Met another Alexandrina Sailing Assoc member a few weeks ago on what may have been Eth'l's last sail under gaff ketch rig.
Ethel has/had some annoying vices.
Most hazardous - gargantuan turning circle - is fixed.
Biggest remaining niggle/s has been the time taken to rig / derig at the ramp. A full hour at each end of a sail.
Stays to tweak & tension, 3 halyards for main & jib, a bowsprit to fit (after first pushing her back 600mm or so on the trailer).
A small forest of lines along the foredeck, and 4 sheets to manage afloat plus the tiller.
Next big niggle - Excessive weather helm most of the time and too much sail area at greater than about 15-20km/h wind speed.
Hard to keep on course due to modest wind direction changes producing sudden BIG changes in helm pressure.
Simplicating her rig to stayless cat-ketch similar to George Holmes' original design has been one of those projects which isn't all that big but just gets picked away at, a bit here, a bit there, avoiding committing Serious Money.
Boom & spar scarfed & laminated up from 20mm sq Oregon in shorter lengths recovered and sawn from a neighbour's roof beams.
Mast an 80 x 2mm T6 aluminium flagpole (stiffer & bigger volume than recommended for OR & OG).
Mast step tube installed while I refurbished the deck.
In January I committed (for me) serious money & bought an OzRacer / OzGoose sail (RSS Sails).
Mik recommends Spectra cordage, but I went Vectran which specs nearly as strong but with a hard polyester mantle.
Vang is surplus off two TS16s ago.
Otherwise followed the rigging directions off Rigging details for the Oz Goose sailboat – and other lug rigged sailboats |
Took her out for a trial sail on Sunday 5/2/17. Very happy with results despite wind strengths 30-45km/h & 2nd reef from start to finish.
Less than 30 mins to rig, which included time putting in the 2 reefs and trialling different ways to rig & stow painter/tow-rope and anchor rope.
(previously there was no neat way to rig these & nowhere "spare" to terminate the anchor rope!)
22 mins to de-rig & secure. :)
On the water, a demanding bitch is now a docile pussy cat.
It was blowing a b****d so didn't take any on water pics or video.
Nicely balanced with main only with 2 reefs in, modest weather helm with mizzen engaged.
Tracking on phone shows average speed around 6.5 km/h upwind & downwind, peaking at 12.7 km/h with a small tsunami stern wave...
Didn't think to take pics on the hard before launch. Forgot to get video cam off fire helmet & fit to mast.
Attachment 407917
bending on the sail
Attachment 407918 Attachment 407920
mast & boom transport cradles formed from bendy ply around coffee tins and glued & screwed to supports which fit in mast steps.
Attachment 407929
Trial rig in back yard.
You can see how little sail is left at second reef, but that's all Eth'l needed & all I was happy with in the strong winds.
Congrats to MIK on a superbly adaptable sail & clear instructions on-line & in the OzRacer / OzGoose plans on how to make it perform on a variety of hulls.