Thread: Building a OzRacerRV and has a lot of Qs

Remember the sail reefs for the kids too while they get used to the boat. Always make sure the wind is onshore too until they start to be comfortable sailing in all directions in all reasonable wind strengths.

It does really look super!

MIK

Originally Posted by Boatmik

wish you could sail one Kev ...

They are so much more fun and so much more capable than the shape would expect you to believe ... it is really hard to knock people's grins off their faces.

Even super experienced racing types!

MIK

Are you trying to tempt me Michael ? And I haven't even got the Eureka in the water yet.

How much are the plans ?
No! I'm not going to build one.

Well not yet.

Cheers, Kev.

I think it's done. I sailed it around the lake yesterday. I denitely need some refresher lesson on sailing. Got hit by a boom a couple of times and ran into people's docks. Luckily no damage to my head and boat, just my pride. Any recommendation on books or dvd on sailing?

If you don't mind, please take a look at my rigging setup. I tried to follow GIS and OZ Racer set up but little confused about traveler and etc... Is traveler block should be tied to the middle of line or free to move?

Is the position (height) of the mast cleat looks ok? Too high or too low?

Thank you so much in advance.

Ha ha .. I too have been reading the OzRacer plans to try and understand the sail setup. I have even consulted the GIS plans. But they are still a bit of mystery to me as well. I think some of the GIS tuning posts on these forums would help, but the lingo is beyond me. I am basically waiting to finish my sail before I really start to comprehend everything.

As for learning to sail, why not start with something like Sailing for Dummies? I have Start to Win by Eric Twiname. I think Mik recommended that some time ago. I have found that a good read so far but I need to finish my boat before I'll get the most out of it.

Grats on finishing your boat. I hope you get the hang of it soon.

CONGRATULATIONS Pharmer !!!!!

Concerning your questions: my first impression seeing your pics is the whole sail plan looks a bit too far forward. Too much sail area in front of the mast. Just my impression though, from looking at your photos. If it were my boat, I would move the point where the yard connects to the halyard/mast A LOT forward, on the yard length.

The traveller block should be free to move. Unless OzRacer RV is a special set up, I don't have access to the plans right now...

Your head being hit by the boom is a good thing, I learned from the experts. If the sound of the hitting starts to become hollow, you're on your way to become an empty minded (zen) boating expert yourself

Congrats again and wishing you loads of sailing fun after this beautiful building adventure! Thanks for sharing.

Bert

Theodor, I know. I couldn't find any good detail info on rigging even in AlexN's posting. Thanks for your book suggestions. I'll try that. I'm also considering taking a refresher course on basic sailing at a local college.

Verbertus, that is so funny. I laughed so hard my head was hurting. Or was it from a boom injury??? Thanks for your suggestions on rigging. I want to clarify the direction of sail. Is it option A or B? If I understand you correctly, I would need to move sail to A direction, right? So I'll end up with less sail on B side. Thank you.

Attachment 220364

Originally Posted by Pharmer

I understand you correctly, I would need to move sail to A direction, right? So I'll end up with less sail on B side.

Correct. One side-effect is that the boom will end up a little higher as a result.

MIK's guidance for the Lug has been to start with the halyard attached at about 40% the yard's distance from the front. But the exact location will vary from boat to boat. With time and strong enough winds, you should be able to tell if the boat wants to turn into the wind (weather helm) or if it wants to turn away from the wind (lee helm, which is not recommended for novices). Right now, it would come as no surprise if you experience lee helm with the sail in its current position. The goal is to be neutral in mild winds, which will minimize how much rudder you need to maintain a course.

Here's a decent starter text:
Sailing: The Basics: The Book That Has Launched Thousands by Dave Franzel
Permalink: Amazon.com: Sailing: The Basics: The Book That Has Launched Thousands (9781585748075): Dave Franzel: Books

Hi Chaps you are definitely in the right place.

I will move this rigging info for the OzRacer lug to a separate thread once you know it is happening.

Thanks for putting the photos up ... they are a great help in working out what to do. Almost all of them will give you more space. And if the halyard point moves to somewhere between the 40 percent from the front of the yard to 50% back that will help.

You need a clear initial position for the sail. There's a lot of value in rigging the boat in the back yard and working out the positions without the pressure of having to go sailing.

And the neighbours will get excited too!

This is Alex's boat on the first sail. The sail is much further back.



You can see the sail position looks similar to the line drawing in the plans.

Also the corner lashings are done like the right side of this picture to keep the corner close to the yard and boom.



It will get rid of this gap.



The general Goat Island skiff setup page has a bunch of photos that will help setup.
Goat Island Skiff (GIS) - systems for lug sails and rigs - Michael Storer Wooden Boat Plans

With the goat too we had this slow and nice process of everyone starting to get the rigs more consistently set up.

There might be another problem ... this photo is ambiguous.



I can't tell which is the front - so this is just to check ... but the halyard ties to the FRONT of the yard. Not the back.

This photo off the Goat Island Skiff page might help diagnose.



