Boat Plans Nz | Cape to Rio Race Starts Tomorrow

Boat Plans Nz

It has been a long slog to get here and, strange as it may seem, even now I am not sure where "here" is. We need to be on the start line in Table Bay at 14h00 South African Time (UTC+2) and have been working toward that goal for a year. Now that we are almost there time-wise, we have had all sorts of issues popping up to try to trip us and prevent our participation. Each time that we side-step an issue, another appears in its place.

These are not problems that are directly related to the boat, neither are they related to most of the crew. I cant say what they are but they have been a major distraction in our preparations, detouring our efforts and moving our focus from much needed work into stuff that really should not be on our minds at this stage of preparations. These issues sap energy and drain enthusiasm. It takes effort to maintain optimism, which is normally self-fortifying.

We expect to be on the start line tomorrow and will be deeply disappointed if we should be prevented from going. Only time will tell whether or not we will be there. Watch for the yellow boat if you are able to watch it live, or maybe recorded live (whatever that means).

From here on I will not be posting on this blog live until after the race is over and I return to USA. I will be sending email updates to my wife, Dehlia. She will be posting on the blog but it will probably be without photos. Our Internet connections via satellite phone will be too slow to transfer photo files. If we have something really special to show then we may make an exception.

So please follow us via the tracking link on the race website at http://cape2rio2014.com. This is not a clickable link, so please copy and paste into your browsers address window.

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Canoe Boat Plans | Black Cat in the Governors Cup Race

Canoe Boat Plans

In my last post I wrote about how well the Didi 38 "Black Cat" was faring in the Governors Cup Race to the South Atlantic island of St Helena. I am writing this post based on information that I have read on the official web sites of the race and False Bay Yacht Club.

They were going like a train in showing the way to all of the monohulls. Then they sailed into a hole in the otherwise good tradewind sailing breezes. This was created by a rather odd shape to the South Atlantic high, as an elongated sausage running east/west and in two parallel bands of calm not far apart.

Skipper Dave (Wavy) Immelman was kicking himself for having missed a crucial weather download that may have helped him evade the holes. They sailed slowly through the first calm then the winds started to pick up and they thought they were through, only to be trapped by the second calm.

"Black Cat" rounding the Cape of Good Hope en-route to St Helena.

We watched in dismay as the Vickers 41 "Avanti" sailed a big arc that took her right around the hole in which "Black Cat" languished, at pretty much twice the speed. We despaired for the chances of "Black Cat" even catching "Avanti" before the finish line, let alone getting far enough ahead to beat her on handicap. In the end "Avanti" crossed the finish line about 7 hours 10 minutes ahead of "Black Cat".

I went to bed last night feeling sad that the hard sailing done by Wavy and his crew for so much of the race was thwarted by the fickle winds. I woke this morning to the news that the skipper of "Avanti" declared some time after finishing that they had motored and were dropping down to the cruising division. That leaves "Black Cat" as the likely winner of the racing division, with only "Iechyd Da" with a very distant chance of beating her on handicap.

Congratulations to Wavy and crew. You sailed an honest and honourable race. You didnt deserve the heartache that came from watching your opposition apparently sailing right around you when they had actually motored into a more favourable position.

This brings up two questions that need clarification.

1. Why did "Avanti" wait until after the finish of the race to declare that they motored? They should have done so immediately that the motor was started. That action disqualified them from the racing division. They didnt declare at the time that they were dropping to the cruising division, so can they be considered to have been racing in that division? None of the other cruisers knew that they were racing against "Avanti" so they couldnt take her into consideration in their tactical decisions. The knowledge may not have had any effect but it should have been open knowledge throughout the fleet within hours of "Avanti" starting her motor.
2. What is the sense of allowing boats to change their racing division on the water? It may have seemed a good idea at the time that the rules were written but has created a very unfair situation on the water, unfair to those boats that were in the cruising division at the start of the race. The entry list shows 9 boats in the racing division and 4 in cruising. As the race has progressed and the boats ran out of wind, racing boats have chosen to motor and change from racing to cruising division. The leading boat in cruising division changed class after finishing and the 2nd boat changed very late in the race. The whole balance of the event has changed, with the original 9 racers reduced to 3 and the original 4 cruisers swelled to 10 boats. Three of those 4 cruisers have retired and "Tallulah" should get the trophy. Instead she is lying 3rd, with "Avanti" and "Strumpet" having jumped in ahead of her. Maybe the rules of the race have not been broken but I dont agree that this is the right way to do it, in the interests of fairness to all on the water.

OK, I am getting off my soapbox now.Once again, congratulations to Wavy and crew on sticking it out in racing division when it looked like you had been beaten but could have had a clear win in the cruising division by simply starting your motor and changing classes.

See more about the Didi 38 and our other designs on our website at http://dixdesign.com/.



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Canoe Boat Plans | Photos for 2014 Calendar

Canoe Boat Plans

I am starting work on our 2014 calendar and I am still looking for a few more photos to complete the 12 months plus cover that I need. If you have any nice  photos of your boat of our design that you would like to be featured in this edition, please send them to me. The boat doesnt have to be sailing or even in the water yet. If the photo is clear and interesting then we might use it. It also needs to be at least 300dpi resolution, preferably more.

Cover from 2013 Calendar, with Italian Dix 38 "Imagine".

August photo, Challenger 13 in Lithuania.

Boat size is not important, as long as the photo is interesting and high quality. We even have our smallest design, the Dixi Dinghy in the 2013 calendar in a photo that caught my attention.

To see our range of boat designs, please go to http://dixdesign.com/ .

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Pontoon Boat Plans Aluminum | ROLEX MIDDLE SEA RACE OFFICIAL VIDEO AND SOME MORE

Pontoon Boat Plans Aluminum

A pity they show so little footage from the bad weather part: they wanted to make a balanced movie with all parts of the race but it is a pity the movie to be so small. Certainly they have much more footage from the stormy part. What they show is just great ;-)

And another one taken by one of the fastest boats on the race (it appears also on the official video) the cookson 50 Cantankerous they were only 22th on IRC but this year big boats had no luck because they get much more light wind and less strong wind than the smaller boats. Anyway to give it a measure of their speed, that can be seen on the movie, they were among the first boats to arrive only beaten by the Maxi Esimit, the Mini maxi Shockwave and Ran and narrowly by the 60ft Wild Joe but they beat the B2  (a very fast TP 52), the VOR 70, three VOR 60, an Open 60, a Swan 82 and a 60.

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Boat Plans Uk | Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race 2014

Boat Plans Uk

The Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race is held annually, with schooners of all types and sizes racing each other from the Bay Bridge North of Annapolis to the southern end of Chesapeake Bay. Starting at 13h30 on Thursday 16th October, this is the 25th running of the annual race, which was started by the late Capt. Laine Briggs.This is really two parties, one in Baltimore, Maryland, the other in Portsmouth, Virginia, linked by a yacht race.

