Boat Plans Aluminium | Today is the good ole days

Boat Plans Aluminium

Ive  had a good life. My mom and dad brought me up in a camping , hiking, pack mule traveling and eventually sailing cruising lifestyle. I was brought up with the adittude of if you wanted something you could not afford than build it yourself. Want to travel long distances on a Bycycle with an open time frame ..then do it on your own and not wait for a group to hang out with. This simple mind thought has  enabled me to just get things done and keep moving ahead. 

Looking back in time its nice to have all these memories of places seen, things done and felt. Like the time when bycyling through the Grand Tetons in Wyoming at the age of 19 .I awoke in the fall morning haveing just slept in my down sleeping bag on top of a picnick table that night. The morning air was so crisp when poking my head out of this cacoon. My sleeping bag was completely frozen solid from my perspiration during the night. I was a popsicle outside with a warm inside.

I have been lucky many times in my adventures, from close calls from vehicles during my bycycle touring days, my hitchhiking adventures, hiking and backpacking trips to my singlehanded ,and offshore sailing trips. Ive cheated death a couple times or as I like to put it I was not ready to die. So I never gave up and Iam still out here looking around the next bend to see whats there.

 

Today finds me in the Leeward island of Dutch St. Martin waiting for Rachel and our dog to fly in. This is a hectic place for a guy like me, but its very dog fly in friendly so here I wait doing boat chores, some design commissions and ponder the present , the past and what the future holds in my sailing lifestyle.

The past is fun to think back on but it can never be recaptured. I still look back and forth to the present. We first sailed to St. Martin on the Hogfish 24 years ago with rachel and our young daughter Kalessin who was not yet one year old. We spent Christmas in Phillipsburg bay at anchor eating a can of smoked oysters and an avocado . We had sailed here to buy a duty free am radio. Life was so simple then. No email, Internet, GPS , engine, and not very many boats. We had just sailed from St. Barts where we had splurged on a French pizza for $23.00 ! Yes its always been very expensive there. A lot of miles have passed under our keels since then. lots of hard work getting ahead and staying ahead. This we have done as a simple couple not wanting more than we could afford making our kids a part of our rolling stone- vagabond life style. We just have kept on going with the many different opportunities that have come up and have delt with our daughters along the way finding entertainment when young and shore side schooling when older to get them involved in the locals lifes. Both girls have excelled in  schooling both having won collage scholarships based on merit and grades. Growing up with a boat bum like me has not held them back. That was the good ole days.

Christmas Day 24 years go in St. Martin. Looking at a second main Id made from Jim Melchors old Alerts mainsail.

The present brings me to having moved out of the Simpson Bay Lagoon to re anchor off the beach in cleaner water and not so much harbor traffic. I had anchored in a small shallow part of the lagoon to get away from all the mega yachts, and just yachts in general as I keep thinking what would happen if the Hogfish Maximus where to get loose and drift down on a half a billion in yachts. In the Bahamas and other farther flung anchorages Iam used to putting out 2-3 anchors with lots of scope. I call my big fishermans my breaks. Then I feel good about going out on adventures in the skiff. Here there are so many yachts , sailboats ,wrecks and just stuff about there is simply not enough room today.

Right now Iam anchored off the beach in what looks to be shallow water but is about 8 which is shallow for most boats here. Its very rolly and bumpy but I can see the bottom kinda and I could get underway under sail if need be so I feel better here. 

Since arriving here Ive met up with some old sailing mates of ours . Some have gone around the world 

 for the third time since last talking. Our talk now is mostly about whats up with finding work, local crime, the rising costs of clearing in and out of ports and how many f#%king boats are anchored through out the worlds anchorages today. Work is still easy to find if you have skills and work ethic . Local crime is always there , just lock stuff up. The costs of clearing in seems to be a racket now as all these islands are within sight of each other with the locals running their boats back and forth with no hassles but for us and all the day tourists what a racket. 

I realize Iam an old fart cruiser because the growing number of fiberglass huge 55-70 sailboats being run by retired couples that have had no previous sailing experience is overwhelming . These boats are new and are worth from $ 350,000.00  to  a million upwards . By my count I have seen since sailing in here the past two weeks at least 500 + and counting and trying to avoid. Thats just sailboats not power boats .What amazes me , boats dont appreciate like land can so where did all this wealth come from? Wow. 

