic. The most famous, most organized, but less promoted was Peter Easton and I recall he scouted for prey making three atlantic crossings in one year finally capturing three Spanish treasure gallions off the Azors.

 

I'm not a fan of how the bowsprit is arranged for this sized boat. The outer sprit's stay is terminated too high on the stem and risks inversion. Lowering the termination will keep the dolphin striker centered when everything is bouncing arround. I would prefer the jibs to be more similar in cut and shape. A shorter foot on the inner jib and a bit higher clew on the outer jib, perhaps with a higher tack as well. What sort of horse will you be using to get everything out there? I'd prefer a sprit arrangement where the heel of the sprit is easily accesible from a safer and less exposed location so that the jibs can ride inboard on a horse. That outer jib has to be able to be handed with the inner jib up and that takes some thinking about. I think it's a bit big for that.

And to repeat others questions- I took the black dot on the graphics to be COB. Do you have disp, L/D, beam for this vessel?

Mast step on formast ought to span four or more frames. Mast step on main ought to span six or more frames.

 

The jib appears to be fixed at the end and not attached to a horse.

 

Can't comment on any of the engineering as I'm not really qualified to do so. From family history and written info on these vessels they were incrediable sea boats. Because of it's connection with my ancestors I am keenly interested in this vessel and will do more study into the actual historical hands on construction, something which I am more at ease with. While I have a hidden personal agenda here, I applaud those who have provided positive feedback in that it might drive this project forward. It would be gratifying to view an actual reproduction of something build by my ancestorial grandfather so many many years ago with just a pit saw and a few hand tools on the rugged isolated coast of what was then Englands first footsteps on this continent and what was to become the beginning of the English Empire. In addition we have to keep in mind these old American East Coast fishermen were the driving force behind the boatbuilding industry we have today.

 

The main problem nowadays is that people expect these boats to last a long time. Workboats were built with a short life span. Fishing schooner, for example, payed for themselves in one or two seasons.

 

I think if you are going to fiberglass her, you might as well lose the strapping and engineer them into the skin. Would save money and time I think. I don't really agree that strapping replaced those knees the way you asserted, but I do think that fiberglass skins replaced the need for strapping. At any rate, I'd work it out both ways and see how it all panned out.

However, I'm guessing that might ruin the feel of the thing for you . Perhaps nonstructural sheathing as a convenience is one thing but a composite structure boat is another. I can understand that.

 

" Intended to be built in Sri Lanka were timber and labour are cheaper. "

timber cheap in Sri Lanka ? Labour may be cheap but not experienced in wooden boats . Where are you planning to build ? I am very familiar with the island .

 

Yes Gonzo-agree 100% --the former Bluenose(two) being a prime example. I recall much more was spent on her maintenance periodically than her cost to build. The new Bluenose(three) (it's not really a rebuild but a complete build from scratch) is at least using a more durable wood in it's construction but again a wooden boat- high maintenance in it's upkeep. While many consider her to be eastern Canadas most famous boat I think the Marco Polo built in New Brunswick if properly researched and promoted by tax payers dollars would edge her out. Basically as you say they were just workhorses.