GIS Build in Queenstown New Zealand
Hello everyone, I am just getting started with my build in Queenstown New Zealand. Have the plywood and most of the timber and epoxy arrives next week so I can start making some dust next weekend. We live 5 mins from a 85km long alpine lake so the GIS will be ideal for rigging quickly and going for a blast, but it can blow like hell here so I am looking for some ways to set up the boat to cope when conditions get interesting and we're a way from home. I've done a lot of open coast multi-day sea kayak cruising so some of my ideas come from that perspective.
Ideas I'm working on:
- Extend the middle seat all the way to the front of the centreboard case. Cut a slot in the front part of the seat so the centreboard still goes in. Leave bulkhead three solid and add a bulkhead (from now on called BH2.5) at the front of the centreboard case so the middle seat is all boxed in. Add flush/waterproof seakayak style hatches to the top of the seat either side of the centreboard. Make BH2.5, BH3 and BH4 out of 4mm ply to minimise weight gain. If I calculated right this will gain about 200 litres of extra buoyancy and gear storage for camp cruising.
- Make bulkheads 1 and 2 perhaps 5cm higher, add a lipped rim that goes across the rear of the front buoyancy tank, along the sides of the boat then across the front of the enlarged middle seat. Cover this area with a pvc or neoprene spraydeck with an rim of bungee cord to hold it on.
- Make a box section boom and set up the reefing system a la the one shown in the Dinghy Cruising Association website (DCA - A Reefing Refinement)
- Set up the halyard so I can drop the sail before I let go of the tiller extension.
- Have a ready to deploy sea anchor/parachute system set up - Reefing in a blow will consist of putting the boat into the wind, dropping the main/chucking out the sea anchor, tying in a reef, pulling up and tensioning the main, grab the tiller, sea anchor trip line and main sheet and off we go again...
All of this should only add a kilo or two. Without the sprayskirt in place you'd only know the boat had been modified if you had another one alongside, but it should make a capsize much quicker and easier to recover from. The whole front of the boat will be unfloodable buoyancy, any water will be in the rear section and quicker to get out. I'll consider adding drainage tubes a la Watermaat's idea, https://www.woodworkforums.com/f169/g...ainage-107076/ , but will probably leave for now and retrofit if some capsize testing and/or some feedback from Watermaat make it seem like a good idea.
One question before I start cutting: I mentioned raising the front buoyancy tank top a little , aim is to make sure that the front spraydeck has a slope to the rear so it sheds water. Can anyone tell me what the relative heights of the front buoyancy tank and the middle seat are - are they the same height as designed, or is the front tank top already a little higher when the boat is sitting level?
Many thanks for feedback on any or all of this, I'll post a picture of what I have in mind with the front spraydeck as soon as I can scan it in.
Ian
Carbon mast and yard for GIS
Hi Mik and Joost, thanks for the feedback. I agree with all you are saying, don't worry I'm going to be quite conservative with any changes and use of the boat. Agree absolutely about the usefullness of a second person in the boat though sometimes my crew will be inexperienced, so I'm keen to have systems for haylard, downhall and reefing I can manage myself if necessary. There's some good information on the how reefing lugsail and lug rig heaven threads - thanks. Will be reefing and or deciding what conditions I'll go out in depending on experience and usefullness of crew as ballast.
Thoughts on construction mods are to only extend the middle seat (amount to be determined), and box it in to add buoyancy. Hopefully Watermaat will get his boat finished and can give me some feedback on the changes he has made.
Good information on the usefullness of a third reefing point and the added stability of a light mast. I was just looking at the price of a carbon mast Moth mast 1.3mm Standard modulus - Moth - Class Products - C Tech Ltd and it didn't seem as bad as I might have thought, especially when I factor in the price of spar oregon/epoxy needed and time to build - Mik can you give me an idea of the section specs I would need for a carbon mast, would the Moth mast section, 50mm ID/1.3 wall at the base, top section tapered be about right? I think Keyhavenpotter had carbon spars on a lug rig, perhaps he has the specs for his. C-Tech are the people who made the carbon tubes for my folding sea kayak frame, they're quite happy to vary the layup as necessary. Add a carbon yard and there'd be a big reduction in weight aloft. When you think about it, even with the hollow wooden mast, at least 20% of the boats weight is in the bits sticking up in the air to make it go.
Looking forward to some feedback once our Dutch friends get a couple of boats on the water alongside each other.
Thanks, Ian