Now I realize Iam an old fart under achiever. Ha Ill stay simple and keep my freedom.

The wind here is ever present with rain squalls lasting only a minute or two. The locals are still nice and fun to talk to. Eating a huge meal where the locals eat costs  $5.00 with a beer. At the water front bars the food goes up but alchole is still the cheapest thing around. I like to go in the evenings to the St. Martin yacht club bar and watch the yachts go through the bridge at 5:30 opening.

From my observations in life I have noticed that if you really want to show the world how much money you have to spend then you buy a MEGA yacht. A trophy wife are a dime a dozen, a huge house nobody ever sees, the jet you flew in on is parked with the 60 other look alikes at the airport.

 BUT in  a big ole mega yacht every one can see and when it squeezes through the Simpson bay bridge your captain will sweat but you can look down on all the minions waving up at you.

Thats why I like taking my yacht through the bridge .

Milling about waiting for the bridge opening. How would you like to drag down on that yacht ? Ah... Sir I can fix that.

If I anchor 100 away in the same anchoage as these yachts and eat at the same places, er maybe and see the same sights and breath the same air.. Should I consider myself a one percenter?

My skiff is the third one ... No its the white one... No ... What was its name again?

Theyre everywhere! 

Cueing up to get through, I went last... Safer

Going through. I have a friends condom boat on deck. They will be here soon to get it.

Now thats my kind of yacht ! Life is good , three big box wines, grocerys, and the whole crew in a 6 rubber condom boat.

 

Its a bit more hectic here now  but I have some change in my pocket and time to explore the new realitys of the present. 

I do have to confess, I have a trophy wife , and very nice house, a yacht and I do get high once in awhile so no jet ,who cares,

TODAY IS THE GOOD OLE DAYS !

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Boden Boat Plans Australia | More Argie 15 Sailing

Boden Boat Plans Australia

John Read in Cape Town built himself an Argie 15  and has been sailing it a year or two. He has made a video of him sailing it in breezy and gusty conditions on Rietvlei, in the suburbs of Cape Town. John has learned much about his boat and is now very comfortable with her characteristics. In this video she shows some of the speed that these boats manage to achieve.

John is obviously enjoying his Argie 15, which is our most popular design.

The beautiful Table Mountain stands guard over Cape Town and is visible in the background of some of the shots.

Please visit our website at http://dixdesign.com/ for more on this and out other designs.

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Canoe Boat Plans | The Red Baron project

Canoe Boat Plans

I move around a lot sailing from one project- job to the next. Right now a front is coming through here and it is raining so will sit down and share this story with you. Four years ago my friend Phil emails me a picture of an unfinished Ian Farrier 32 AX trimaran bare hull and some parts that is for sale in Oregon state. This is Phils dream boat. The man that started it has died of a heart attack , the boat and parts are for sale by his young son-24 and his surviving sister. They are not sailors. Would I hop on a plane and go out and look at it and if its worth finishing buy it and get it to Florida for me to Finnish the build? Sure why not I need to settle into a routine and be a normal dad for my youngest daughter as she finishes high school. This will be a good job. I was in the Bahamas working on building my house but this could be good. 

My wife and daughter were renting a small place in St Augustine fl. As they have good schools there. My wife was running a used antique book store. I sail on up. 

The first thing I do is look up this tris hull sections for me to see if I can get it into a freight box. I have 3" to spare if it is built to plans and I can get it in sideways. The place where the boat is being built is in the middle of no where in a garage. I will need to fly to Oregon drive 350 miles to the boat,look the boat over ,find a crane rental, line up a trucking company, meet with the son, make an offer and if accepted start the process of getting out and into the container all ASAP. 

The gentalman that started his dream project was an engineer at the nucular war head site in this town. His name was Charley Brown. Charles Brown. He was very detailed in building what he had done so far. The boat was being built in Systems Three Epoxy , Core Cell foam core with some modifications to the design aft cabin deck height. Smart move as it is way too low as designed unless you are an earth worm that likes to wiggle your way in and around and out of that coffin like aft cabin.

