BYYB Forums

(10-04-2018, 12:17 PM)Keith Shergold Wrote: [ -> ]Brian we were thinking about your Dad as we sailed the boat he built. I am sure that she has gone to a good home and she sailed just like he imagined she would.

Al, out of the sails that came with the boat (Tom got a couple of suits) the nicest ones were the brand-new ones you see in Tom's pictures. The main doesn't even have eyes in the foot for laces. It was obviously intended to be loose-footed. Barry installed a track on the boom with which the foot can be tightened or loosened via a lanyard that goes through a cleat on the boom. We found this to be very effective in controlling sail shape. 

Astonishing how the boat blasts away after the tack in that video eh? It would have been even nicer if I was used to the tiller and various ropes and stuff. She's just different enough from my boat that I get a bit tangled up with the rooes being in different places than mine, plus the tiller is a little different. 

Barry installed quite a few interesting features into this boat's rig. The gooseneck can be raised and lowered, on a track with about a foot up or down. A peice of cord on the gooseneck attached to an eyebolt below it can be used to tension the luff and adjust the height of the boom. There is the track on the clew which can be used to tension the foot. As well as the standard adjustments to the peak and throat, which are led back to the cockpit. It's really an extremely adjustable boat. The lack of lacing on the boom makes the mainsail able to take any shape you want. I would love to experiment with it in a steady wind.

Perhaps the most mysterious thing about the boat is the headsail. It is clearly not a regular Weekender headsail. Its chord is at least a foot wider, as it "laps" about six inches aft of the mast. It is a powerful sail and I would love to know where Barry got it. It fits perfectly on the Weekender, although the sheets need to be led outboard of the shrouds rather than inboard the way they are on mine. 

Al I remember you had some thoughts on "lapper" headsails. Do you know anything about where Barry could have got this one? It fits Tom's boat perfectly. I think I'd like to try one on my boat. 

Anyway, I greatly enjoyed helping Tom get "Spirit Wind" in the water. The little yacht does indeed have a great deal of spirit and it was a very moving experience to see her dancing on the water after such a lengthy building period. I feel like I know Barry Pyeatt a little after helping Tom rig up his boat, and Tom did some excellent and very sympathetic work getting her fixed up and into shape for launch. It's my hope that she brings a great deal of pleasure to her new owner. AND I hope I get to drink rum on her someday.

Keith, we have had a better stretch of weather for the last week, and it looks like it's going to hold for a few days. If you are in Edmonton Thursday we can take Spiritwind for another sail. I need another lesson! On Sunday my wife and I took Spiritwind to Lake Wabamum, a bigger lake. It was fairly windy for me and waves were much bigger than the first outing. We launched just fine and headed into the lake. Waves started getting bigger, lots of whitecaps and things got real tense real fast. Ev had ahold of the jib ropes, one in each hand, sitting on the companion way seat like she was holding the ropes for a horse drawn cart, accept she was backwards. The heeling and hull crashing on the waves were making her nervous and I knew she was not enjoying the ride. We headed downwind back to the calm section of the lake and ended up sailing there for a couple of hours. Tacking against the wind in the large waves was exciting, but what a sensation heading back with the wind. Quite a nice calm feeling. I have video of the calmer section of the lake at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTFXHcg...TSCkGNmCPQ
All in all, Spiritwind looked after us, put up with our mistakes, got us home safely and overall gave us a more confidence for the next outing. Having you show me a thing or two about sailing helped immensely, especially docking without an engine. The small group of bystanders thought I was a seasoned pro at they way I got her along side the dock. I have to thank you again for helping out.

When I launched Duckie, I had never sailed a boat before, and  I did everything exactly wrong.  Someone who knew how to sail would have beaten me over the head with an oar if they saw me. The first tack I did was sailing backwards using the rudder to steer me all the way through the eye of the wind.  I lost count of how many times I let go of everything and let the boat save me.  With all of that, I have to this day never capsized my weekender, and I have faced down some pretty hairy winds.  Here's a little bit of advice.  Don't try to point too high.  Gaffers need to fill their mains with all the wind they can get.  If you point too high, you will slow down to nothing real fast. I have read that gaffers like their wind abaft of the beam.  That is true, but mine goes to weather pretty much as well as any  boat I have sailed with at messabouts.  I just have to plan my route a little different.

Don't be afraid to let go of everything and let the boat save you, because she will.

Al

Hi Tom,

As it turns out, I WILL be in Edmonton on Thursday. I'll give you a call tomorrow evening.

In one of your vids, I noticed that you were cruising right along.  From what I could tell you are going about as fast a weekender goes without special circumstances.  I expect that That your lapper is a big part of that.  That lapper is also about as big as the one I made for Duckie.  I've sailed her through gusts that were in the high 20's without touching the sheet.  I de-powered the main pretty far and sailed on the jib until the gust stopped.  I also put her on her side and sailed through a gust that I didn't see coming.  I couldn't reach the lee sheet to let the sail fly, so I had no choice.  Seeing as how you already have two sheets instead of the clubfoot, I would recommend that you tie the ends of the sheets together so that you can always grab the sheet no matter how far over you are.  I learned this from a book on sailing single handed.  It also helps to keep the cockpit tidier.  If you do this, just make sure you have enough length to allow the sail to slip as far as you think you might like it to.  I'm a little jealous of you starting out with a lapper except you will probably get spoiled.

I would like to see a pic of how your jib sheets are run around the shrouds and attached to the deck, do they have a track along the deck.  I am thinking about having a new lapper made by someone that knows what he is doing.  I am selling my CP so the current lapper is going bye  bye.  

Al

Thank you for the videos!
I feel so much better seeing this! You have no idea how much it means to me that it's getting the love and care that Dad would have wanted.