Wooden Boat Plans And Kits | Port Nich Regatta 1st 2nd 3rd 4th

Wooden Boat Plans And Kits

Blink hasnt done so well recently around the cans.  Firstly theres quite a lot of boat to get right for a relatively inexperienced crew, and things typically happen pretty quickly.    Secondly, she is fabulously responsive to the right sails and trim, but with wrong sails up or not properly set up the performance hit is significant.

Wed also lost all of our regular trimmers in recent weeks and found replacements at short notice.  Plus there was some serious competition for line honours as well as handicap results: Wedgetail (Welbourne 42), St Laurence (trimaran), Crusader (Elliot 35ss), Revs (Ross 40), Satellite Spy (Ross 40) ... and some properly good sailors distributed through the rest of the Div A fleet.  So I went into this regatta not expecting too much...  a chance for some intensive boat handling practice, in mostly short windward-leeward races, and lets see how much we improve as the regatta progresses.

I was surprised on both counts.  We had Pete Geary (from Hall Spars) join us from Auckland and he taught us in the first race that the slightly higher upwind mode that wed been trying still wasnt high enough.  So we reset out targets to his suggestions and suddenly were pretty good upwind, able to hold and sometimes even climb off the benchmark Wedgetail.

The other great thing that happened was our crew have started getting most of our short-course boat handling right.  The team has started to click and we are able now to start thinking outside the boat a bit.  Of course we had plenty stuff-ups, a couple of the larger ones probably cost us the regatta (no doubt other contenders could say the same) but the improvement was noticeable.

There were some epic moments, especially during the windiest day (Saturday)

Eventually, we far surpassed expectations.  1st overall on line, second overall on PHRF, 3rd overall on IRC, 4th overall on club handicap.  Not bad at all against good competition.

Thanks to the Blink crew, for a most enjoyable regatta, ditto for the regatta organisers, race officer Paulie and the on-water regatta support.  Big thank you to Pete G for contributing to our big step up in performance.

Results here:
http://www.rpnyc.org.nz/club/regattas/port-nicholson-regatta/results

Heres a mashup of some video clips from someone kind and enthused enough to spend hours standing with a camera and tripod in roaring wind on Satuday, and much less action on Sunday.  

Photos from Chis Coad (link here)

And some from LiveSailDie 

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Yacht Boat Plans | Ski Yachting Christmas Regatta in Nice France

Yacht Boat Plans

 

The classic S-Y has a long history in Nice, France. So long that I remember at the age of fifteen participating in it with my twelve years old brother. Sailing on an old wooden Lippincott Star boat which had seen better days, including I believe a second place in the 1946 Worlds Championship in Havana, Cuba.

The regatta attracted in the winter crews from behind the Iron Curtain from the USSR, Romania, Bulgaria and naturally the cream of French, Italian and Switzerland.

Of course, the two of us had absolutely no chance against the best in a very competitive Class.

But, by extreme luck and with totally upside down sea and wind conditions, my brother and I found ourselves ahead of the fleet at the weather mark. It was not long before the Stars passed us slowly one by one, their crew standing up and applauding as they went by. Well, this was the best and the end of it, or almost.

A little side story: like I said, many boats came from the Eastern block, behind the Iron curtain. Their crew, with the escort of "commissars". One time, I went to the locker room to find to my surprise one of the crew lined up in front of their commissar. You know, Yacht Club gives small gifts, like ash trays, pens, pennants, tee shirts etc. to the visiting guests. I was dumfounded when I was actually witnessing the commissar confiscating all the items right from the sailors hands just before going home along with the trophees.

Do not talk to me about Communism. Scary as hell.

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Small Boat Plans And Kits | Admirals Regatta Pics!

Small Boat Plans And Kits

Admirals Regatta made a welcome return to the calendar in 2014. 