I have sailed in this race twice before, on steel boats that I had designed. In 2004 it was on the 60ft gaff schooner "Ancilla II", then owned by Renny Barnes. About 5 or 6 years later I did it on the  Hout Bay 40 "Adventure" that was owned by Charley Holmes.

This year I will sail with Dan Hall on his GRP staysail schooner-rigged Shearwater 45 "Apella". She was built in Cape Town by Patrick Fraser. Patrick commissioned the Shearwater 45 design and built two of them, one for himself and the other for his colleague Denis Colclough. The one that we will sail was the boat owned by Denis and was originally named "Wave Maiden".

"Apella", snapped by solo-circumnavigator Ant Steward at a recent
chance meeting when leaving Newport RI.

The Shearwater 45 has a modern underbody below her classic good looks. It allows these boats to show surprising speed under most wind conditions.

The two schooners were both fitted out with very distinctive colours and detailing, styled after the very luxurious private Pullman carriages that were used by wealthy families to travel on the railroads of North America.

Sistership "Moonbeam" out of the water, showing underbody.

Gorgeous interior of "Apella", looking aft

Looking forward.

The cutter-rigged version of this design won two boat of the year awards at the 2000 Annapolis Sailboat Show. Read more about the Shearwater 45 in an earlier blog post.

Visit our website at http://dixdesign.com/.

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Boat Plans For A Chesapeake Deadrise | Didi 950 Construction Starts

Boat Plans For A Chesapeake Deadrise

Michael Vermeersch has started building his Didi 950 prototype in Ravenna, Ohio. This is the prototype of a very new design. Micheal is building from a pre-cut kit that we supplied and reports that the quality and fit have been excellent thus far.

Didi 950 Kit, ready for unpacking

 Yesterday Michael and a friend set up the bulkheads on the building stocks and he is now preparing to fit the backbone components to tie the bulkheads together.

Didi 950 Bulkheads set up and waiting for backbone.

This design has been drawn to comply with the Class 950 Class Rules. Watch this space for progress reports on this boat and the other Didi 950s being built in Australia, Latvia and Greece.

Please note that precut kits for our plywood designs supplied in USA must be ordered from Dudley Dix Yacht Design and not from the company that cuts them, Chesapeake Light Craft. For more info and pricing go to our plywood kits page.

To see our full range of designs please visit http://dixdesign.com/ .

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Boat Plans Building | Americas Cup Race 13 1st Edition

Boat Plans Building

I want to take issue with what has been widely reported on the web about the Americas Cup racing on Friday afternoon last week. That was when Race 13 was run, abandoned then run for a second time.

A syndicated report written by Scott Neuman has appeared on thousands of websites and tells an entirely inaccurate story. It says:-

"They were helped along somewhat by the vagaries of the wind off San Francisco — its been alternately too light or too strong. On Friday in a light-air race, New Zealand crossed the line ahead of USA, but it took them just over 40 minutes, which the race rules said was too long. So the result was thrown out and the defenders lived to sail again."

Either the author was not watching the race himself and published incorrect information supplied by someone else or he didnt understand what he was watching.

I might rile up people who are rooting for Emirates Team NZ but I like to read the truth, whichever side I am supporting. It behoves journalists to publish the truth, not what they want or someone else wants them to say, for whatever reason. Inaccuracies in journalistic reporting become truth in the future unless they are corrected at the time or soon after. This is especially true in the Internet era because what goes onto the Internet will stay on the Internet until there is no longer an Internet (forever? until the end of the world? Who knows?)

In this case the report says that NZ won the race and then the result was thrown out because the race took too long. Absolute nonsense.

Emirates NZ was well ahead at the time that the race was abandoned but they were nowhere near to the finish line. I cant be sure of their exact position when time ran out but I think that they were into the green circle and about to round the last mark when the abandon call came from the race officer. They still had the last leg to sail. There was no result, so how can the result have been thrown out?

You may say that this is pure semantics and it makes no difference. But it does, it makes a very big difference. Emirates Team NZ only needed to win one more race to take the cup back to New Zealand and that was the race that they needed. The report says that they won that race then it was taken away due to the time limit. That is equivalent to saying that they won the cup then it was taken away from them. If the time limit had been 45 minutes instead of 40 minutes then they would have won the race and the cup, no dispute. The fact is that they didnt finish or win that race and didnt win the cup on that day.

Most yacht races have time limits, as do most other sporting events in the world. The 40 minute time limit is one of the many rules of the event. The race committee cannot increase or decrease this limit at whim. You can be sure that the crews of both boats knew long before they even reached the weather mark that there was a good chance that the race would be abandoned for exceeding the allotted 40 minutes, unless the wind increased considerably. The commentators were already talking about it half-way up leg 3 and I am sure that the crews of both boats were watching their very accurate timepieces all the way through. All racing sailors know that in very light breezes there is a chance of missing the time limit so we keep it in mind, we watch the clock and estimate or calculate the speed needed due to the time and distance to go to the finish. We didnt see any looks of astonishment among the crew when the race was abandoned, they knew that they would not finish in time to get a result.

The fact is that the non-completion of that race has forever changed the Americas Cup history from what would have been if the race had been completed. AC34 has dramatically changed from what was a hiding being handed out to Oracle Team USA by Emirates Team New Zealand to what is now an extremely thrilling spectacle, with one of the biggest comebacks ever seen in any sport in the world. With 5 straight wins in races 13 to 17 instead of the final loss that appeared inevitable for race 13, we now have some seriously competitive racing taking place.

By this evening Emirates Team New Zealand may have won that last race that they need and the cup may be in the hands of the New Zealanders. On the other hand, Oracle Team USA may have defied the odds even further and taken it to 6 wins in a row. Whichever way it goes, it has been thrilling to watch and I will watch for as long as it keeps going until one or the other does win that elusive 9th race.

 PS. Whatever time limit is applied to a race, there may be times that it is exceeded. For Race 13 the 40 minutes was too short and 45 minutes would have given a result. But 45 minutes could easily have also been too short, so where does one place a limit? The 40 minute limit was written into the rules and all crews knew that it was there.They are not bitching about it, they are getting on with the job at hand, which is to win "The Cup".

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Boden Boat Plans Australia | The Crew of Black Cat for Cape to Rio

Boden Boat Plans Australia

 Our crew for the 2014 Cape to Rio Race is mostly the same as we had for the 1996 running of this race. Here are bios for two of the crew.

Gavin Muller

Gavin Muller was 21 years old on the 1996 Race. He was the baby of the crew by a long way and received the brunt of the good-natured insults and joking on the voyage from the rest of us. He took it all in very good spirits, was a great crewman to have with us and proved to be very capable in all aspects of sailing our boat at high speed across the Atlantic.

Now, 18 years later, Gavin is a much more respectable age. At least he is now more than half my own age. Gavin cant have had any permanent damage from all of our ribbing on that race because it was he that put the thought in front of me to get the 1996 crew together again for the 2014 race. Wonderful idea, Gavin.