Please write any questions you like here and we will work through them until you have the rig looking really nice. I think most of the things to be done will also give you more space under the boom.

Also - there is a different mainsheet setup in the OzRacer setup from what you have.



First ... the block on the traveller is in the wrong direction giving you a twist near the transom. If you put a shackle on the block and then put the traveller through the shackle it will get rid of that twist.

With the mainsheet coming forward on the boom in the current way you won't be able to steer with the tiller extension - I think you have found that already

The tiller extension is the main way of steering and becomes second nature after three or four sails. But you can't use at the moment.

This is the normal setup ... all the mainsheet is at the back of the boat. There is a difference between the sprit setup in the photo and yours. That is that for the lug - the pulley/block is free to slide on the traveller - like on the goat page.

But the difference is with the OzRacer the mainsheet all stays at the transom ... it doesn't come forward on the boom like the goat.



Then through the block on the boom and then finally through the block on the traveller again. The front of the boat is behind the camera. So you can see the final direction of the mainsheet



Another shot of the mainsheet just through the traveller block.



Then the figure of 8 knot in the end so it doesn't pull out.



Go through this list to check and then take some more pictures. If it is Ok you will have a lot more space under the boom, the boat will sail much better AND then we can talk about some of the tweaks the Goats are developing for the lug rig to make it easier to rig, easier to use and FASTER!!

Again .. your photos are perfect - you have an instinct that there are problems in particular areas and they are well identified!

Best wishes
Michael

Originally Posted by Boatmik

Another shot of the mainsheet just through the traveller block.

Now I get really confused too. From my GIS plans I have tried to figure out whatever the traveller block should be tied so it stays in the middle or not. From this picture it looks like it is tied, but verbertus says it should move freely to the sides.

So which block should be tied (if anything should be tied at all) to the middle: The traveller block aft or the ratcheting block for sheeting in the middle?

HI Engblom,

This is information for the OzRacer lug rig. Don't get confused with the photos above.

The ones you need for the Goat are on this page.
Goat Island Skiff (GIS) - systems for lug sails and rigs - Michael Storer Wooden Boat Plans

The Ozracer has two choices for rig. The sprit boom rig (triangular sail) has the block tied into the middle of the traveller so it stays central.

With the Goat lug and the pdracer lug the travellers are free to move from side to side ... they run on the traveller freely. The rear is a true traveller with the block able to slide from side to side. The forward one is a bridle with the block tied in the centre.

But the mainsheet systems of the boats are different.

This is the Goat mainsheet in purple



This is the OzRacer/PDRacer mainsheet.



MIK

Thank you so much for all the feedbacks and suggestions.

Attaching Sail to Spars
I redid corner lashing. Please take a look at the new photos. It really gave me more head rooms by moving sail to rear but I noticed that sail shape didn't look right. Too lose on back side. Perhaps, I over tighten sail?
Attachment 220799

Traveller and Mainsheet
I am still not too clear on how to set up a mainsheet for lug rig sail. I draw up a diagram based on previous postings and recommendations. With Lug rig option, block moves freely across traveller rope, right? Let me know if this is correct or not.

Attachment 220796

Direction of spars.
I am not sure which way the wide spars should go. One side of boom and yard are narrower than the other side. Narrower side to back or front??? Or does it matter?
Attachment 220797

Halyard
Does this set up look right? Halyard is tied to front end of yard and passes through block.
Attachment 220798

Originally Posted by Pharmer

Direction of spars.
I am not sure which way the wide spars should go. One side of boom and yard are narrower than the other side. Narrower side to back or front??? Or does it matter?
Attachment 220797

Your drawing has it correct. The thickest parts are closest to the mast. It's probably just for looks, but one could argue that the thinner sections out at the tips could allow for some flex under heavy gusts.

Halyard
Does this set up look right? Halyard is tied to front end of yard and passes through block.
Attachment 220798

Your text says you've tied it to the front of the yard, i.e. the throat, or the lowest end of the yard. That is correct. But this picture shows the corner reinforcement patches which would be at the throat, yet the halyard isn't coming from that direction. The previous pic of the whole boat reveals that the halyard is tied up at the peak. The block should be aft of the mast and the halyard should be coming from forward of the mast.

I agree with Dave that it appears that you have the halyard attached to the peak of the yard instead of the front, ie. the lower (thicker) end of the yard which also faces forward.

Just one other thing, you don't need the block attached to the yard. Remove it and pass the halyard through the rope loop instead. (Block is not needed there as the halyard is immovable at that point) However, you could use the block at the eye (U-bolt) at the top of the mast as that will make it much easier to haul up the sail.

Originally Posted by Pharmer

Traveller and Mainsheet
I am still not too clear on how to set up a mainsheet for lug rig sail. I draw up a diagram based on previous postings and recommendations. With Lug rig option, block moves freely across traveller rope, right? Let me know if this is correct or not.

My only comment is that if you drew the picture with the end of the boom farther aft, you'd route the sheet in the opposite direction on the boom block. But you've correctly captured the advice given previously.