Cricket is now a real sailboat and I have taken her out many times.
She sails well and is a light responsive boat. So far she has been very steady and has not yet taken in any water. In fact she behaves just as promised by the designer, John Harris from
Chesapeake Light Craft website Skerry Page
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Heading out! Just off the dock. |
 Heading for the open water. |
Perfect day. Nice sun, nice wind, nice waves! I usually sit a bit closer to the middle so the front is not so high. There is not much wind in the harbour but outside there was about 12 knots. |
Toronto Island Beach
Sailing out of harbour, lots of wind. |
Had a fabulous sail to the Toronto Island and had my lunch on the beach. Rowed most of the way back. Easy and smooth!
How does she sail?
Cricket has gone out about 30 times this season, in all kinds of weather. Some days were quite extreme as in the day I got caught in a squall. Other days were almost dead calm. So here the short version for me at least. Cricket can handle really strong wind. (I've been in at least 25 knots that I know of and much bigger gusts) and the main issue is just hanging on and keeping the boat straight. In light weather it moves as well as anything at my club and better than most.
Waves have a much bigger effect on my little Cricket. If its choppy with waves going this way and that, Cricket hates it, particularly in light wind. She just wallows there when there is not enough wind to fight the chop. As soon as there is a bit more wind she can move but still doesn't like chop at all. The wind tends to just spill from the sail because of the bouncing around. If the waves are big but regular and not breaking, Cricket is not terribly worried. I have had her is nice big 4 feet waves and she just loved it. With her nose in a wave she crashes a bit because of the flat bottom though. She seems to prefer being at a slight angle. I don't much like the crashing but she seems to tolerate it. I try to not go sideway in the waves too much but so far I have not had any trouble. She is very forgiving. The small size of the sail helps me as a beginner. I have never gotten any water in the boat yet, but I think I will try to push my luck a bit next season.
It seems to be able to point resonably in the wind with my not so good nylon sail and not as well with my new smaller polytarp sail. (could just be needing tweaking). I sail from the floor just behind the middle seat. It still lifts the front a bit too much. I will be getting some sandbags I think to experiment with adding a bit of weight to the front. It behaves very well with 2 people. It is much less jumpy in chop and rides a bit smoother. Slower to accelerate though.
Cricket is not tippy and is quite fast because she is so light, responsive and forgiving. She rows very nicely and its easy to just keep going.
I'm finally quite comfortable in her and feel safe knowing that if anything sudden happens (like my snotter coming apart and the sprit just falling out, essentially scandalizing it in 18 kt wind) the boat doesn't bat an eye. (Just makes a big fuss with flapping sail!)
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Season 2
Cricket the Skerry
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Cricket the Skerry, spent the winter in my tiny front yard near the kitty condo. Feral cats loved sitting under it, and if the truth be known one or 2 actually peed on the tarp covering it.
Lots of action at the boat club, we repaved the back lot and had a big working day clearing stuff from the lots and moving the canoes and dinghies. The week before the keelboats had been put in the water using a big crane. Pretty amazing. The captains have been busy setting up their masts.
All this to do to prepare for the Ice Breaker Regatta. (Organized by our very own George Blanchard, 90 + and sharp as a whip. Sailing keeps you young!) |
 All tucked in, in the front yard |
 Car toppable, YES SIR! |
A short drive to the lake, but I die anyway. I'm always worried that something will happen. No problemo though, George had pretty much knitted the boat to his car. It didn't shift a mil.
Got to the club, set Cricket on its trailer and tucked it in. Cold and windy. I had painted the rudder/ centerboard and tiller and they were too tacky to handle. I took them the next day on my bike trailer.
Went for my first sail today. I was lucky, just as I set out the wind picked up and I had a great time. Cricket can take lots of wind. I also had my new white Polytarp out for its first real sail. It worked quite well and is going to be fine for heavier wind. I made it a bit smaller with the idea of having another larger sail for more quiet days. |
 Toronto Sailing and Canoe Club |
Photo taken in March during a warm spell. The Toronto Sailing and Canoe club is one of the oldest in the country. No posers here! Lots of action, canoes and kayaks, some Dragons, a couple of huge outriggers, Dinghies (Wayfarers and Lazers mostly) a good collection of keelboats including a fabulous Dragon. Our harbour is not so deep so we don't have really large boats. There are no motor boats except for the club support boats. I think there are races twice a week plus on week ends. I'm not much of a racer but its loads of fun.
There is a very active sailing school and this year we have a record number of adult classes scheduled. We also run classes for small kids in Optimists, and teenager classes too. Lots of action and fabulous energy. Since most of my sailing is done during the day I run into the kids more than the grown ups. |
Read about construction
Links to the [hull part 1] [hull part 2] [mast] [rudder and centreboard] [sails] [oars] [cleats] [daggerboard well and mast step ] [ boat ]
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