I designed and built my first boat in the mid 70's, when we were living in Nebraska. I was a busy student with limited budget and time. The area has small lakes and shallow rivers and creeks but plenty of wind sweeping in off the plains. Consequently, I designed a sort of cross between a canoe and kayak. Double chine, plank keel, low freeboard, partially decked, approx. 16' by 3'. Also, it had to fit out the kitchen window after hauling it up the basement stairs. Using trajectory curve mathematics (and a slide rule!), I was able to compute the length of both chines, the sheer, and sheathing panel lengths as well as calculating all offsets.
No strongback was needed; all parts fit together as cut. A friend had recently built a Windmill sailboat. He was impressed as I simply put the pieces together. I had used a parallel projection, so all bevels were constant angles which were easy to precut. Thus, I was able to get tight joints and use resorcinol glue successfully. As an experiment, I built a pair of leeboards, attached a push-pole rudder, and used a closet pole mast and nylon tarp for a sprit sail rig. With this I was able to maneuver up and down the lake but sailing rigs don't get much cruder than this.
2 comments:
Love it! My question is how well did it sail using that sail rig?
Terrible. The material was nylon which stretched easily. There was no design to the sail; just a piece of cheap nylon and some closet pole for a mast and sprit boom. But I was still able to navigate my way from one end of the lake to the other and back. It was purely an experiment. When I built a boat in Panama, I ordered real sail cloth and created a much more effective sprit sail.
Post a Comment