Thread: ozracer

Hi Helliconia54,

Welcome to the forums. The whole Duck landscape is a bit confusing. I'll attempt to answer your questions.

MIKs plans available through Duck Flat are for the Oz Racer which is very similar to the PDRacer but does not conform to the 'international PDRacer" rules.

Without going into the nasty aspects, the PDRacer rules used to state that the measurement points of the official pdracer hull shape had a 1 inch tolerance. MIK designed the OZ PDR with an optimised hull shape based upon the allowable tolerances in the rules at the time. Some 50 of these hulls were built before Shorty (the PDR Hitler) realised that the OZ wasn't the exact same hull shape as on the PDRacer website (as it was taking advantage of the allowable tolerance at the time).

This caused a massive uproar on the now defunct mailing list, with Shorty revising the tolerances so the Oz PDR now falls outside of the allowable the legal hull shape. A lot of people left the class and moved towards the PDGoose class as they didn't agree with the revised PDRacer rules.

It would have been possible for MIK to revise his plans to incorporate the legal hull shape, but Shorty insisted it must be published in imperial measurements as described on the PDRacer website. This hull shape though does not produce a fair curve and MIK refused to compromise on best practice and release plans with an unfair rocker. Which is fair enough.

So basically MIK rebranded his plans as the OZ Racer.

I highly recommend the OZ Racer plans. They are detailed, well thought-out and you get access to a lot of ad-hoc advice for the $20 cost. I wouldn't be too worried about having a PDRacer.com rules compliant boat as the class is a little bit 'mickey mouse' anyway with no fleets in Australia. The Oz Racer is a more serious platform and takes it's linage and structural design from proven Australian racing classes. If you are interested in introducing a class to a sailing club, I think you would get more traction with the OZ Racer than you would with the PDRacer as most are constructed in the states.

If the Race Committee at your club is anything like the one at my club they won't be happy when you show up on the line with an OZRacer. Our RC can't officially start drinking beer until the last boat has finished and the OZ is painfully slow when they're thirsty. The 140 rating is Portsmouth Yardstick which is different than the handicap system used in Australia.

If you're starting from nothing you may want to consider the Goose. I'd think building a Goose racing fleet would be easier since the Goose is a little faster and should be a little easier to sail.

If you're wanting to build a boat for some serious one design racing the Sabre is very popular in your area.

Brad

Originally Posted by BradLH

If the Race Committee at your club is anything like the one at my club they won't be happy when you show up on the line with an OZRacer. Our RC can't officially start drinking beer until the last boat has finished and the OZ is painfully slow when they're thirsty. The 140 rating is Portsmouth Yardstick which is different than the handicap system used in Australia.

If you're starting from nothing you may want to consider the Goose. I'd think building a Goose racing fleet would be easier since the Goose is a little faster and should be a little easier to sail.

If you're wanting to build a boat for some serious one design racing the Sabre is very popular in your area.

Brad

Ah our club is very relaxed,lol They have a problem with new members's kids,,,Its way too expensive to buy a 1,000 odd yacht for someone who may not like it.My thought is to introduce a true budget boat that sails well enough to be taken seriously.
besides,,,i like the humble duck and want one anyway lol
One other thing,,,drinking starts as soon as any boat hits land.Bugger the rest lol

I would think the OZ would be as good a kids boat as the Optimist or Sabot, maybe better, and a lot less expensive. If you're looking for a cheap fun boat that kids and adults both can enjoy the OZ is a great choice.

Your mention of the yardstick rating made me think you were interested in racing

Brad

Originally Posted by HELLICONIA54

... Is the mark2(3?)...

(Not yet addressed in other responses)

The OzRacer plans available for sale are the Mark 2. MIK has also fooled around with a Mark 3 design that simplifies things further by using four identical longitudinal shapes for the hull sides and interior walls. With all the PDR turmoil described above, he has not developed the plan set fully but has provided the Mk3 details to those who have purchased the Mk2 plans and who are willing to incorporate the changes on their own.

I won the 2010 PDRacer World Championships in a MkIII version that I simply planed down the bottoms of the transoms until I had it *barely* within tolerance. I also won the 2009 PDR Canadian Championships in my MkII before all the kerfuffle over the rules and measurements. The plans are well worth the 20 bucks, and the foils and sailing rig will transfer over without any modifications to the PDGoose.
Its a boatbuilding course in a set of plans. Very detailed and very easy to follow. I built my MkII in ten days including the foils, spars and even the polytarp sail! Others have taken three years to build them. Depends on how fast you go, and how much time and detail you want to take. Even if you don't build the OzRacer, the plans are so detailed and have so much boatbuilding information in it, that you could transfer over to building any other plywood boat.

Rick.

