Bow seat reinforcement
During my build I had added an extra piece of ply to the bow and stern seats. I also have a reinforcement and attachment in the bow, you can see the piece of mahogany. That backs up and supports the ring for the front painter. I have also added a small brass attachment. I hope to use that for the jib attachment. If the screws pull out I will add a ring on the seat with washers and nuts and bolts.
Here we go again.
Crew inspects the polytarp. Its a good material for experimenting. This particular sheet is very thin and light. I went for colour both to match the existing sail and because I like to use bright colours. I'm almost always out alone and bright sails make me easier to notice.
I trimmed off extra material so it would be easier to handle. The trimmed sheet will be used for a cover for the Puddle Duck Racer I'm building.
I had measurements for all sides from my sail drawing. Since it is to scale I had just measured and scaled up. Not terribly precise but since I don't have strong opinions about a jib I'm not sure it matters. The only concern I had was that it would fit in the space and would not be too large. I was also concerned that the line to the bulkhead would not be at an odd angle.
The luff is to the straight of the fabric since it will be under some tension. The foot is close to 90 degrees so will also almost be straight of fabric. I have added enough fabric to fold the edge twice. No need here to add binding.
Corner patches are cut for the reinforment. I follow the same alignment of the fabric as the sail. I stitched the 2 patch pieces together before I sew them on the sail.
This is a very simple sail. The edges get turned over and sewn. When I come to the corners I add the patches. I also trim a layer off the ends so that I dont end up with 10 plus layers at the corners. I eventually stitched 3 times, this made the edging a bit stiffer and I hope stronger. I am not planning to put any rope inside or out to strengthen the edges. I have not attempted to add any shape to the sail. It is completely flat. If this experiment works I will look into improving the shape of the sail but I'm not sure yet that this will work or improve the current rig at all. I was quite pleased with the existing orange sail and I know that when it comes time to replace it I will pay attention to shaping the sail to improve performance.
Highest standards of quality control are maintained in the sail loft. Each step in the process always start with -Remove cat from sail.
One of the corners showing patches and stitching. The tip was trimmed and stitched. Grommet still needs to be applied. I only put 2 layers to the corner patches. My other sails had 4-5 layers I hope this is enough. I don't think this sail will be under alot of stress though. The sail is very light. I will put light lines on the ends so that the weight of them does not interfere with the sail billowing freely.
All I need to do now is apply the grommets. I will use the soldering iron to melt a hole in each corner and quickly put in the grommet.
I have an extra block I can use at the top of the mast to haul the sail up. I will add a cleat on the mast if this works. Until I've tested it I can attach it to the downhaul cleat.
I'll have to be patient and wait until spring to test this sail. SIGH!! Have you seen by boat club page icicles?
My boat with its sails up, the jib fits well on the boat. Line at the end of the sprit prevents jib from getting hooked on the end. That is one of the problems of this sail. I think in the future I will try a smaller jib that does not touch the sprit. If I ran a line in front of the mast from side to side, I could make the jib self tacking. To be continued.
Short video showing the jib in use. The wind is coming from behind and the jib is pushed out using a boat hook. Wind is about 8 knots and the speed is good. It's hard to take photos of the jib in use while underway because it is hidden by the main sail usually.
The jib has improved the balance of the rig and makes handling easier.
This is the current incarnation of the rig. I have set up a small halyard and its easy to drop and haul up. I have also set up 2 camcleats on each side of the middle seat. That works well too. The only problem I'm having is that the jib sometimes gets caught up in the end of the sprit when I tack. I keep a boathook handy to sort that out when it happens. It has really improved the sailing of the skerry. I can point better upwind and certainly go better. I never seem to go much faster than 5 knots, I guess that's my hull speed.
After dropping the jib I can use the halyard to pull up the boom. I just attach the end of the halyard to the end of the boom, loosen the snotter to release the tension on the sprit and pull the boom up against the mast. It's an easy way of getting the boom out of the way if I want to row when the wind has died off and I'm stuck in the middle of the lake just bobbing.
With this rig I can heave to and stay pretty much put quietly drifting. It's a bit uncanny this parking of the boat.
Links to the [hull part 1] [hull part 2] [mast] [rudder and centreboard] [sail] [oars]
[cleats] [ daggerboard well and mast step ]
emails: Christine
This web site reflects my personal ideas and doesn't represent anyone else's point of view.