His work was perfect so far. He had gotten the two hull halves together, the outer Amas built , the daggerboard case and board. Some tools were there . Lots of supplies but all a long ways to go. 

I am always amazed at people that take on projects like this when they have retired. This design build is a huge under taking by anyone . Tons of hours to build. Nothing romantic about the whole project as it is all about glass work and fairing. No wood in site except for the plug work. Pretty much a thankless job unless you are getting paid to build it. It is by no means cheap to build on your own as the materials still cost a bundle. Labor still costs, but it will take you at least 3,500 + hours of yours so its a part of your life. When done you will not make your money back unless you have a buyer waiting. It is way better in the long run to buy a used boat now and enjoy your life. But if you are like me you will take great joy and pride in creating your own flying carpet to explore the world. Forget the itch, the dust, smell, endless hours inside a shed with only a peak of the out side world waiting. Lets get going and see how this contraption sails.

The son and his Aunt wanted a lot of $ for the bare hull and parts. My offer was this; the boat as it sits is pretty much not worth anything till built. Does not matter what was spent to date , the boat must be in the water to have real value. They had several offers. I offered them way less than the others but said

 " Iam  the only one that will have the boat built in a little over a year from now. The others will not be doing this if at all. If you want to see Charleys boat sailing I will be be the one to do it". Seeing the boat finished was worth more to them than a bit more cash. 

I took working alone 13 months to finish building Charleys dream boat and making it into Phils. My deal with Phil was I would charge $25.00 an hour for labor and would get all the materials at cost or better and pass the savings on to him. He would cover all expenses. I am very good at finding deals as I have been around for awhile. The finished boat cost $226,000.00 with my labor at just under $40,000.00. 

A friend was building one in Canada in a professional shop with the cost going out the door at over $350,000.00. So we were ahead of it a bit.

This was a good project . I lived in a house for this period , and kinda acted like a regular guy during this time. As soon as the sea trials were over Rachel and I sailed back to the Bahamas. Our daughter Lillian had been awarded a full scholarship to finish her 11 th and 12 th grade schooling in an IB program in the UWC in Duino Italy during this time.She escaped before we did.

 Arriving from Oregon ready to lift out . I built the cradle there and loaded the boat and parts in myself. The truck driver being an American weighed at least 350 lbs and could barely breath. He made it though across the states.

I think everyone should have a machine like this , so much fun. Never used one before this project but you can rent for very little and learn on the job or poke a hole in something.

Nothing like a strong light weight hull.

Everything is cored so you just make up these sheets and start putting the puzzle together. I still have to glass everything in here and then fair.

The folding system that Ian Farrier has designed is complicated but works beautifull when done. You only have 3 mm of play to work with so have to have a secure level boat and pay attention to all the details. Kinda like building a plane.

Daggerboard rudder before glassing.

Interior shot after Awlgripping. I use a full face mask. Your eye balls are an open skin membrane so if they are protected from the fumes then you can work and paint away. If not you drop dead. This was a total bitch and nightmare to fair and paint. The shop at this point was at mid summer about 100 degrees so I sweated up a storm but I am used to this being in the tropics my whole life.

A detail of the stern and the daggerboard rudder. I like these as you just lift the rudder up an can still sail. With a kick up rudder you tremendous weather helm. 

This is not Bondo but the System Three fairing putty they sell. Since this was all epoxy no fumes and plenty of working time.

My home made fairing rig. Works like a charm but you have to cover your eyes and like to work in a dust storm. I was renting a small storage bay so could not blow the dust out the door. Had to do all this with the door shut. I like to wear all cotton shirts and jeans even though it is 100 degrees plus in here my sweat cools me off. The fan provides a breeze but because the door is closed the dust storm will be about for a bit. I then Vacume out the whole shop.

The boat had a beam of 25 and the shop was 20 wide . I just built one Ama  and Aka at a time and then slid the boat over to the other side. Saved a ton on rent. Rent was $750.00 a month. The building was metal and the inside was sheet rock nothing else. I had to buy insurance to rent . My landlord said to insure for $100,00.00. The insurance companys said they would only insure for a minimum of $500,00.00. Crooks. The custom trailer people are about to arrive.