He obviously has a good sense of the ridiculous. The bio that he sent me begins with "I started sailing quite late in life at the age of 14". Heck, most sailors wish that they could have started sailing at that age instead of 30, 40 or even 60 years old. When you are 21 then 14 must be relatively late in life. After his late start in sailing, Gavin hasnt wasted his time and has accomplished much. His achievements include:-

Sank an Optimist on the start line of his first Interschools Regatta.
Rose to captain of his Bishops High School Sailing Club
Was part of the youngest crew to sail the Cape to Rio Race, in 1993
Crewed on "Black Cat" in Cape to Rio Race 1996
Member of line-honours crew in St Helena Race 1996 and sailed return to Cape Town.
Achieved Yachtmaster Offshore in 1997, with better grades than he managed in school.
Sailed his 2nd St Helena Race in 1998 and return voyage to Cape Town.
Moved to England Feb 1999, where he still lives.
Sailed 4 Fastnet Races and all qualifying races.
Sailed 7 Cowes Week Regattas.
Sailed 8 Round the Island Races (Isle of Wight).

Gavin is married to Nicole and they have two young children, Alice and George. He is Head of Operations at one of the most prestigious catering companies in London, so I guess that qualifies him to serve us some imaginative high-class meals in the middle of the South Atlantic.

Gavin with wife Nicole and children, Alice and George.

Gavin in Solent sailing garb.

Sean Collins

In my 60 years of sailing, Sean is the one who has sailed more miles with me than anyone else. We always clicked together on boats and have confidence in each other doing the right thing when needed, including to extricate us from some silly situation into which I have put us.

Sean first sailed at about 7 years old, with an uncle who owned an Enterprise dinghy. The bug bit and he broadened his sailing experiences with the Sea Scouts. Seans first offshore experience came in 1976 with his uncle, sailing from Durban to Cape Town on a newly-launched 45ft ferro-cement cruiser. Continuing further on the long-term cruise was thwarted by the need to finish schooling.

Sean is a surfer and spent a few years sailing Hobie cats before buying his own first offshore boat. This was a 28ft plywood double-ended ketch named "Elise". After breaking the mizzen mast she had lee-helm problems and that was what brought Sean and me together for our long association. He commissioned me to redesign the rig as a cutter. He sold "Elise" after he started crewing for me on my CW975 "Concept Won" sometime later.

Sean estimates that he has sailed roughly 10,000 sea miles with me on "Concept Won" and "Black Cat". He was my chosen partner whenever available for the double-handed races and regattas at Royal Cape Yacht Club and Hout Bay Yacht Club. He sailed with me on numerous Double Cape Races, Telkom Regattas, Old Brown Table Bay Regattas, Hout Bay Admirals Regattas, Hout Bay Double Regattas and the weekend and Wednesday night racing at RCYC, as well as the 1996 Cape to Rio Race.

Sean was in the crew of "Black Cat" right from the start, long before she even hit the water. He spent many weekends helping with building her, much of it doing a sterling and nasty job of epoxy coating and fibreglassing the joints of the drinking water tanks, to ensure that they would not fail us in mid-ocean.

Sean moved to England in 1998, with wife Lanesse (now ex-wife) and three daughters. There they spent time sailing the estuaries of the Thames and acquiring the new skills of safely navigating large tides and strong currents. Eventually they bought "Vortex", a Nicholson 35, which Sean refurbished for family cruising. In 2004 they headed South to find sunshine and spent 16 months cruising to the Canaries via France, Spain and Portugal. From there they all flew back to settle back in Cape Town. A year later Sean and his nephew double-handed "Vortex" to Cape Town via Cape Verde, Brazil and Tristan da Cunha.

Bad economic times in RSA resulted in Sean working for a few years in Bahrain, where he joined the Bahrain Yacht Club to keep in sailing. Back in RSA again, work commitments keep him away from home but he gets back to Cape Town regularly. Most of his sailing is currently  on inland waters, where he is an instructor with the youth sail training programme at Mountain Yacht Club on Ebenezer Dam.

Sean with Lanesse and daughters Abbey, Kelsey & Megan

Sean on "Vortex" at Hout Bay Yacht Club.

Gavin and Sean, I look forward to sailing with both of you again.



  








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Canoe Boat Plans | Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race 2015

Canoe Boat Plans

I will be away from my desk from Wednesday morning early, through to the weekend. I wont have my laptop with me, so you wont get me by email for a few days. The reason for this gap in my connectivity is that I will be preparing for and sailing in the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race.

"Apella" approaching the start line for the 2014 race.

The race connects the two port cities of Baltimore at the northern end of the Bay and Portsmouth at the southern end, both of which throw excellent parties for the crews. The course is actually a bit shorter, starting  just south of the Bay Bridge that spans Chesapeake Bay north of Annapolis and finishing at Thimble Shoals off Hampton Roads. That is for the bigger boats but the smaller and slower boats get to finish at Windmill Point about 50 miles further up the Bay, then choose to either sail or motor the rest of the way to Portsmouth in time for the festivities.

I will be sailing on the schooner-rigged Shearwater 45 "Apella", the same boat on which we won Class B last year. She is owned by Dan Hall, who lives aboard and keeps moving up and down the coast wherever schooner events and whim may take him.

Some of the "Apella" crew showing off the silverware in 2014.

It was as we crossed the start line last year that, sitting astride the cockpit coaming and grinding the Genoa winch, I dislocated my left knee. Ill have to be careful about my body placement when grinding this year.

I was wrapped up because it was chilly last year, after a stormy party night.

Great news is that twin sister to "Apella", "Moonbeam", has been bought by a friend of Dan Hall and she is being brought north from Florida for a refit, after which I anticipate that the two boats will get together often. I look forward to match racing these boats down the Bay in future years.

To view our range of designs of all types, please visit http://dixdesign.com/ or http://dixdesign.com/mobile.

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Plywood Boat Plans | Cape to Rio Race 2014

Plywood Boat Plans

I have done it 3 times before and I am soon going to do it again. Sail in the Cape to Rio Race, that is. I have crossed the South Atlantic 4 times, so this will be my 5th crossing.

In 1993 I raced on the Shearwater 39 "Ukelele Lady" (yes, I know that ukulele is spelt incorrectly but the guy who carved the name board was a bad speller) as sailing master and navigator. The boat was owned by my friend Nick Taylor, entertainer and TV personality.

In 1996 I sailed on the Didi 38 "Black Cat", as skipper and co-owner. Between the 1993 and 1996 races I had designed and built the new boat for the race. After Rio, we cruised her to the beautiful Bay of Islands SW of Rio before I raced her back to Cape Town, double-handed with Jay Barnes, in the South Atlantic Challenge.

Built in my garden in Hout Bay, here we are turning the hull.

 In 2000 I sailed on "Black Cat" again, as skipper. By then my co-owner, Adrian Pearson, had bought my share and was sole owner. Clive Dick and Adrian sailed her back to Cape Town.

