Meet Kitty:slaphappy Finished the second hull today. Sure hope the snow goes away real soon so I can go out and try her. I got a feeling she will sail well. I am getting the hang of building these little boats.
Bob
Hey Bob, It looks great. I particually like the gaff rig. Looks sort of traditional but hightech, if you know what I mean.
Just a point which could be of some assistance.
If you cut your sailcloth with the weft at rightangles to the leech of the sail you may find it will flow slightly better.
It may not matter on our small size sails but could be worth a try on your next main.:batman:
Please post some photo`s of Kitty sailing as soon as that water softens.:icon_smok
Well done mate!
Thanks Ian I guess it is my modern version of a Cape Cod catboat. I did realize after I had cut out the sail that I had cut it out the wrong way but decided to use it for now. When I replace it I will make some real sails, I need to learn how to do that. I may be in SoCal, but I am at 5500 feet and we just got dumped on with about four foot of snow. It will be gone soon and I will be at lake’s edge real soon.
Bob
Bob,
Great idea with the catboat!!! I like the rig & the raised deckhouse.
All this Footy talk has inspired me to get started building my own from a bare hull I bought from Brett. Here’s a few images, will post more if anyone is interested.
Nice work, Bob! Quick suggestion…you might want to put the sheet thru an eye on the deck underneath where you attach the sheet to the boom. As it looks now, the amount of play because of the distance between the aft fairlead and the boom-attachment point could keep you from sailing close-hauled, therefore not being able to point into the wind.
Good progress on yours, too, Bill…especially for a guy who does his sailing on hard water!
Keep it up, guys…and keep us posted.
Bill
Bill, I did that right after I took those pictures!!! I saw it right then. and made an eye that attached to the deck and did not interfere with cabin removal. Anyway, she went for her maiden voyage this morning. Very little wind, which is great when you are on trial runs. Sailed well in the light puffers, but there really was not enough air to push the sail out for any downwind runs. Sorry about my camera not taking such great photos; it’s old.
Bob
nice pictures.
Thanks, Bill. BTW, I’m not entirely a hard surface sailor. I also sail an ODOM on our local pond during the summer at our weekly club races. But even though the ice is gone, it’s still a bit cold to do that so this Footy project has been alot of fun (and a good excuse to take a break from doing income taxes). Anyway, here’s a few more pictures, this time showing it with Brett’s new unarig concept. Sorry if things look unfinished–this is still in the prototype stage
I used 4 mil clear mylar for the luff sleeve in an attempt to gain enough rigidity so it will begin to approximate a rotating wingmast. Since this is fairly stiff material, I used a heat gun with it draped over some aluminum tubing in order to thermoset a smaller radius for the leading edge. The sail (2 mil frosted mylar) is then attached with double sided tape. The
3rd photo is an attempt to show the camber/draft induced by the rotating mylar sleeve. The sail clew & masthead crane are attached with pivoting wire connectors to allow unimpeded change of camber when tacking.
One of the nice things about Brett’s concept is that the rig pivot is set well aft, hence is partially balanced to require less power from the sail servo. I’m a little worried that there’s too much “lead” of the CE in front of the CLR. I may need to step the mast further aft to achieve overall balance.
Do you have any expectations for that new design?
Sure. I expect that it will work GREAT!!! I certainly wouldn’t be going to this effort if I thought it was going to be a flop, now would I??
I’m not sure I understand what you’re getting at.
BTW, how’s your Footy coming along?
Bill,
That looks excellent! Can’t wait to hear your report on how this sails! Might just have to try one of these rigs myself. Hurry up and finish it:mischievo
Bob:star:
Bills rig will work just fine Tom,mine did for a year or so . Bill is building his rig based on that design.
One thing though Bill,you might want to raise up the end of the boom,it may drag in the water when heeled. looking good though.
The main idea of the set back pivot is keep the CE near the centre of the boat when the sheet is eased (running downwind)I am also fnding that Footies can have a longer lead(distance between CE and CLR ) than longer boats.
Whats the progress on your Footy(s?) Tom?
Brett,
Good point about the boom dragging, been-there-done-that on big boats(NO FUN). The mast tube is just temporarily in place right now & I will wait to glue it in until the boat has sailed. I want to be able to play around with the rake angle, as it effects helm balance. I’m glad to hear that Footys need a fair amount of CE lead. It sort of makes sense when you think about the canoe body WL at rest compared to the banana shaped WL when heeled. Since it’s so short, it will assume this shape sooner & more radically, causing it to round up. Hence, the CE being forward will help balance this sooner.
