Thread: Building the OZ PD Racer - now renamed the OzRacer

Originally Posted by echnidna

I don't suppose there is a condensed version thats easier to read?

Take four sheets of plywood, a stack of recycled pine, a half gallon of epoxy, 40 6g screws, a quart and a half of paint and two blokes. Mix together in a 44 gallon drum. Use the stick to beat the one with the long proboscis everytime he stops working. Drop boat in water. Put foot through floor and earn stern looks from the grandmother nearby. Fix hole. Take photos. Go sailing. Look very pleased with oneself.

It's easy.

Richard

Richard,

You forgot the bit about putting off the final paint coat till after the web page was done!

P

Originally Posted by Daddles

Take four sheets of plywood, a stack of recycled pine, a half gallon of epoxy, 40 6g screws, a quart and a half of paint and two blokes. Mix together in a 44 gallon drum. Use the stick to beat the one with the long proboscis everytime he stops working. Drop boat in water. Put foot through floor and earn stern looks from the grandmother nearby. Fix hole. Take photos. Go sailing. Look very pleased with oneself.

It's easy.

Richard

Actually Richard - no screws - or rather we didn't intend to put any in until I grabbed the wrong powder to put in the epoxy - so one of the boats has around 10 screws helping the glue keep the portside gunwale attached.

This is somewhat important as the other face is holding the deck on!!

MIK

Youse designer type blokettes are so darned picky

Witchard

Originally Posted by Daddles

Youse designer type blokettes are so darned picky

Witchard

Does that mean when we don't think you are being very funny we should call you "chard".

MIK?

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Does that mean when we don't think you are being very funny we should call you "chard".

MIK?

Hmm, most of the bits in my boats start as bits of timber and wind up as shards :eek:

Richard

Hi All,

During the building process we were having lots of discussions with our
American PD Racer friends and there was almost as much discussion as there was on this thread - but perhaps a different slant.

Anyway - I am part way through editing and putting up all the bits I wrote.

http://www.storerboatplans.com/Pdr/pdrfaqindex.html

It shows a lot of the thinking behind our version of the boats.

I still have to do final editing and get more pics into the text - but the text is mostly in place.

Hope you find it interesting!

MIK

Browsing through all the posts, and links to web-sites, I'm getting really curious about these Puddleducks. I'm wondering just how many there are in SE Queensland. Is there a fleet? Are they meeting/racing regularly?

For something that looks like so much FUN , is so CHEAP , and EASY TO BUILD , and SAIL , I would have thought there would be LOTS of them around.

Or are they just not pretty enough??

Originally Posted by onthebeachalone

Or are they just not pretty enough??

Actually they are quite pretty in the flesh! (I AM their Mum after all!)

Currently there is a fleet sailing regularly at Mountain Creek (Two boats!)

I have been trying to get to a couple of events, Bribie, Caloundra..... even a WBAQ messabout, but so far haven't been able to organise it! I was also going to have a word about getting one on the WBAQ stand at the Woodshow, but.....

Our objective was and is, to get out and encourage the creation of a few fleets, they are absolutely the cheapest and most fun way I've found to get people of all sizes and ages sailing!

Give me a hoy when you are near Mooloolaba next and I'll show you what I mean!

In the meantime, Michael is well advanced with the drawings of our OZ variant, and as far as I can tell from here, there are probably half a dozen underway in SA.

Get in soon, it's going to be BIG!

P

OK!

Well, I've stuck my neck out to promote this at the next WBAQ committee meeting on Tuesday. Seems to me like something WBAQ should be backing to "encourage more participation" in Wooden Boats.

I have no idea how much support I will get but I'll keep you posted.

I guess it's too late this year for Bribie, and Working with Wood show, but we should keep it in mind for next year.

We have a messabout at Hinze Dam this weekend (Sunday about 10:00am). At least there is some water there. Is that too far to go at too short notice?

Otherwise, I guess we might see you at the Caloundra regatta. We hope to be actively participating in the "Quick'n'Dirty" competition.

I wouldn't mind getting off-line video clips that I could put on my lap-top to show the guys at the meeting. No internet connection where we meet so I can't use the on-line ones. Any chance?

Cheers

Sorry, I can't make Hinze Dam on the weekend, but check your PM's, I'll send you a disk with some Movies.

I might even make the trip to Bris for the meeting!

