Beginner Sails Beth

Thanks very much to Mik Storer. The $100 I spent on the plans for Beth must be the best value I've got from anything for a long while.

I don't know how to post videos, but here are links to two videos of my maiden voyage on Sunday.

'Watch out for the rocks." Amazingly, the boat was hardly damaged.
https://www.facebook.com/tim.stammer...5740745670990/


10 minutes earlier, when I "That was graceful."
https://www.facebook.com/tim.stammer...5740737805990/

The rest of this post is for any other beginner thinking of building a Beth.


This is the first boat I've ever built. It was a lot more work than I expected, but I really enjoyed it. The instructions are superb - very clear, and every step is covered. I only had very basic carpentry skills before this, so I ended up learning a fair bit (eg how to use a hand plane), but it was all very do-able. No prior knowledge required.


I'm sure there are slightly simpler and quicker boats to build. But Beth is actually a very simple design (square section, slab sides), and it comes out looking beautiful. That's not just me thinking that. I got loads of compliments. Mik should be very proud.


I don't know long it will take me to learn how to sail it. The only other boat I've sailed is a Sunfish, and I only learnt how to sail that over the last two summers.

The two videos are from the only time I've taken Beth out, so far. There was about a 12mph wind. In a Sunfish, that would be no problem for me at all. In the Beth, I was wobbling and nervous. Right at the start, I practice-capsized, because I've read that it can be hard to get back in to a Beth, because it rolls. But it was fine. I got back in no problem.

Then I capsized it again, and second time around it wasn't so easy to get back in. I also realized I'd bent a rudder bracket on the rocks, so I gave up for for the day. Total sailing time: about 10 minutes.

Next weekend I'll reef the sails, and take my time learning how to sail it. (And listen to warnings about rocks.)

If you do build one, have a look at Andy Kane's build thread for his Borealis Beth. Loads of useful pictures and notes. Also Robert Hoffman's YuanFen Beth. Both on this forum. Thanks to Andy and Robert, and all the other internet posters everywhere for tips and instructions. And Duckworks boat building supplies in the USA.

Now I want to build a Goat Island Skiff.

Make your fillets big - use Mik's formula to calculate the radius. They will come out much larger than other people seem to make them. I'm saying this because I saw a a picture somewhere on this forum (sorry, I don't know where) of a fillet on a Beth that had cracked, because it was too small.