The Epoxy that the boat was being built out of had to be cured to 120 degrees for 4 hours taking up to ten hours to slowly cure this type of epoxy resin. I built this shed over the boat with all parts inside , renting a propane furnace heater . I installed 10 thermometers around the box . Took a day to build , a day to cure and a day to remove. I had no need for the wood and all that good insulation and offered it to the guy in the next bay. He said a friend was building a shed and would get it in the morning. He shows up with his Fire Marshall uniform on , looks at the furnace and me and says " I dont want to know what you were up to". To this date with a bright red hull no print through.

Stern with a custom engine mount .

Rachel posing like the bikini girls on my walls. Getting ready to put the bling on the boat.

Only an inch at the door. Ian Farriers plans are very detailed but kind of scattered with the info. 

Tied up along side the Hogfish. I knew the Hogfish would not be jealous of me spending so much time with this sexy new boat. Although lean light and super fast this red thing could only carry a six pack of beer and you could poke a hole through her sides in an instant. Nothing like the battle horse you know and love.

Calvert sails, wing mast, 18 knots in 12 . 

Screecher 

The end of a good project with a happy owner. 

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Wood Boat Plans And Kits | COMANCHE FIRST SAILING VIDEO OF WHAT IS SUPPOSEDLY THE FASTEST MONOHULL

Wood Boat Plans And Kits

I confess that I have mixed feelings about Comanche, the new Maxi designed by Van Peteghem Lauriot Prévost (VPLP) and Guillaume Verdier: It looks enormous, not only a big sailboat but a huge sailboat, incredibly beamy and needing a very numerous crew. Anything but elegant to my eyes. I like monohulls but I have to admit that if Comanche is the way to go in what regards race monohulls, I find much more elegant the maxi trimarans, that are even faster.

On the video we can see how fast the boat goes downwind but also how surprisingly wet is and not even on big seas. I would have expected a 100ft racer to be less wet.

I cant wait for the next Sydney Hobart where Comanche will measure forces, in a race that is not predominantly a downwind race, with some of the fastest Maxis. I have no doubt that the Comanche is the fastest monohull downwind, but in what regards racing upwind in nasty seas, I have some doubts. Thats why I think the next Sydney Hobart will be so interesting

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Boat Plans Bruce Roberts | Americas Cup Value to Sailing

Boat Plans Bruce Roberts

I have recently been quite active on the LinkedIn forums about Americas Cup. It is not in my nature to participate in forums because I have found that it is all too easy to get drawn in and become embroiled, fending off attacks by Internet trolls whose great ambition in life is to be destructive to others. LinkedIn is a more closed community and less apt to show this nastiness and aggression. If I feel strongly enough about an issue then I will have my say and keep up with the rest of the discussion.

Just such a discussion came out of my last blog entry, about Race 13 exceeding the time limit. You can read that entry by scrolling down the page or go to the blog archive on the left of this blog. The response was that races should not have time limits and should just continue until there is a winner. It referenced baseball as a comparison. Discussion then progressed to the format that is being used for this current edition of Americas Cup, AC34. Some of my posts have been well received and it was suggested that one post in particular should be read by a wider audience.

I responded to the following question. I dont want to name the poster, I dont have his permission.

"So I am going to go back to my question on the cup. Forty minutes time limit for an Americas Cup race? I would like to see the last race ground out for say 2 hours of excitement vs. just 40 minutes. Are we an ADHD society that if it goes longer that 40 minutes we loose our audiance (sic). I dont care. Its the Americas Cup. It should be raced with sweat and tears to the end. It should go as long as a football game or basketball game(including time outs and media breaks). Shouldnt it?"

Here is my response.

"We all have our own ideas on what should be and what shouldnt be. Whos to say which is right? I agree that 40 minutes does seem too short a time limit but I understand the aim of the organisers to popularise sailing competition with the non-sailors and the parameters within which they were working.

Sailing is its own sport and it is evolving rapidly with technology. Do you really want to watch these two boats sailing back and forth upwind and downwind for 3 hours or more each race and potentially for 17 days (19 days including the 2-race penalty) in a row? That will drive the TV viewers back to whatever they were watching before AC34 came along.

