Thread: The Rally Cars didn't make it to DAKAR but the PDRacers did

I first received an email from Jonathan Bornman in early 2007

Dear Mr. Storer,

I just downloaded the PDRacer plans I ordered from Duckworks. They look great! I am planning to build three boats from the plans, one for each of our three children. Actually they are doing the building and I am going to help them. What do I owe you for this?

I told him the first two boats would be for the single plan cost, but he would have to pay for another plan to build the third boat.

The next email was to make the adjustments to the foil templates to accurately shape the centreboard and rudder for a big jump in performance.

I am helping my kids build three PDRacers. Please send me the corrected foil template.

Thanks for great plans. The picture is my youngest child with his partially completed PDRacer. The second picture is of three partially completed hulls in the garage... visible in the back ground is the transom of my Marisol Skiff by Gifford Jackson.

THE BEST IS YET TO COME!

Here are the pics he sent.






About this time I realised that a couple of new registrations had crept onto the international pdracer.com registration site.

West Africa
#164 Isaiah Bornman un-named
#170 Caleb Bornman un-named

Too many images these two are at the bottom of this post

As we go more pictures will be on the way. I will be interested in seeing the cut down version of the sail. We have made one sail so far but not stiched yet. I will add the additional corner patches.

I did find one error in the plan... the detail of the bow and transom indicates that you make the framing 1212 and leave the plywood hanging over 4mm. It also states that on the side pieces that the framing should be set back 24mm. The mistake is that if the bow and transom pieces are made as detailed then the set back should only be 19mm. OR the framing on the side pieces should be set back 24mm and then the bow and transom would have no over hanging plywood. I remidied the situation by simply planning off the 4mm over hang on the bow and transom pieces.

I will send many more pictures as we go if you are interested. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Jonathan

I corrected the errors - I had made too big an allowance in trimming the chine logs to allow for the transom framing. Thanks for you help Jonathan.

Hello Michael,

Here are few shots of our first attempts at sailing our just completed PDRacers. There was a stiff wind. We had fun but we also ran into problems with the rudders. The this 4mm plywood sides failed almost immediately on the first two we put in the water. The third boat never went got tested. I am sending you a picture. I would welcome your thoughts.


Thanks for a great set of plans! They were easy to follow.

I've put these pics up before but I don't want to ruin the story. Here they are.

The reasons for the rudder breakages are explained here as well as the remedy - simply to glue the tiller to the sides of the box (it was free to pivot) and add one bolt at the bottom of the box.






Isn't that the coolest colour scheme - actually they are all rather nice - the Bornman family has very good taste indeed!

And here is the rudder breakage



I asked Jonathan to register the third boat on the US site.- this turned up later in the day.

Thanks for you quick reply. My daughter wrote off several days ago to register her boat as well. We are looking forward to our next outing and will keep you informed.

One more thing I forgot the names...

Isaiah's (age 14) yellow boat is named "Isaiah's".
Laurel's (age 12) polka dotted boat is named "Watermelon".
Caleb's (age 10) blue boat is named "Wave Dog"

They each built their own hull and painted it. I made all the bits like spars, tiller and rudder boxes.

And this on the worldwide registration site

West Africa
#211 Laurel Bornman "Watermelon"

Which showed this pic
Too many images - see the bottom of hte page.

I wrote ...
Hi Jonathan, The boats look very cool in their different colour schemes! The kids must be thrilled - they certainly look that way.

What is your other boat in the pictures?

The thicker ply is not necessary in some ways, but if the quality is much better then i agree totally.

It might be worthwhile to put one bolt down near the bottom like in the pic that I put on the woodwork site.

Best wishes and late easter wishes

Thanks for the compliments, I will pass them on to the kids! The other boat is my Marisol Skiff a Gifford Jackson design. I built "Dolphin" in 2002-3 entirely with hand tools in a small desert town in northern Senegal (see Louga on google earth) about an hour from the Senegal River estuary where we sailed her. We moved to Dakar in 2007 and are now sailing in Hann Bay.

I saw the bolt you mentioned and will use it. It is a quality issue with the plywood.

When we have our first "regatta" we will send you more pictures.

Thanks for everything,

Jonathan

And then TODAY!!!!!!!

Title - DAKAR FLEET SAILING

Hey we rebuilt the rudder boxes and they are as strong as could possibly be. I am very happy with them. Today we got all three boats back in the water and has a great afternoon. The wind was a mild breeze, perfect for the novice sailors to solo. They all did great! After 10 months of working and waiting they were sailing! I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Jonathan

And while the one above is a little down at the stern the next is sitting a wee bit too far back. If the stern transom corner goes underwater it slows the boat up badly.



But the next pic shows the whole fleet in perfect trim!



I hope the Bornmans see this and realise what a truly great thing they have done.

Thankyou Caleb, Isiah, Laurel and Jonathan! (and probably a number of unsung heroes!)

Great story!

Michael
http://www.pdracer.info