Really, I didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. After a number of years harassing my friend Kevin about his eternal boat projects, I decided fair is fair. I’ll start building a boat so he could exact a bit of revenge. I figured I would be in the shop for six months, during which he could amuse himself with the occasional phone call asking "So, how’s that boat coming along?" Six months is a fairly small penance for all the abuse I’ve dished out over the years, right?
That was six years ago. I now have a stack of plywood with some interesting curves cut into it. Well crap.
To be fair, before starting a boat project, there is a bit of research that must be undertaken. Uhhh, okay lots of research, followed by a heroic measure of procrastination. But it wasn’t all wasted time. I did have to settle on a design and the best way to figure that out is to sail on a bunch of different boats and figure out what you like. So after a few seasons of paying close attention to what I like and dislike in particular boats, I came up with a list of criteria for my ideal boat.
First, it had to be easily trailerable. I'm a big believer in the maxim "the bigger the boat , the less often one uses it." Which leads to the second requirement; it must be easy to set up and sail single-handed. I'd also prefer a boat that doesn't require a motor to maneuver around docks or cover distance when the winds turns off. So my ideal boat would be light enough to either row or scull in flat conditions.
As a dinghy sailor, I prefer boat s that have nimble handling and require only a light touch on the tiller. There are a number of small sailboats out there that are really just scaled down versions of larger keel boats (yeah, West Wight Potter, I'm talking to you). To me, that is a "worst of both worlds" compromise. If a boat is small enough to row, it should also be shallow and agile enough to sail around in knee-deep water.
But even though I like the small boat feel, my ideal boat would be big enough for 3-4 people and their camping gear. As much as I like to sail alone, it's also nice to spend a relaxing couple days with friends out in the middle of nowhere without having to strap 50 pounds of crap to my back and humping down a trail.
Finally, I know that any boat I sail is eventually gonna end up in a race. It's just how I am. If I see another sailboat, I'm gonna sail over to her and see who's faster. It's an illness. So that being the case, I want a boat that can make a decent showing against other boats of similar size. So here's the boat I decided to build.
It's a Core Sound 20 by B&B Yacht Designs. Graham Byrnes is the designer (and also a hell of a sailor and really nice guy). The hull is best described as a Carolina-style sharpie hull. It's quite similar to a Lightning hull with a fairly sharp entry at the bow and a hard chine that runs into a wide, flat aft section. This type of hull is very easy to get up on plane which make it quite fast (I like fast) and the hard chines make a pretty stable.
The rig is a cat-ketch which is a bit unusual to anyone who is used to racing sloops. Graham has a nice description of the advantages of a cat-ketch at his website.
So there it is. I decided on this boat some time ago, and am now actually making some progress building it. So I will be posting my progress as well as any other sailing-related tidbits here, hopefully with some regularity. Check back and let me know if you have any feedback. Also, I'm happy to take pictures of any particular details of the construction process. Just let me know what you want and I'll try to get a good shot.
Oh yeah, her name is/will be "Goodfoot." There's a bit of a story there, but I save that for a later post.
No comments:
Post a Comment