I grow thoroughly bored watching football and baseball. They are stop-start games and they hold the attention of the audience for very short periods of action. The players get to rest for much of the duration and only work in short bursts. They can go on all night if needed, without burning themselves out. The crews on these boats are working hard the whole time, every race.

I think that it will work to compare AC racing with cricket. Test cricket takes 5 days of play, broken into 4 sessions each day. With no limits aside from the 5-day time limit, it often ends with no winner. It bores most people to tears. Then one-day international cricket was introduced, featuring 50 overs (300 balls) bowled by each team against the other batsmen. Suddenly cricket became interesting to a much wider audience. Now they play international 20-over games and the games are very exciting to watch, with massive viewership.

Rugby was always an exciting running game but it has also gone the same route of short, very fast and exciting games with the Rugby Sevens. This is what is needed to hold the attention of the modern world, where there is always something else trying to grab attention. Why should sailing not be right there in the fray also grabbing attention with short, fast and very exciting races.

Sailing is a sport of ageing players and needs new and young blood to survive. This event is likely to attract new people to sailing in one form or another. We can watch yacht racing as we knew it 20 years ago until it goes the way of the dinosaurs or we can embrace the new world and regenerate sailboat racing as a viable sport.

There is still a place for 5-day test cricket, for a much smaller audience than the other forms. Likewise, there is also still a place for the longer duration sailing races. I will be skippering a 38ft sailboat across the South Atlantic in January. We will be racing flat-out for 3 weeks from Africa to South America. There will be exciting times for me and my crew far away from the eyes of any TV audience. I enjoy that racing immensely, as a participant but I dont expect our slow progress across the ocean chart to keep anyone rivetted to the edge of their seat the way that AC34 is doing to us right now.

I think that with AC34 they have hit a winning formula and I am enjoying every short minute of it."

Thank you for taking the time to read my viewpoint. It is often a bit off the beaten track but I think that it is valid.

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Plywood Boat Plans Australia | Cape Henry 21 Launched in Croatia

Plywood Boat Plans Australia

Dean Ivancic lives in Porec, Croatia. He bought plans from us a few years ago for the Cape Henry 21. He has been working steadily on his boat and reported to me today that he launched her in April. He has sent me some rather nice photos of her under sail. She is still incomplete down below but has all that is needed to sail.

She is named "Scintilla", Italian for "spark", also the meaning of "Iskra", the Croatian name of Deans youngest daughter.

We wish Dean and his family lots of fun and adventures in their Cape Henry 21.

"Scintilla" on one of her first outings.

Pretty from any angle.

Dean has done a nice job of building "Scintilla".

The Cape Henry 21 is surprisingly quick and has delightful manners. These boats prove that a boat doesnt have to be ugly to be fast.

For more on this design and others in our range, go to http://dixdesign.com/.

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Boat Plans Nz | Sailing Model AMYA Star45 Class Rudder

Boat Plans Nz

AMYA Star 45 Class Rules, 2006, Rudder

6.1 Rudders may be constructed of wood, fiberglass, plastic, plastic laminates or metal. The exact shape is not specified, but they may not exceed 4 1/2 inches at the hull (fore and aft) 3 inches at the bottom, (fore and aft); and may not project more than 7 inches below the hull when measured at the post..

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Boat Plans And Patterns | Shallow minded sailing

Boat Plans And Patterns

The past few days Lillian my daughter and I went out for a few days exploring with our sea dog Bequia on the Hogfish Maximus . The island that we live on is one of 18 in a small bay on the north coast of Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. From our house we can see about half of these with the farthest one away being 7 miles. All have good anchorages in their lees depending on the wind direction. The best all weather anchorage being the landlocked harbor on Royal Island. The entrance to Royal Island has a small rock island almost in the third middle of the channel. The entrance for deep draft is to the west side of this rock. But when entering the east third looks so logical that lots of competent and lesser seaman think this is the way to go forgoing the pilot books and guides. Unfortunately just under the water in this part is a nice big shoal that has enough keel grooves in that the guest book it must have is in volumes. I love sailing in and out of here when the harbor is full of newbies at anchor on Hogfish Maximus she looks to have a deep draft which most times is drawing a bit over 7 with her board down. We know the bottom by heart so always go in and out the wrong way with all the crowd giving good advice as to the danger ahead via VHF radio . Reading old sailing yarns like Peter Pyes Moonrakers cruises , it is neat to know that he made the mistake and ran Moonraker up on this ledge too. I like diving along its length feeling the limestone ledge, with its multiple colored scrapes along it and think of old Moonraker here in the 40s stuck with no one to see her embarrassment.