Now "Black Cat" is 18 years old and has many thousands of ocean and coastal miles under her keel. We are about to head out onto the South Atlantic Ocean again, in the 2014 Cape to Rio Race. We have assembled the same crew as in 1996 with the exception of the navigator. My good friend Brian Cole was navigator in 1996 but is now getting on in years, so we have a younger man in his place.

Launch day in 1995.

  I am skipper and you all know me. No more info needed.

Adrian Pearson is owner and has sailed about as many miles  on "Black Cat" as I have. He does not skipper, preferring to be one of the crew.

Sean Collins sailed many miles with me on my CW975 "Concept Won", racing in Cape of Good Hope waters. He was with me for many double-handed events as well.

Gavin Muller was the "baby" of our 1996 crew, having graduated from high school the month before the start of the race. Now, 18 years later, his age has doubled but he will still be the youngest on the 2014 crew.

Dave Immelman is the new member, sailing as navigator. Dave has done extensive international offshore and ocean racing and is in charge of the major refit of "Black Cat", which is currently in progress.

Flying out of Table Bay after the start of the 1996 race.

 "Black Cat" has gone through big changes since I last saw her. She has been prettied up on the inside with hardwood trims and teak/holly cabin soles. Some comfort items added, like hot and cold pressure water system, separate fridge and freezer and inside shower. She also has a lot more in electronics, like radar, chart plotter and sailing computer, with instrument repeaters and dual compasses in the cockpit. Rig and deck hardware are also seeing upgrades to carry the increased shock loadings of a new suit of tougher hi-tech sails. I am looking forward to sailing on her with all the new toys and go-fast goodies.

She will go back into the water when this work has been completed, then Dave Immelman will do extensive sea trials to test her thoroughly before I arrive in December to give her my own check-over.

Relaxing in the Bay of Islands, Brazil.

For anyone interested, you will be able to track our progress on the Cape to Rio Race website and we will have a blog for "Black Cat" to pass on stories from onboard.

And, if anyone has an interest in sponsoring "Black Cat" in this event, please contact me to discuss what we can do for each other.

To view my boat designs, please go to http://dixdesign.com



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Boat Plans Stitch And Glue | Didi 950 Downunder

Boat Plans Stitch And Glue

I have shown the Didi 950 project of Fred Grimminck in Queensland, Australia, in previous posts. Since then he has progressed nicely and is now well into the fitting-out phase. This, of course, had to start with turning the hull right-way up. Fred used a similar method to the hull turning that I showed recently in Ohio, except that he replaced one of the engine hoists with a tractor-mounted forklift, to lift the hull and pull it out of the building shed, then push it back in. Here is Freds video of the operation.

The fitting out is moving along, as can be seen in these photos.

Starboard water ballast tanks

Port water ballast tanks and double quarter berth.

Building the saloon settees.

Same area, from above. The open area where the vacuum cleaner is
standing is where the engine is located in the fixed keel version.
This boat has a lifting keel, which will pass through this area.

Looking forward at the foredeck, with deck beam flange being laminated.

This is the second boat of our design that Fred has built. Five years ago he built a Didi Cruise-Mini that he sailed for a few years, then sold recently. Watch this space for more photos of the progress of Freds project.

See more of this design and others in our portfolio, at http://dixdesign.com/.

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Boat Plans Arch Davis | ROUTE DU RHUM THE WORLDS BIGGEST SAIL RACE

Boat Plans Arch Davis

Certainly not by the number of boats, "only" 91 on this edition but probably the biggest in public interest, even more than the Vendee Globe and there is a reason for that: This was the first Transat that said no to the ratting rules. Here you arrive first and you win. Simple as that. Yes I know they have introduced classes but that is not the same thing as ratting. Anyway thats one of the few races where they depart all at the same time and off course, independently of the classes the overall winner is the one that arrives first, even if the classification comes in classes.

http://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2014_09_01_archive.html

Le Rhum, cap sur 2014 ! by routedurhum

On the first one, in 1978 there were no classes and it was the first Transat where you could race in a mono-hull or a multihull of any size for the win.  And the win went for a Multihull...but only by 98s after 23 days racing. That was really incredible!!! of course the Monohull was a lot bigger than the trimaran that won, but sizes are free on this race. 

You can pick the fastest mono-hull in a transat, that is certainly the new Comanche, and race it on this race on the class of monohulls bigger than 39ft (minimum size is the only limitation). There is a snag...someone would have to sail the huge Comanche solo :-)...because this is a solo race. Crazy? not more crazy then sailing on of the maxi trimarans solo (and they do it)...if someone has the balls and knowledge to do it and the rigging is adapted. Off course, probably you can count by the fingers of your hands the sailors that have the ability and the potential to do it and that is one of the things that make this race great: The boat counts but only the best have the ability to sail one of these monsters solo. Here the skipper counts more than in any other race. Just look at the size and speed of these boats.They have to be sailed by a solo master and they are all in this race, on different classes.

Yann Eliès sur Paprec Recyclage by routedurhum
Lionel Lemonchois sur Prince de Bretagne by routedurhum
Sodebo Ultim - Thomas Coville : Objectif Route... by sodebo-voile

For me one of the most interesting boats racing are the Multi 50. They are very tricky boats to race, fast bur nervous and fragile. Its double interesting because in the end, specially if the weather is rough, their performance is very similar to the one of an Open 60. What normally happens is that just one or two manage to go faster on those conditions and it can happen that an Open 60 beats them all. As I say, they are fast but the risk of capsize is big, they are not that good upwind and have to have much more care not to break the boat than the guys on Open60s. Here you have them, being raced with a crew: look even with a crew how nervous these boats are. Really tricky for a solo sailor. To go really fast it has to be a very good one.

Multi50-2014 from Multi50 on Vimeo.
Sailing one of those solo is only for the best:
Actual - Yves Le Blevec by routedurhum
and then we have the well known IMOCA open 60s with all the stars from the Vendee Globe.

and the 40class, that here really looks like a promotional class. No, I know they are incredibly good sailors on those boats...except that they all want to go to one of the big ones and there are a reason why they have not arrive there yet...but the rising stars are all there, some coming from the mini racing. This racing is so interesting that an old legend could not resist to have a go at it.

Route du Rhum : Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, doyen... by OuestFranceFR
He is going to race an old Open6o. Because it is an old one does not race on the IMOCA category but on the category of monohulls bigger than 39ft. Off course the boat is old, but brand new when compared with him: 75 years and still racing with the best!!! Damn, how can he do that? Thumbs up for him ;-)

The race starts November 2 at 14.00 (French Time GT+1)
http://www.routedurhum.com/en/s01_home/s01p01_home.php

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Boat Plans Building | Dont Get Scammed

Boat Plans Building

The Internet has now become the way that most of us keep in contact with our friends and family, no-matter how far apart we are. There are few places left in the world that we are unreachable by this web of fibre optics, wires, electrical pulses and radio waves that digitally  brings so much convenience to our lives. Even in the middle of the ocean or on top of the highest of mountain peaks we are able to connect to anywhere else in the world, as long as we have the right equipment and the power source to energise it.

