Boatbuilding in the time of Corona – a facebook group
Things to do while home isolation and social distancing are the norm
Sail boat Foils
Foils – design, building, sizing, optimisation
Why Plywood breaks – Real wood for Centreboards and Rudders
One recurring problem with plywood foils, centreboards, leeboards and rudders is that over time they tend to break unexpectedly.
Glassing timber sailboat foils for smoothness and accuracy
Make excellent and accurate foils (centreboard, leeboard, keel or rudder blade) adding way more performance for not much effort and no cost – series
Add hydrofoil stabilisation to a sailing dinghy – specs and methods
It is not difficult to build a hydrofoil stabilised dinghy – Also a model for information sharing so everyone is not always reinventing the wheel
Homebuilt Hydrofoil for Sailboats test sailed – end to hiking out?
Hydrofoil sailing is possible for homebuilt boats. It can be used to reduce heeling so the crew doesn’t have to work so hard.
Cheap Hack for 10 percent more upwind Sailboat Performance
When a boat owner considers upgrading their boat to make it safer and get more performance, often the first thought is for new sails which is expensive, but a cheap hack is to improve the foils (centreboard or leeboard) which might take little more than a couple of weekends and cost around 50 bucks.
Why & How to Optimise a Cruising Dinghy Lug Rig? Texas 200 mile Report
Owner: I am not much interested in racing, but there is no motor mount on this boat, and there never will be. I hate rowing, so the boat has to be able to take me where I want to go under sail. The foils were the first step-this sail completes the journey. :)
Foiling Week 2018 Pt 2 – Foiling Sail for the rest of us!
Foiling for the mainstream. Part 1 focussed on the bleeding edge, but that is a minority of sailors. This part reports on work done on foilers that are stable, easy to sail and don’t do dramatic crashes. Boats for the mainstream
Foiling week 2018 Part 1 – composites and foils – Sydney
I found myself at Foiling Week 2018 in Sydney. There are two groups involved in foiling with a large gulf between them. The out and out high expense group who see themselves as the future of sailing. The other group is much more interesting to me as it looks at the stability and handling advantages of foiling which are only just starting to be explored.
When box boats got our attention – Oz Racer then Goose Sailboats
How we discovered our box boat designs were good … and how they (or any other boat can reach its potential for very small extra effort. It is mostly in the thinking!
Foiling – Forefront vs Fakes
Who is Foiling and who is Faking. Where is the real technical development? First a glimpse of history before we see who is foiling and how the Moth group solved all the problems. Yes … all of them. America’s cup just leaches off this amazing technical success. It is Trickle Up … not Trickle Down.
The Fallen Keel – An adventure in keel design.
“My keel has fallen off” – Ray’s voice on the phone. So he dropped his sails and motored home. He asked me to design a new keel that he could build himself. This article goes through the process of turning a deep keeled boat into a competitive shoal shallow draft boat in a way one builder working by themselves can do.
How we Strip Planked a Fenwick Williams Catboat
A Fenwick Williams catboat carefully reinterpreted in Cedar Strip. Includes cleaner structure, optimised foils and a tabernacle rig that allows raising of the mast by one person. Built by David Wilson at Duck Flat Wooden Boats in Adelaide.
Rigging guide for Goat Island Skiff – Efficient lug sails
How do you rig your Goat Island Skiff or other balance lug rigged boat? This page will be useful for everyone, but specifically assist Goat owners in selection of rope, rope lengths and show all the rigging details. We have also found a number of cheaper ways of doing things from our experience in the Philippines. Halyard, downhaul, outhaul, lashings, rope fittings, rudders, centreboard.
Making NACA and highly accurate centreboard and rudder foils at home
A good centreboard or leeboard is as important as a good sail. We use a simple templates for quick and accurate shaping. Making without the templates … several were feeling that they couldn’t make them to a greater accuracy than 1/16th of an inch.
Choose between Swinging Centreboard and Daggerboard
A discussion about basic pros and cons for swinging centreboards. And dagger centreboards. Centre Board means the board is in the centre. Which is different from a Lee board which is too the side.
Q&A How to Race a Dinghy Successfully the Low Stress Way.
Racing shows that what you know is what you know. It doesn’t matter if the boat is less than perfect. So where is it best to put in the effort to improve results. Boat setup, knowing how to adjust for different wind conditions, practicing skills until they become automatic, sailing as much as possible … and teaching others.
Repair of old and antique plywood class sailboats for Racing or Cruising
OK … I decided to keep the old racing dinghy and fix it up. How do I put my effort in the right places to get the maximum results? A grab bag of methods for joining plywood, working out sizes, making centreboards and rudders and more.
The Myths of Modern Sailing Boat Performance. Started with Mizzen and speed question
OK … it IS a rant. But it was prompted by the very legitimate question about why have a mizzen sail.
But sadly I descend into a rant about how expense is a really poor predictor of performance.
Mark Milam’s gorgeous wooden Duck – an OzRacer RV sailboat
Mark Milam has done an amazing job of overseeing a project combining his work with that of a boatbuilder friend. Also the best method I have seen of supporting a windsurfer mast in a sailing dinghy.
Wonderful woods, some great detail design and the very best fitting of a windsurfer rig to a dinghy that I have ever seen.