Cheers,

P

Originally Posted by onthebeachalone

For something that looks like so much FUN , is so CHEAP , and EASY TO BUILD , and SAIL , I would have thought there would be LOTS of them around.

Or are they just not pretty enough??

Ha!

Actually they are just too new in Australia. The American boats number have hit their first hundred after about a year - and it has accelerated hugely in the last couple of months. It seems every time I check pdracer.com the fleets page has a couple of new boats hitting 3D (which is when they can be registered). And some weeks there is another 10 boats when someone organises a hatch.

Basically the US boats are almost all self design efforts so vary quite a bit in efficiency - from ones that sail quite OK to ones that barely sail at all.

There is no set of plans for standard boats that work well - and that is where Midge and my efforts come in. I am most of the way through doing the drawings (written instructions still need to be done) and Midge is much of the way toward doing a website with all the information on the PD racer thread on the forum but a lot more detail (both text and pics) on how to do every bit.



Our OZ PDR (drawings are for a Mk2 version - cleaning up the building procedure and simplifying a couple of areas) works a lot better than all the ones we have heard about - they are less than half the weight of almost all the others and have the largest sail area - which is manageable because of the way we have set it up - nothing really innovative here just the good old Australian thing of having the lightest strongest boats in the world and sticking heaps of sail on them - it is our heritage.

Light weight is great for both performance and if a couple of kids want to use one they can lug it into and out of the water with no assistance.

But Midge and I are holding back a bit - as it is no point promoting the wee beastie until there are some plans that people can use.

BTW plans will be dirt cheap.

MIK

Okay... so letsee if I got this right... without wading through the 11 pages so far written... you have decided to make the plans available dirt cheep for the puddle ducky sail boat thingy right?... mmm so how long are these wee boats? looking at the pics Id say somewhere around 10 - 12ft right? and you want to have races?

now you do know Mik mate that this has been done before?... where you have gone wrong compared to those blokes is youve made the boat AND sail area WAY WAY TOO SMALL... I mean cant we extend that boat to say 18ft? not too hard eh? another sheet or two of ply and bobs yer uncle right? easy as! so okay now lets do something like this... make a bowsprit 21ft yes thats right 21ft long!... so now a spar of 42ft... a spinniker pole of 45ft... and an overall width of 71ft... AND weve got a race!! sailin into the wind we could hoist 1000 sq ft of sail before the wind we could hoist 2800 sq ft of sail... IMAGINE IT!!! man that would be SAILIN!!!... actually mate that was a boat called Britannia that raced in Sydney Harbor back in the early 1900s built by a bloke named wee George Robinson Britannia had a crew of 14 men and a boy!... remember all this mate on an 18fter!! :eek: WHAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! damn sometimes I just know I was born in the wrong era

Oh and another thing why hasnt anyone ever made a legion of hydrofoils and created the world championship hydrofoil sports race? mmmm?? Something like this...



Plans are as you say CHEEP... I do mean CHEEEP here as in Free cheep... oh buggar it the plans are here...

http://www.stevproj.com/TheSportfoilPlans.pdf

I love this site... no only do they have the sweetest wee ships at a CHEEP price (I mean 30USD for a 18ft or 20ft sailboat? THATS CHEEP!) and several other wee boats plans at a CHEEPER than CHEEP price they also have several other projects for that real CHEEP price of FREE!!! Gotta love that!

I reckon if we could work it a legion of those sportfoils AND a legion of 18ft skiffs ala Britannia would be the ducks flamin knuts eh Mik!!!

Originally Posted by Wild Dingo

Plans are as you say CHEEP... I do mean CHEEEP here as in Free cheep... oh buggar it the plans are here...

http://www.stevproj.com/TheSportfoilPlans.pdf

I love this site... no only do they have the sweetest wee ships at a CHEEP price (I mean 30USD for a 18ft or 20ft sailboat? THATS CHEEP!) and several other wee boats plans at a CHEEPER than CHEEP price they also have several other projects for that real CHEEP price of FREE!!! Gotta love that!

See! You should have been at the Bribie Island Regatta (I know it's a long way from WA, my wife comes from WA.) Anyway, there were two Stevenson Projects Weekenders and a modified Pocket Cruiser. Not bad either. Those who have 'em, love 'em. And Midge nearly made it with PDs. There'll be Bribie pictures on a web-site soon. I'll post a link when they're there. Next year they might include pictures of Ducks??