Even 10 years ago most people had some doubts about doing business on-line, mainly over the safety of sending money to companies via the Internet and concerns about the ethics of business people in foreign lands. Those doubts have gradually faded and it is now common to pay for international transactions via the web. It is much simpler and normally cheaper to pay by credit card than to do a wire transfer between banks.

I must say that Americans are generally more reluctant to deal with foreign Internet companies than are people from other countries, preferring to buy from American sources. Even with that self-imposed limitation, Internet transactions continue to grow exponentially in USA as much as elsewhere.

Most businesses that trade on the Internet want to expand their markets and build long-term growth amid ever-increasing competition. To do this they must prove that they are trustworthy and build a good reputation. After they have been around for a few years they will have a base of support from people who have had a good experience and will help to spread the good vibes about them.

Occasionally we all come across a really bad company that exists only to rip off their customers for profit, or we have a very bad experience with the item not being up to the marketing hype that enticed us to buy it. Such an experience tends to colour our attitudes toward future dealings. If it was a small item we may shrug it off and just not do business with them again. If it was a considerable amount of money then we should do what we can to spread the word, to cut that companys market share down to what they deserve. Such companies take away business from those that do trade fairly, in the process reducing their profitability.

A client of mine in Australia, building a Didi 950, recently ran foul of a scammer when searching for an engine at a good price. He sourced a Yanmar 3YM30 inboard diesel motor with saildrive for about half the price of buying the same package from other suppliers. The supplier, Inbond Limited (also known as Inboard Limited) was ostensibly a Canadian company, based in Calgary, Alberta but selling through the Chinese on-line gateway Alibaba. Note that this is not the British logistical company InBond, which is a legitimate company.

This scam became deeper and more complicated as time passed, eventually including a fake shipping company as well, that was going to transport the purchase by air. A fake supplier shipping a non-existent engine via a fake transport company; the only realities in the chain were the buyer and his hard-earned cash.

It is very easy to be wise after the fact but most of us look for the lowest price that we can find when shopping, whether for large or small items. When we can save as much as a few thousand dollars on an item then it is even more enticing, tough to resist. But, the bigger the saving the more wary we need to be. We know the old saying, "If it seems too good to be true then it probably is". A price that low indicates that it is likely an item that has "fallen off the back of a truck". This is South African terminology for "stolen". If not stolen then it may be a fake copy or doesnt exist at all.

Alibaba is a reputable gateway doing transactions for many, many millions. However, this company Inbond Limited was unverified by Alibaba, noted at top left of the company listing. That means that Alibaba cannot vouch for the supplier and that you havent any chance of a refund from their payment system. If you buy through Alibaba make sure that the supplier is verified, so that you have the full backing of Alibaba if things dont go the way that you planned.

Look out for other clues as well. There are errors in the product listings, for example they call it a gasoline engine instead of a diesel engine. A reputable supplier is unlikely to make such an error.

Once we were aware of this scam it developed into a lengthy discussion on Facebook. If you want to read it, go to my Facebook page and scroll down to January 12th 2015. A Google search showed that the premises where they were supposed to be located are actually occupied by a signage company.

Realising that the buyer had become aware of his scam and refused to send more money, the scammer sent a shipping notice with tracking number and said that shipment was waiting only on the shipping payment. It all looked very authentic until we dug deeper. The tracking number even pulled up a form with all the right details on it. But, there was no way to contact the shipping company, Highonshore, except through their on-line contact form; no telephone, no fax, no email and no physical address. Claiming to be a long-established UK company, there was no record of the directors named and described on their About Us page when I did a web search of British company directors. Their website looks very impressive but has no real substance and is full of grammatical errors, written by someone who does not have English as their first language.

Now the Highonshore website has gone dead. Registration details for the domain show that it was only registered in mid-December, by someone in New Hampshire So much for the long-established British shipping company.

The buyer also had someone dig deeper into Inbond Limited and found that it isnt a Canadian company at all. The payment was deposited into a California banks but the scam is run by a Russian. The Internet helps us all, whether we are good or bad people.

The point of this post is not to discourage you from doing business on-line, it is to ask you to please be careful. And please, please please dont do business with Inbond Limited, Inboard Limited or Highonshore. Please also spread the word about these ripoff artists and their scam.



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Boat Trailer Plans Australia | 2014 MIDDLE SEA RACE A LOOK AT THE COMPARATIVE RESULTS AND OTHER STUFF

Boat Trailer Plans Australia

There are still many boats making it for Malta, some in the race, some that had abandoned and taken a short from Sicily not turning around Pantelleria. After a very rough night the winds are still over 30k, some boats registering well over 40K. The ones that know what kind of sea this winds can rise on the Med know what they are passing through.

Here wild Joe, a Reichel Pugh 60 finishing the race.

Many boats retired due to the weather but also many due to breakage and the situation is not clear because that "invitation" from the Coat Guard to suspend the race (that I talked about on the last post) in what regards the boats that were near Pantelleria it was not an invitation but an order from the Port Captain to suspend racing and enter the port (the race rounded Pantelleria Island). There are boats that could have just stop racing not because they have abandoned but because they thought the race was suspended. Not a word about this on the official site but some here as well as photos:

http://www.farevela.net/2014/10/22/rolex-middle-sea-race-durissima-burrasca-flotta-nel-canale-sicilia-i-ritirati-barche-rifugiate-pantelleria-nessun-incidente-foto/

That A13 that was making a fantastic race had really bad luck: they lost the mast at 20nm from the finish line.

Regarding the sea conditions these words by a very experienced racer (crew on the winning J122) are meaningful: “The sea was big, it was very windy, we dont know exactly how windy because the windex at the top of the rig blew off! – yes this race is up there with the toughest Hobarts I have done. In fact we were saying on board when was the last time we saw a sea like this? and I had to say it was during a windy Sydney Hobart but to have those conditions for over 24 hours is very rare, almost exceptional. You are always learning in this game and the experience showed me that it is good to go with a bloody good crew! Truly, it is the only way you can sail the boat like we did. If you dont have a good crew, you just wont get through it or you will break things and when it comes down to it – a good crew is what you need and we have done a lot of miles together on Artie, they are my nephews, my friends and we have been together for thousands of miles at sea.”

And this leads us to the winner on compensated (IRC ans ORC), a J122, a local boat (Malta) that had made just an incredible race. They did not manage to beat the first racing Class40 (a Pogo S2) that was about 2h 45m faster but they managed to be faster than a very fast XP44  (second on compensated). Regarding boats of the same size and type (performance cruisers) they were only beaten by this beauty:

That proved the Neo 400 is not only a beauty but a hell of a sailboat even on nasty seas. I had posted about it on the old thread but it will deserve a new post here...soon. The Neo 400 did not only beat that J122 (Artie) by 4 hours as it was faster than any 40class boat, beating that racing Pogo by more than an hour and the second (that was also beaten by the first J122) by more than 6 hous!!!!