Originally Posted by HELLICONIA54

I want to build a duck.I've been on the website,done as much reading on the subject as i can,and now I am totally confused.LOL
So,if tomorrow i were to order a set of plans,,,,what would i be getting? a Puddleduck? Ozpdracer? or an Ozracer? and what is the difference? Is the mark2(3?)Still a puddle duck and does it conform to international rules?Wikipeadia gives the pdracer a 140 yardstick.Would this apply to the Ozracer i build? Yeah i know,,,lots of questions.I want to introduce the puddle duck to the Cairncurran sailing club i've joined.

Howdy Helliconia,

Sorry about the slow reply - my computer broke and I've just got a new one and got it working.

The yardsticks are set by boats participating in regattas.

In the early days of the PDRs a couple of boats attended regattas. However I believe they were the early models before a great deal of improvement and development.

The Oz was a catalyst towards the PDR people taking the PDRs performance seriously. And remember that most people starting to sail them had never sailed in their lives before - which was one of the great attractions of the concept to me.

Before that - all were not aware of just how well it could sail if set up properly. That included me - but the Biting Midge and I wanted to ask the question - "Could the boats sail really well if a modern detailed approach was taken".

The answer of course is YES. I am very sure an Oz derived boat (Brad above used the plans to make a completely legal PDR - with the compromises that I find not acceptable) goes much, much better than the 140 yardstick.

In the right conditions, in wooden/classic boat type racing, I've found the Duck is quite quick upwind - a measure of the big enough and efficient centreboard and mast/sail interaction and can beat many larger boats if they are not optimised well. Downwind it is very restricted in speed compared to the longer boats but in conditions where their speed is fluctuating up and down wildly the Duck just ploughs along jammed against its waterlength "red line" - a high average speed for its length.

The way clubs handle yardsticks is that they move them around for club handicap purposes - so, for example there will be fast and slow Optimists and they will adjust the handicaps to give all sailors some chance on handicap.

So the 140 will be a starting point only - and you will find they they will adjust the handicap up and down to adjust for both the ability of the boat and YOU!

The nice thing is that it will finally help set up a valid yardstick for the boat - particularly if you decide to attend some of the major regattas. But you would need to be sailing well!

Best wishes
Michael

Originally Posted by davlafont

(Not yet addressed in other responses)

The OzRacer plans available for sale are the Mark 2. MIK has also fooled around with a Mark 3 design that simplifies things further by using four identical longitudinal shapes for the hull sides and interior walls. With all the PDR turmoil described above, he has not developed the plan set fully but has provided the Mk3 details to those who have purchased the Mk2 plans and who are willing to incorporate the changes on their own.

The big advantage of the Mk3 is that it has two mast positions designed in. One for adults and one for kids.

Because of the PDR kerfuffel I stopped developing it.

There is kindof a strange situation now, in that if I finish of the Mk3 then I have to have some rationale that associates the Mk2 and Mk3 - in effect a set of rules.

They would probably be something like the PD Goose rules I worked out with Andrew Linn.

PDGoose

Basically the rules work by setting minimums and maximums to restrict the potential speed of the boat by preventing people going to extremes with boats that are less and less useful. Four measurements and it is done.

Best wishes
Michael

So,now we are nolonger a part of the global PD crowd,,,what about hull/sail numbers?
When going 3D do i send a photo to? and then what? It is really not that important but,,,I guess having a "number" on my hull would be nice

I don't think registering your boat and getting a number will be a problem.

Originally Posted by BradLH

I don't think registering your boat and getting a number will be a problem.

Not sure if non-class-legal hulls can still be officially registered. From pdracer.com:

How To Request A Hull Number
When your class legal hull goes 3D (meaning that the bottom is attached to the sides), please email me direct at: [email protected] to request a hull number and send the following information that you would like to have published on the fleets page.

I had read the yardstick for the puddleduck in wikipeadea.At least i can give ourjudges something to work with.Racing? well each weekend they hold races but many go out for a sail.Racing if for the serious saliors amongst us.

Originally Posted by BradLH

I don't think registering your boat and getting a number will be a problem.

Registration is open. As long as it looks like a Duck ...

The idea is that there are only a couple of official events a year, and there is the chance any boat will be challenged as to legality.

If a boat is measured and found not to comply then it can still sail - but not be included in the PDR results for the event. There might be other results for the fleet overall.

The idea is that though the rules define a PDR that the attitude should be one of welcome and nobody should be turned away from any event.

Best wishes
Michael

Our club sails Flyingfifteens, an FD, a few hobiecats,a lazer or two and a couple of 20ft trailer sailers,chuck in the occasional impulse lol.You can see we have a mixed bag.Racing is for fun.As long as i beat the Boomerang 20 i don't mind lol