Three times in my life I have gone sailing in small boats without a lifejacket. Two times the boat sank. One time I capsized and found that swimming and trying to get back on the boat is very difficult in FRESH water. Also a hint about how to get kids to wear their lifejackets … wear YOURS!
Racing Cancelled. Videos of some high wind and high speed thrills with the simple and cheap to build Oz Goose sail boats. They might look like a box but they they are quick.
In the Philippines imported boat parts look extremely expensive compared to local incomes. So we have worked hard to eliminate them as much as possible or replace them. What is easy, cheap and good for racing performance? The result is a big way to save money.
All the videos for the Oz Goose and other similar boats OzRacer, Ocean Explorer, PD Goose. Families sailing, speed videos, capsize, racing. USA, Australia
I specify butt straps because they are simpler, faster and have a neat result for amateurs every time. But I do place them in the hull where they won’t affect curvature of the ply. What are their advantages for joining ply compared scarf joints.
The Oz Goose is multipurpose. It can hit speeds of 13 knots, is an excellent trainer and teaching boat with three adults aboard or a family sailer with two adults and a bunch of kids. It is lighter than a Laser Dinghy and a fraction of the cost
Sailing lessons 1 1/2 hours south of Manila on beautiful, natural Taal Lake. Boats, SUP boards and instruction, food, accommodation and Volcano and Eco Knowledge tours.
A great article from the Open Goose website on setting up and tuning lug rigs of all types.
Getting rid of a familiar crease in many lugsails.
Video – Ian Henehan worked out this 12ft Goose Version and launched it into 20 knot winds. You can check the video to see that this is probably correct. It certainly is, despite the poor camera angle which changes a few times the boat is fairly smoking along
How to reef a Balance Lugsail. A neat trick of using shock cord (bungee) for the intermediate ties makes it much faster to tie in a reef as well as remove the reef after. it also minimises the risk of damaging the sail if something major breaks elsewhere.
After a week or so of bad sailing weather, Daniel in Uruguay got out on the water in Piriapolis harbour to try out his new sail from ReallySimpleSails.com in the Philippines. The idea is to halve the price of sails for my plans so that it is even more economical to build a storerboat. This can save $300 plus
ReallySimpleSails.com saves $300 or more on your Goat Island Skiff, Oz Goose or Oz Racer.
Custom sails for other boats are also available and will represent a cost saving on your boatbuilding project.
These are full quality sails that we all have worked hard to keep the price down on without reducing quality.
So how does a lug rig boat go in club racing? My designs won’t be outclassed in club racing. I’m really keen to find out how the yardstick (handicap) changes as George and crew get used to the realities of course racing making the boat sail faster. We end up with an estimate of PY – Portsmouth Yardstick for the Goat Island Skiff.
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.
A problem with a single leeboard is after a capsize there is a 50% chance of it being out of reach. Here is a method of setting up a rope to help right PDRacers and OzRacers when the leeboard is out of reach. The nice thing about the OZ series is that all the boats come up with very little water inside when righted from capsize. Also the wooden mast doesn’t allow the boat to turn completely upside down.
Gyula, who built the first European OzRacer in 2008 wants to modify it for an outboard motor or an electric trolling motor – calculate output
John Goodman and I sailed the immaculate Goat Island Skiff he built from my plan in the Texas 200.
The boat showed itself to be one of the faster in the fleet despite loading up such a short boat with food, water and camping gear for six days with little outside support.
We played with sailing the boat by the lee – a method used by racing boats to gain both speed and control.
I document the method here including a video showing how the angle of heel can be controlled using the mainsheet.
There are lots of tips for building and designing boats on the net.
“Rules of thumb” are often quoted to help with the calculation of how much sail or how much keel or centreboard area or how big a mast is allowed to be and many other areas. Can a boat be stretched or shrunk or lengthened?
But how correct are they? Are they the best guide?
For the Goose – a first sailing report in moderate winds – and it works.
Also a free plan for a ketch/yawl version, and …
… Michael goes on a bit about the real differences between a ketch and a yawl