What a boat, Ceccareli got this one right: it is not only able to win on compensated ( 3rd in ORC ) as it is incredibly fast in real time, that in the end is what it matters, at least for me.

A M34, the small racing boat that was used for the "Tour the France", showed once more that it is a very seaworthy boat, not only finishing, but making a great time. Also great races from a brand new Azuree 46 and a Grand Soleil 46, two comfortable cruisers that show that you can have comfort speed and seaworthiness at a reasonable price.

Kuka-light is a very fast 42ft but it seems that this year they did not manage to finish. Here they are on the water, on the stormy seas:

and Jolokia is an old Vor 60. They finished this race but the result was not good, They were beaten in real time by the small Neo 400.


Some selected results by real time order.

Coockson 50 d4 h2 m14 s;20 Carkeek 47 d4 h4 m12 s25 ; Swan 60 d4 h6 m7 s39; Swan 82 d4 h6 m11 s3; Farr 52 OD d4 h6 m26 s40; Cookson 50 d4 h6 m31 s55;  Neo 400 d4 h9 m30 s0; Pogo S2Class40 d4 h10 m49 s0;  DK46 d4 h13 m7 s0; Sydney GTS 43 d4 h13 m57 s51; J 122 d4 h13 m35 s5; XP44 d4 h14 m1 s11; BM Class40 d4 h15 m59 s55 Swan 45 d4 h16 m3 s54; Azuree 46 d4  h17 m9  s5; Grand Soleil 46 d4 h19 m55 s52 ; M34 d4 h20 m45 s19 20; j122 d4 h21 m40 s35 ; Swan 48 d5 h0 m9 s18; 

A word for the winner in compensated in ORC and IRC, Artie, a J122 (their words):
“It was a very very tough race. The crew have worked around the clock from day one and the race didnt start well for us but during day two we started to get our the shifts right and co-skippers Sebastian and Christian Ripard did a great job on the tactics and the end result was a series of correct decision that put us in a good position before the storm arrived. As always, having a good crew on board allows you to give the effort an extra push, with a good boat and an excellent crew are intention at the start was to win ...But now having had the opportunity to reflect on the race, even more important than winning was the achievement of actually finishing the race in the conditions that we had out there. Even near the end my worry was not finishing, right up until the end, we knew boats were in difficulties, which was very unfortunate and that was playing on my mind until we crossed the finish line. I would like to emphasize that one thing we really promote on Artie, throughout the year, is that we have young dinghy sailors on board and a main objective is to get these youngsters out sailing, combining them with our regular crew to create the future sailors that will be representing Malta.”

And from the Neo 400 (translated from Italian with some liberty):
"With us was a veteran of the Volvo Ocean Race and he said he never would thought that in the Mediterranean the sea could be like that with eight meters with a breaking and a a that has increased quickly from 20K to 25K and then up to 35K and 40 knots, so constant, relentless. At the end we saw 48 knots, without a break for 200 miles. We sailed between Lampedusa and Malta, for us the worst part, with storm jib and the mainsail with two reefs. We were consistently between 16 and 18 knots, with peaks around 22 and beyond. At 22 knots the log was out of water and did not work anymore, so we do not know how much speed we made, but it was really tough. The unusual thing was that the wind never fell, normally happen to take a blow at the Middle Sea, has happened to me often in the past, but this time the wind was violent, has been increasing steadily and there were never moments to rest as usually occurs. 40-45 knots for at least 12 consecutive hours, it was really hard.

Between Pantelleria and Lampedusa the sea was already very difficult and for us the wind was still about 25 knots. On the leeward of Lampedusa we sailed at 18 knots with flat water A3, two reefs on the main and J3, beautiful, then once out of the shelter of Lampedusa, well, the sea clearly advised us imediate prudence. An extreme situation. Waves as ever Ive ever seen in Mediterranean and we manage of the boat in safety without giving up performance. Going to the bow was not easy, so we did it all without risking; the boat has behaved very well and we have not broken anything, I noticed a excellent behavior under storm jib. The arrival in the channel between Malta and Comino was surreal, at night, in continuous glide at 16 knots, with rocks on the right and left....

Then along the coast of Malta till the finish a continuous glide at 16 knots,...the race committee could not believe that we had taken so little time doing that Utrecht. Very tiring the last 200 miles, following the first three days of light winds,....It was a race where you, besides the result (that leaved us very satisfied) you realize how important was to bring the boat home with all the crew safely. We have outsailed 50 fters and beaten boats like the B2 and a Cookson 50..."

http://www.farevela.net/2014/10/23/rolex-middle-sea-race-durissima-j122-maltese-artie-vince-in-overall-racconto-delle-condizioni-limite-parte-paolo-semeraro-overall-neo400-carbon-foto-burrasca/



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Boat Plans Australia | Our Cape to Rio Race Wrap up

Boat Plans Australia

First off I want to say thank you to all friends, family and supporters for all of the good wishes that have poured in following our experiences in the Cape to Rio Race the past few days. The five crew of "Black Cat" are all very grateful for the assistance received. As is always the case, stories have varied depending on the source and they have no doubt expanded with the telling and retelling. I will tell it from the very personal point of view of being right there in the middle of the action.

The weather briefing two days before the race start told us there there was bad weather expected and their advice was to sail due west as fast as possible to get through the system to the high that would follow. That would give us SW winds that would turn S then SE. With my navigator, Dave (Wavy) Immelman, we decided to follow that advice as the most logical route. The weatherman warned about being in the SW quadrant of the storm that would follow a day or two later.

The race got off to a good start in light breezes, the course taking us around the perimeter of Table Bay. This was a good indicator for us of our chances of placing well in the race because we were very quick, and staying in the lead group of 4 smaller boats trailing the 3 big guns that led the fleet. Our group opened up a large gap from the others behind us.

We sailed through the first night in gradually strengthening wind that gave squalls of 20-25 knots. Around daybreak the squalls started to intensify and broke through 30 knots with 18-20 knots between them. Feeling a bit over-powered in the squalls we were reefing the mainsail when a squall of somewhat over 40 knots hit us. We were now entering the SW winds behind the front, so I changed from our westerly course to a NW heading, taking pressure off the sails. Despite that, the wind over the deck increased, with gusts of over 50 knots that shredded our new carbon jib, leaving us under main only.

While changing from the #1 jib to the smaller #3, we were running before and gaining speed rapidly. Wavy was standing on the foredeck at the forestay, hauling down the tatters of the jib when we took off down a wave, accelerating to 22 knots. The waves were very short and steep and we ran straight into the back of the next wave, washing Wavy aft against the shrouds, spraining his ankle and inflating his automatic life-jacket. At the same time the tiller went sloppy in my hands. Although "Black Cat" was running fast and straight down the wave she was doing it on her own, we had no steering.