I being a very cautious navigator have never run aground, but there has been multiple times when there has not been enough water to go where I am headed. This is only a temporary setback which we are used to being in the mode of calling out water depths in inches . An inch under our bottom is plenty but it can be slow going as the mass of displacement sucks the water away and we kind of inch worm along stopping and filling back in and going and sucking and stopping with a messing dusty underwater wake. This is not running aground its just not having enough water. When we do run out of water its really no big deal as the HFM just sits upright as solid as a concreat parking lot. With a 9 wide bottom you dont  lean her over you just climb down aft into the water hopefully with a Sandy bottom with only your shorts gettin wet. If in mud then its a bit deeper . My usual thing is to wade to the bow squatting  down with my back to the boat grabbing the chine with both hands behind me and lifting a bit. By lifting up just a couple of inches the boat rocks aft and with the added displacement of the stern sections an inch of draft is gotten and so with the 32,000 lb boat now floating I spin her around and push her back into deeper water, something like 28". This is why I say we never run aground. The times we are being inconvenienced by not having enough water to go when and where we want I just blame on the moon as not keeping in sync with us.

Dont ever follow us as we take a lot of short cuts . We have found that in a simple breeze pif the seas are not breaking a bit or the swell is not giving a slight hump then there is enough water for us to go. So on we press but only in daylight and not over coral reefs or steel ship wrecks.

When we are sailing with the daggerboard down fully the HFMs draws 710"s. We have hit many unmarked sunken boats in far off harbors when tacking into them. This usually stops us dead in our tack- tracks... But only for a moment as we quickly let go the floating daggerboard down line and up pops the board and away we go with one of us quickly cranking the board back down. Most times nobody notices us in our impromptu bottom surveying of this new harbor. 

When racing and cutting corners on shoals , cruising and thinking we can make it over some shoal the same drill happens with only a little less glass on the tip of the board, a shagrinned skipper and off we go. That is another reason why we never run aground.

Anchored off of Egg Island in 7 

Looks shallow but at least 7 here

Nothing like clear water

This is actually 4 of water.

Our friends the Underwoods summer camp house on Egg Island

When the tide goes out we would be on the bottom. No big deal if the wind stays this way. If not when the water comes back we would have about a half an hour of bumping before lift off. This we have done with both Hogfishes at least a thousand times. These boats were designed and built for this.

One of many small islands in our bay. Water is 3 deep here now . As they say in the Bahamas  

  " We have lots of water here, its just spread out very thin."

Beach coaming treasure ! A free cleat from a wreck.

It sure is nice having a shoal draft vessel but if your draws a bit more then you will be anchored out a bit farther than us. The fun difference between keel and non keel boats is that when you run aground you are aground, no lifting your skirts and moving on. Sorry

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Boat Plans Building | Sailing Model AMYA Star45 Class Decking

Boat Plans Building

From Terry Forbes:
"The Star 45 boats that I have built have decks made from bass wood strips that are 1/4" X 1/16". I find them easy to use and easy to bend with out fracturing. I use thick ca to bond to hull frames and to the adjoining strip. When is have it all glued down, I sand with 120 grit and then 200. I use a soft rag to wipe off deck but leave the cracks filled with the sanding dust or "wood Flower" I then give it a thinned coat of slow cure epoxy. This first coat will soak into the wood completely. I then use un-thinned epoxy for the second and third coat, wet sanding and tack ragging between coats. If you want a really glassy deck, I use a finish coat of Captians Spar varnish. I have used this finish technique on full scale boats and all of my Kayaks. Very nice and durable finish. The decks go on easy and I try to stagger the strips one dark one light. I built a full scale star in the early 60s and had a striped planked deck. I like the look and it builds light. It keeps the hull true as sometimes when you add the deck using plywood it can cause it to move around. I will post some photos of my next hull as it comes to life. I have constructed a ships-way. I used the formers that are shown on the IMYA star plans. I now only have to cut the actual hull formers. I Stack cut 4 at a time on my trusty Dremmel Moto Shop Saw. I have added some lighting holes here and there. All in all I can have a hull lofted in 1 hr. and the sides on that evening using 20-min epoxy to coat the frames and the inside of the hull side. I first made my side peaces out of poster board. This allowed me to get the fit close and have a template to trace the sides for cutting. "