More details at www.hbyc.co.za

See the full album at Admirals 2014 Pics on Picasa

A few samples:

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Wooden Boat Plans Australia | Argie 15

Wooden Boat Plans Australia

I have always admired the Argie 15 - its absolutely beautiful to look at, besides being very versatile and practical. However it wasnt until my friend Nick decided to build one that it really struck me what an amazing boat this is. On first sight - it seemed a lot larger than I had expected and far more beautiful as well. It is after all a hard-chine stitch and glue boat. It has very traditional lines - and the spacious cockpit and high gunwales give it all the sea-cred of a commercial lobster boat. Ample seating and storage - all with a very robust look about it. It looks like more than a dinghy - it really shouts day-sailer or camp-cruiser.....

Short Video Clip of the maiden voyage.

Then come the surprising bits! This boat is amazingly light! Despite its ample size, the 15 hull weighs only 60 Kgs (light weight), compared with say a Sonnet (143) at 70 kgs. The Argie 15 is a much more substantial hull than the Sonnet and also more robust - thanks to its frameless stitch-and-glue construction. The other surprising part is how fast it is! Well I suppose it shouldnt be that surprising as it has a powerful rig, good waterline length, a flattish planing stern and low mass..... another example of Dudleys ability to put modern thinking in a traditional package. Admittedly it can never be a high-performance skiff like the Paper Jet - for that it would need suitable sides for hiking out, trapeze, and an open transom. But in moderate conditions it will surprise many other contemporary dinghies, and in skilled hands it can reach amazing speeds.

Spacious hull and sailing cockpit.
This example has the side bunk-seats fitted, and the daggerboard option

Versatility is excellent. Its a great sailboat, a comfortable boat to row or motor, and a great picnic boat with its ample and high seating. It moves very easily under a 4Hp auxiliary no matter how laden.

The example shown above has the side seat option - which were added later to the design to make for comfortable sailing. Without the side-seats, the floor below can be covered with a slatted cockpit sole which offers plenty of space for sleeping and camp-cruising. Plenty of stowage in the bow too.

Lovely sharp bow, a bit like a fishing "Panga"!
Seakindly and smooth. Hull works well whilst level or inclined.
The high, flared bow with overlapping gunwales makes it a nice dry boat in a chop.

The Argie boats were originally commissioned by our local newspaper - the Cape Argus. The first one was built by David Biggs - a very well known reporter and columnist on the staff. A man with a well known propensity for good wine, the outdoors, classic motorbikes (and scooters) and good humour! Somehow the brands seem very compatible! 

This was not unlike the case of the Mirror dinghy, conceived by the Daily Mirror in the UK in the early 1960s. Although the orginal Mirror Dinghy is significantly smaller than the Argie 15, the boats share a number of similarities - both are uncomplicated traditional boats intended for home-building in plywood. Both offer the option to store the entire mast within the hull whilst trailering. Both are very easily built using stitch and glue construction - in fact the Mirror was the pioneering design of this method for sailing dinghies  as I recall. The Argie 15 is a much more capable boat in every way and far better looking, although the Mirror dinghy class is by now one of the largest in the world now and has a very active racing fleet. Both have been extraordinarily successful concepts. I suspect the Argie would be easier to build in fact despite its larger size, and Roy (of CKD Boats) tells me it is in fact quite a bit cheaper too. CKD Boats do a very good and affordable kit in Cape Town, although many other suppliers are listed on www.dixdesign.com.  

Dudley has full details of the design on his website here.

There is a decent skeg running back to the transom which adds strength,
aids tracking, and makes it easy to beach the hull.
There are two additional runners abeam the skeg which serve the same purposes,
but in addition will allow the boat to sit level on a beach without rocking.
Important for a camp-cruiser!

Transom is fairly high, with space and provision for a small outboard next to the rudder.
Hull is amazingly light and easy to lift on/off a small trailer.

Stability is quite acceptable!
(before someone asks about PFDs this was next to the shore!)

For myself - this will be my next dinghy when time allows. I have already acquired the rig and a small outboard! 

STOP PRESS: Dudley has just now (8 June 2014) added a great article on the Argie 15 on his blog. This contains a fair bit of the history of this boat.



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