We dropped all sail and elected to sit out the worsening conditions before setting up a jury rudder to take us back to Cape Town. "Black Cat" was comfortable and in no danger. While we waited we saw the German entry "Iskareen" sail past from behind. We thought that this very fast boat was ahead of us so it came as a surprise to see them come past from well astern.

The wind and sea moderated quite quickly from that first storm and we put our minds to making a jury rudder from lazarette floor boards. Sean Collins went over onto the sugar-scoop to screw and strap it to the stub of the rudder that remained below the pintels. It worked reasonably but we treated it gingerly for fear of breaking it. We motored on a heading for Cape Town but as the day progressed the conditions slowly deteriorated as a second storm started to move in. I saw that we were not going to lay Cape Town so elected to rather head for the closer and easier Saldanha Bay.

As evening approached this storm grew progressively more violent. We were in the SW quadrant of the storm about which the weatherman had warned us. We had no desire to be in that position at that time but we had no choice in the matter. Fate had placed us there and we could only do our best to cope with the situation as it developed.

Around dusk there was a massive bang, a noise that sounded like the boat being ripped apart. Sean had shouted a warning from the cockpit that I cant repeat in present company but none of us heard it. Suddenly we were upside down and the cabin was filled with flying bodies and objects that were loose in the cabin and also those that were inside closed and latched lockers. I had been sleeping on the starboard saloon settee and had only a few seconds earlier stood up to walk aft to the cockpit. I was still in the saloon and was hit on my face and top of my head by unidentified flying debris, leaving me with minor cuts and a black eye.

The noise of this impact was so great and our up-turned position so alarming that I thought that the keel had come off. I was on the cabin roof and looked up at the bilge, all cabin soles having fallen out. I saw no gaping hole as I expected but shouted "Everybody out!!", still thinking that we had no keel. This all happened in a few seconds, then suddenly she was upright again and I knew that we still had a keel. We were left with an awful mess of food packages, cabin sole panels, tumblers, containers and anything else that managed to find its way out of its allotted place. And there was water everywhere. There had been some in the bilge but a lot more had come in through the companion hatch and a hole that we had no yet identified.

With no instruction from anyone this very capable crew automatically set about sorting out the chaos, first picking up anything that could block the bilge pumps before starting to pump out the water. The day fridge, which had been bolted into the saloon table, had relocated itself to the settee on which I had been lying only 30 seconds earlier. Three fire extinguishers, mounted in brackets from which they are removed vertically, all fell out when we were inverted and flew across to the starboard side of the cabin. Only two of the five onboard were in steel straps with locking mechanisms that held them firmly in place, the other three fell out and became lethal missiles.

Next we discovered what the hole was that had appeared in the deck. During the inversion process the tail of the mainsheet went over the side and attached itself to the propeller and wound itself up to the point that it stopped the diesel motor. It had so much tension in it that the force downward on the upper guardrail wire punched the nearest stanchion through the 12mm plywood deck. That left a hole about 75mm diameter into the locker below, where my clothes were. From there the water spread itself all over the starboard aft cabin, soaking everything that Wavy and I had in that cabin. That was all of our clothes, bedding, camera bags etc.

Of more consequence, the volume of water that came into the boat spread itself over the chart table, the lid of which had ripped right off, and into the electrical panel and electronics. The two satellite phones and main VHF radio were drowned, leaving us with only a hand-held VHF of limited range with which to communicate. Smelling smoke, Wavy opened the electrical panel to see smoke coming out but it didnt develop into a fire.

Time stands still in these situations. I have no idea how long it took us to clean up the boat but she was back to a semblance of ship-shape before too long. The hole in the deck was plugged as well as possible with some muti that we had brought onboard the day before the race start.

In the midst of all this Sean came down from the cockpit and described what had happened. From inside the boat we had no idea, it was just massive noise and upside-downness.

Sean, a surfer like me, says that he suddenly felt the same feeling as when caught inside the impact zone of a big surf break, where you have no way of escaping the beating that is about to be dealt to you and you just have to take it on the head and cope with it. He did not see the wave coming but became aware of it as it loomed over the boat. It was very large and broke as a hollow tubing wave completely enveloping "Black Cat". She rose up the face of the wave, rotating as she rose until she was hanging from the roof of the tube. Then she fell or was thrown down the face of the wave with the mast going in first. The crash that I heard inside the boat must have been the cabin and deck hitting the water. While this was happening I also looked into the cockpit for Sean and he was hanging from a winch or whatever he had been able to grab as the wave reared up. I required that all crew be hooked on with safety harnesses before going on deck but Sean was hanging on so tight that his harness had no work to do.

This wave was much bigger and more violent than any others we had felt or seen. If that one could clobber us there may also be others, so we streamed warps from the bow and deployed the storm jib as a sea anchor to try to hold her bow-on to the waves. These did not seem to help much because the underwater current seemed to be pretty much the same speed as our drift. We didnt get her to lie more than about 20-25 degrees from broadside-on to the waves but it seemed to be enough to ease the motion a bit and cause other breaking waves to roll past the port quarter instead of hitting us amidships.

The worsening storm and loss of major communications prompted us to ask Cape Town Radio to put out a Pan-Pan message on our behalf to warn of our location in the shipping lane and to ask for the NSRI (National Sea Rescue Institute) to be called to our assistance. We advised that we were in no immediate danger but would appreciate assistance when it could be provided. We switched on the EPIRB to give a signal for rescue services to home in on. We had AIS onboard but it had flooded along with the other instruments at the nav table.

Initially the assistance came in the form of the fishing vessel "Miriam Makeba" heading our way. When they were still a few miles away the navy frigate SAS Isandlwana took over control of the widespread rescue efforts and released the fishing vessel to continue fishing. As the frigate approached in the rain they asked us to send up a flare, then another, to help them to locate us. Once they had located us we confirmed that we were in no immediate danger and they headed off to take care of people and boats that were in much more serious situations.

In the morning conditions again subsided. Wavy went over the side in his diving gear to free the mainsheet from the prop, which allowed us to restart the motor. At the same time he swam the length of the underbody to check for damage or other problems. A new and improved version of the jury rudder was fabricated from more plywood cannibalised from the lazarette and we continued on our journey toward Saldanha Bay at 4-5 knots under our own power. We were well set to reach there during the night.

Early afternoon the NSRI Rescue 3 arrived from Cape Town. They offered us the choice of continuing under our own steam to Saldanha Bay or accepting their tow back to Cape Town. Proceeding to Saldanha Bay presented logistical problems for crew and boat, so we took the tow and headed for Cape Town at 10 knots.

Manoeuvring into the RCYC basin proved to be more difficult than anticipated because the jury rudder boards added to the starboard side of the rudder severely limited rudder movement in that direction. Add a pomping SE gale and we sorely needed the welcoming hands on the dock to catch us as we came in at rather high speed and with negligible control.

Now "Black Cat" is safely back in port but she has some more patching to be done to her. This is for the hole in the deck from the stanchion and for the spot where her bow kissed the marina rather harder than necessary on our return.