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Wooden Boat Plans And Kits | Sailing Model AMYA Star45 Class Booms

Wooden Boat Plans And Kits

AMYA Star 45 Class Rules, 2006, Boom
4.0 BOOMS:

4.1 The main boom and jib club shall not exceed 5/8" when measured at the thickest point. Booms and jib clubs shall be constructed of wood, aluminum and/or fiberglass.

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Boat Trailer Plans Australia | Our Boat for Cape to Rio 2014

Boat Trailer Plans Australia

A few weeks ago I announced that we will sail in the Cape to Rio Race in January. If you missed it, you can read it here. Now I would like to tell a bit more about the boat.

Her name is "Black Cat" and she is very special in my life. I designed her, I built her in my garden and I have sailed her across the South Atlantic three times. I have also raced and cruised her for many, many miles on the notorious Cape of Good Hope waters and she formed the foundation of my best selling range of boat designs. She is the prototype of the Didi 38 design and older sister to designs from the DS15 (Didi Sport 15) through to the DH550 .

"Black Cat" with her crew on launch day.

 I started concept sketches during the 1993 Cape to Rio Race on the Shearwater 39 "Ukelele Lady". "Ukelele" is very comfortable and carried us across the Atlantic in 29 days, excellent for a cruiser.  Still, I resolved part-way across  to do the next race on a boat of my own, which would be better able to take advantage of the downwind surfing conditions found on this race.

The new boat was to be cold-moulded wood. It was to be very light, with a big rig and deep bulb keel for high performance. Light and beamy boats are uncomfortable at sea and I sometimes get seasick, so I designed her relatively narrow for comfort. Narrow beam would also make her even faster.

I had nearly 3 years to build but I had a very big problem, I had no money to start. It was nearly a year before I had money to start building. Now the problem became a lack of time to build the cold-moulded boat, so I had to find an alternative solution that would be quicker to build.

My solution was to develop a method for building a rounded hull shape from plywood, using a radius chine form developed from my metal designs. I needed it to be mostly sheet plywood for fast construction but a rounded shape for performance, aesthetic and resale value reasons.

The resulting boat was 4 tons displacement in measurement trim and with 50% ballast ratio. She turned out to be clean, simple, pretty and a delight to sail. In two Cape to Rio Races she carried us across the Atlantic in 21 days in vastly different conditions. In one race she topped out as 18 knots and covered 250 miles in 24 hours. On the other her top speed was 22 knots but her 250 mile record went unbroken.

Where did her name come from? She is, after all, a yellow monohull and not a black catamaran. Black Cat is the top-selling peanut butter brand in South Africa and they sponsored her in the 1996 race. The kids knew her as the "Peanut Butter Boat" and her big  Black Cat spinnakers attracted a lot of attention.

Moving well in very light breeze.

She is quick on all headings in light breezes. The above photo was taken while racing on St Helena Bay in only 3-4 knots of breeze, a race in which she took line honours with a very comfortable lead over the 2nd placed boat, also a 38ft cruiser/racer.

She also loves to run free in a strong breeze. From cracked off on a fetch through to a run, she flies in strong conditions. Like me, she loves to surf. I surfed her at 22 knots down a very big wave mid-Atlantic after a storm.

Yet, she remains a home-built plywood boat and I look forward to spending 3 weeks with her and her crew as we cross the ocean once again. In the next few weeks I will write about the crew who will keep me and "Black Cat" company on this voyage.

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

PS. Entries for the race currently stand at 26 boats, with another 19 pending. The race website is at http://www.cape2rio2014.com/ .


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