I’m still trying to figure out how to attach a sheeting eye under the boom, as I really opened up the deck & would like to cover it entirely with clear film without a bridge in the way.
Here’s a couple pix of the float test in my laundry tub, which I did to adjust the location of the servo/battery tray. Also found a couple pinhole leaks I hadn’t caught before.
Hi Bill,
I havn’t done this but will on my next boat with this rig.
Put the sheet in front of the pivot,run it through a small dia tube in the foredeck then back to the servo.This way you get to keep behind the mast open for access.
Brett,
That’s a great example of “thinking outside the box” & is in keeping with the whole innovative concept of this rig. I wished I’d thought of it myself…and soon decided it was the best solution to the problem. Thanks!!
Below is a shot of the forward sheeting, as well as a couple more of the Footy’s maiden sail this evening. I decided to run the tube about 3/4" above the deck to reduce the amount of water getting in. Also, being higher allows a more optimal angle to the boom. I flared both ends of the tubing to reduce friction/wear on the sheet line. I placed the hole 2.5" in front of the mast pivot tube & the same length for the sail servo arm allows full range of motion. The sheeting & pivot tubes are temporarily held in place with a putty/caulk. BTW, the boat sailed nicely in the short time I had before the wind died. The balance felt good & control was positive.
Nice Job Bill,looks like you have come in under the 500g weight.The transom seems well clear of the water which is exellent.
The forward sheeting looks like a goer,will have to get cracking and finnish my new boat.
Bill,
Looks really good! I especially like the way you placed the servos and batteries. Certainly makes a lot of sense.
Bob
Brett,
Well, I didn’t build this with extreme lightness in mind & it came it at 590g with all equipment on board. Nonetheless, the transom just “kisses” the WL when at rest. Thanks.
Bob,
I did it this way to avoid conflict from the sail servo arm & to put the steering servo closer to the rudder. Also, it allows adjustment fore/aft of battery placement for proper trim.
Below are a few more pix showing the tubes glued in place & the mylar hatch cover. One of the things I really like about the Footy is it’s shallow draft which allows me to sail at the small pond across the street from my house, so I included a shot of that too.
Forward sheeting on a class of boats that nose dive in in gusty conditions? It seems to have worked well “…before the wind died”, but lets hear a report of the system in less favorable conditions, before encouraging others to adopt it through casual forum endorsement.
I sheet my boats from the transom and avoid any holes in the foredeck that might let water in under the pressure incurred in a nose dive. After all, “a pint is a pound the world around”, and what is the point of building a boat with a 500 gram target weight if you take on additional water inside the hull. On a 9# displacement IOM a cup of water in the hull won’t make a whole lot of impact (except to the electronics of course), but in a Footy the boat may well wallow, lose steerage and possibly sink before it can be sailed ashore.
Lets all be careful with our praise. This is a new and exciting class and we as a group don’t have much experience with it. To keep the energy level up and to prevent new people from having a bad experience the first time out the responsible approach would be to emphasize in a first report (like this one) that this new development is “untested in all conditions”.
We can all be proud of the curious nature that the Footy builders posting on this forum express by sharing their efforts with us all. We must still be aware that there are a lot of folks scanning these posts for information to help them with their own projects. Lets keep them in mind too.
Boy, do I ever feel scolded. Please forgive my irresponsible & foolish enthusiasm!!! I’ll be sure to be much more thoughtful before I make any comments in the future, so that I won’t offend your sense of propriety.
Perhaps you missed some of my words used in previous posts, such as “prototype” and “I decided to run the tube about 3/4” above the deck to reduce the amount of water getting in." I thought from my comments that it was perfectly obvious that a hole in the foredeck could be an issue & that the test conditions were quite limited. I hardly think anyone is going to sink their Footy on the “first time out”. If the forward sheeting turned out to be that big of a problem, I would hope you’d give me credit for being honest enough to report it to this forum & give details on what would be a simple modification to eliminate it. Let’s keep in mind that I am not the designer, nor am I profiting from the project. The idea is to have a little fun before the sailing season starts. I hope you would give “new people” the benefit of the doubt for being able to figure these thing out one their own. In short, although I totally agree with your concern about water leaking thru the sheeting hole, I really didn’t like the tone of your comment.
Regards,
Bill K