My big question out of all of this was "Why did the rudder break?". It had a solid Iroko spine nearly 100mm thick and 150mm wide, extending top to bottom, with plywood fairing to leading and trailing edges. That is a massive piece of timber that can easily support a large car and really should not have been broken by a 22 knot surf. The answer came from the owner, Adrian Pearson. He told me that when "Black Cat" was squeezed between the steel RCYC marinas a few weeks ago when the mooring chains broke, it was not only the hull and keel that were damaged. He said that the rudder was also "graunched". If that is so, it may have started a fracture of the rudder spine that culminated in the blade shearing off at high speed.

We are all very disappointed that our race had to end this way. We were going so well and must have been in with a reasonable chance for a top result. Unfortunately, we will now never know. We are just glad to be back on land safely and are very grateful to NSRI and the crew of Rescue 3 for their part in it, as well as the "Miriam Makeba" and SAS Isandlwana.

I also want to thank the crew of "Black Cat" for being such great and capable shipmates, always ready to do the right thing and with a smile.

Adrian Pearson (owner)
Dave (Wavy) Immelman (Navigator)
Sean (Buttercup) Collins
Gavin (Doris) Muller

And a big thank you must also go to our  Didi 38 "Black Cat". She took a hammering on our behalf and came through with negligible structural damage.

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Boat Building Plans And Kits | MIDDLE SEA RACE MORE GREAT VIDEOS

Boat Building Plans And Kits

The first one and my favorite is taken on the Neo 400 the hottest 40ft performance cruiser in Italy and probably in the world. This one:

 They gave more than 4 hours to the 40ft boat that won the race in compensated, a J122.  On the beginning of the video we can see them, in light wind, going away from a race boat, a 40class one. What a boat!!!

An then we have a great video from Tulip, and aluminium classic 88fter, a German Frers design, a gorgeous boat that is only classic from the water line up. The hull is very modern with a big draft (lifting keel) and a torpedo keel.

 They are showing on that video that the boat can sail fast and comfortably even in a storm. They took more 5 hours than the rocket Neo 400 but even so they managed to sail faster than one of the racing VOR 60 and did not lose much for the others!!! Racing with class :-)

And finally a video taken on a Swan 45 (sistership photo):

They finished the race in 17th place (IRC) but took almost 7 hours more than the Neo 400 and two hours more than the Tulip.


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Boat Plans Butler | Hitting the Nail on the Head with CC19

Boat Plans Butler

We all know what it means to "hit the nail on the head". Taken literally, it is so satisfying to hit a nail so square and hard that it drives a long way into the timber. Just a few such blows and it is home, securing whatever its destiny in life was to hold in its given place. Taken figuratively it means that we have expressed an idea very clearly and in a way that resonates with others.

In just the same way, it is possible to design something that is just perfect, that we would not like to do any differently if we were to start again from the beginning, even if armed with the experience that came from the use of that product. A designer can and should get tremendous satisfaction from his/her involvement in the process whenever that nail is so squarely struck on the head. I have been lucky enough to find that nail a few times.

The Cape Cutter 19 is just such a design. I really would not change anything at all about that little boat. I have not sailed them enough and hope that I will get many more opportunities to sail them. The sailing that I have done has always impressed me with the extraordinary speed, handling and ability of this little boat.

Two Cape Cutter 19s drying out in UK.

 It is not a racing boat, so dont expect it to plane downwind like a sportboat. It is a little cruiser that can sometimes make you feel like you can take on the sportboats. Take it out in light conditions and it will sail past virtually any other cruiser or cruiser/racer of similar size, as well as taking out many much larger boats that should be a whole lot faster. It is oh so satisfying to sail past a boat that looks much faster but isnt.

It is not only a light-weather boat though. Remember, I grew up sailing the waters of the Cape of Good Hope and spent most of my life sailing there. Most circumnavigators tackle the Southern tip of Africa with great trepidation because of the often violent wind and sea conditions. For those who live there, those are the conditions that are given, so they have to be dealt with. I designed the Cape Cutter 19 to sail those waters safely, with due diligence by the skipper, of course.

There is a really nice independent review of the CC19 and its bigger sisters on the SA Yacht Blog . It includes observations by the author of boats to these designs that he has seen in action around the Cape of Good Hope and how they have managed in those conditions.

These boats are loved by their owners and they are very sad to part with them. One such owner is Russell Eden in UK, who sold his CC19 this past weekend. I received these messages from Russell, repeated with his permission.

"I sold my Cape Cutter 19 today after three years of ownership.

She was number 47, built in SA. I wanted to personally thank you for creating such a beautiful craft. Each and every day I sailed her I had people approach me to talk. People would sail/motor over to take photos and video. People offered me money for her, there, on the spot.

Ive only sold her because my wife says she will come sailing with me more often if we had a boat with full standing room and a heads. I would have kept her forever otherwise.

Im sitting here now wondering what Ive done; Ive let go perhaps the most wonderful piece of property Ive ever owned. No doubt Ill get over it in time, but I doubt Ill ever own anything quite so easy on the eye, or so wonderful on the water.

Thank you for designing her."

Russell followed up with:-

"I really meant it too. You designed something which grown men cry after.

 That said, it was only ever the white ones I lusted after. I think you need to be able to see the lapstrake, which you cant always do on the darker hulls."

Russell Eden sailing his CC19 "Zephyr".

Thank you Russell, for your kind words. I get great satisfaction from them.

The Cape Cutter 19 is a GRP production boat built in UK by Honnor Marine . It can also be built from plywood from plans that we supply at http://dixdesign.com/ . There you can see our wide range of other designs as well.

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Boat Plans Bolger | New Plywood Garvey Design

Boat Plans Bolger

I have been working intermittently on a new 16ft design for awhile, the start of a range of small powerboats for protected water use. The design is still a way off being complete but the prototype is already being built by Kevin Agee in Hampton, Virginia and is progressing well.

I am using a garvey-type hull that can be easily built from either plywood or aluminium. It has Veed sections forward to soften the ride in a bit of a chop, with twisted bottom panels that run out to a shallow V at the transom for easy planing.

The version that Kevin is building has a self-draining wet deck with swivel seats on bases bolted to the deck. It has integral floodable tanks under the deck to hold bait and catch.There will also be a "sit-inside" version with bench seats, with the tanks under the seats.

Kevin is building from okoume plywood, cut from full-size paper patterns that we have supplied. When the design is complete then we will also offer plywood kits, cut by CNC machine. The photos below show the basics of construction as far as it has gone to date.

Bottom panels with slots for bulkhead tabs

Glass-taping joints in panels.

Bottom panels stitched together & bulkheads set up

Sides added and stitched to bottom

Foredeck added and stitched in.

Turned over and laid flat, ready to epoxy seams.

Now Kevin is doing the epoxy bonding of the chines and centreline joint with filled epoxy, prior to removing the copper wire ties, then glass-taping.

This design will be added to our design list in a few months when the plans are complete. See our current design list at http://dixdesign.com/priceabr.htm.

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