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I plan on entering Kingsfold in the 2017 Race to Alaska. (Anyone care to join me?...) Several under-20'-sailing dinghies completed it successfully this year. However, the Inside Passage is serious water. I understand that a self-draining cockpit makes a boat safer.

What are the trade-offs involved in doing such a thing? I still have some flexibility in my build. http://kingsfoldsailboat.blogspot.com/

I asked Paul this question before I posted on the forum. He replied with this:

Quote:Weekender would be a much safer boat, with a self draining cockpit. In fact, this is one feature that defines near and off shore yachts, but unfortunately, Weekender is just too small a boat, to comfortably install one. It could be done, but it would raise the sole quite a bit, making the seat tops too low. The seat tops could be raised to make it more comfortable, but now you've raise the center of gravity a little, which isn't good and the combing might now be too low. The additional weight wouldn't be much, but any extra in the cockpit just hurts performance. All in all, if you wanted a self draining cockpit, it should have been considered during the build, because you could have also raised the sheer a bit to compensate for the raised sole in the cockpit, plus the added freeboard would be a welcome addition to what you have in mind (the race). If this had been done, you could have raised the cabin sides some too, making more headroom inside it.

The short answer is yes and self draining cockpit is a good idea, but as with all things in yacht design, some trade off's have to be considered.

For what it is worth, I have raised my cabin sides 3". I have not attached the sides of the hull yet, though they are rough-cut per the plans. The cockpit seats, coaming, etc. are still a twinkle in my eye at this point so I could still raise them easily enough.

My question at this point is, how much would I have to raise the sole? And looking at my boat again, I am reminded I haven't trimmed the extra bit off the top of the transom yet. So an additional question would be, If I am understanding Paul's use of the term sheer correctly, How much higher on my transom should I raise the deck stringer by?

Why not make life easy and just put in a bilge pump. I have an automatic one in mine placed on the port side floor at the lowest point near the cabin entrance. In your case for the race, perhaps you could put 2 pumps, one on each side.

Simple and easy sounds very good to me. I do tend to get carried away with the enjoyment I find in designing things. I appreciate the pragmatism of your suggestion. But I still have the option, and a bilge pump (or two) would be one more item to drain a battery, so my questions above still stand.

I have found that with my bridge deck the amount of water that my weekender's cockpit will hold is pretty minimal.  In a hard chance I suppose it would take me much less than a minute to bail it out well enough to keep going.  I have sailed on a Michalac design that only had a small foot well that was capped so that the height of the seat was the cockpit sole itself unless the cap was removed.  It drained itself by way of scuppers in the coamings.  I liked this method quite a bit.  I suppose you could do something similar if you were willing to sit with your legs stretched out all the time.  This method would also provide much more floatation as well as storage in the rear of the boat.  Look at Michalac's Piccara to see what I mean. 

I have already done some of the modifications that you are contemplating on my weekender.  I raised the cabin two inches and would have gone to three if I wasn't too cheap to buy another sheet of plywood.  My coamings are also full length and quite high.  I couldn't  be happier with those two mods.  So far even in a chop that I doubt most weekender sailors would go out in I have yet to take more than a half a cup of spray into the cockpit.  If you go with catboat style coamings, which I recommend, be sure to make them with a comfortable top so that you can hike out on them without seriously creasing your butt.  These days I only hike out if I want to look cool.  However, I did make what I call a saddle to sit on if I do go out there.  Also, if you go with full length coamings I recommend that you do not enclose the cockpit in them.  Keep the back open to allow at least some water to escape even if it is only a little bit.  The higher coamings was a simple matter when building.  I simply added seven inches to the height of the seat backs.  I also made them out of quarter inch plywood and lamenated two layers to get the thickness as well as the curve I wanted without fighting the wood. 

The pic shows what my boat looks like after all the modifications I made to her.  She still looks like a weekender, and most people like her appearance.  In my knockdown test, she floated pretty high even full of water, and was easily righted.  With a cabin full of water, it took quite a bit of time to bail her out fully, but even with a few inches of water inside I think I could have kept sailing though not easily.  Try to make your hatches water tight.  Seriously.  Go the extra mile to make them water tight.  If you can keep water out of the cabin, you are way ahead of the game.  It is good to see that you are thinking about all these things while building.  For what you have in mind I think you can go pretty far toward having a boat that will work.

Al

Thanks, Al.
I am with you on your words here, and several things on your ship's photo as well. That was a helpful thing to post, too.

The LWL on most Weekenders is at the bottom of the transom, maybe a little higher, with 2 adults in the cockpit. To be effectively self draining, the cockpit sole would ideally need to be 6" above this, though 3" could be considered a minimum. If the cockpit sole was sloped aft, say an inch higher at the forward end, a couple of scuppers in the transom would permit self draining. Sealing scuppers (the kind with rubber flaps) would be a good idea to prevent follow seas from climbing into the cockpit. For average use, this modification isn't really necessary, but Gill's race plans make this a consideration, as he'll be in fairly rough condisions occasionally.

Say Gil,

Are you going to use a tabernacle of some sort for your mast?  Given the potential for heavy weather coming up in your face you might want to consider just for the race stepping a one piece mast with traditional wedges.  Losing your mast would not be good and a single piece stick would go a long way toward preventing that. 

Al

So here are some sketches I made last night (tracing off the drawings in the plans) and a photoshopped picture I did earlier this afternoon (before I read your posts, gentlemen). I have not made my mast yet, so a single piece one is certainly an option, and it's a suggestion I like very much. I did get my gate hinges welded, so they should be sturdier, I would think. I am planning to use Paul's four 2x4s design. I will keep an eye on this once I get some time on the water. Closer to the race date I'll make a final decision.

In my drawings, I estimated the 6" point, but planned for a greater slope angle. (I took a long stick with a level held on it, placing one end about 6" up from the bottom of my transom and the other end 3" down from the bottom edge of the main bulkhead hatch, and watched the bubble to make sure it was well off of level.)

I prefer the 1" rise you mention here, Paul, and I assume that is based on a level line and measured from the curving hull bottom.

Is the scupper I show here in a screen-capture what you had in mind? Would this one be fine, or would you recommend something else?

Also, Paul, if I infer correctly, I wouldn't need to raise the height of my seats? (I am still watching for any chance I have to reduce weight--but not at the sacrifice of safety)