There is Bedlam in these parts (mainly because my new boat is on the water;-).
After about 12 hulls and 7 completed boats, I finally have a completely self-designed and built boat that I’m happy with. She’s not the sleekest or the fastest (or the most water proof:-P) but she’s a kick in the pants to sail. Well balanced in winds that go from drifters to 15 knots, the only problem so far is I haven’t rigged up my rather sizable jib for trimming so I don’t have full power off the wind.
Anyway, next project is the next evolution in my LSD (Long Skinny Deep) 36-600s. My previous boat, Omen, taught me a lot about these types of hulls, so this one is gonna be a little wider on the deck (5") and a little narrower on the bottom (3.5") but still carry the pick-axe keel and matte black finish that made the omen so beastly.
Due to the rather aggressive dimensions of this boat and the fact I’m never happy unless I’m taking a moonshot on these boats, I’m gonna try building a uni-rig with wood! This boat is gonna be a beast with a sailplan to match, and since my winch arm is only going to be about 4" long, I’m gonna need as much balance on my rig as I can get.
HAHA, I must be crazy, but so far things have turned out well, and I have a little experience with rotating rigs, so I’ll have some fun.
I love the sight of a black hull slicing through the chop on Creve Coeur Lake with my shroud-booms parallel to the water.
Bedlam is fast, fun, and pretty, but there is something in me that really appreciates the grotesque excesses that my Frankenstein 36-600 machines possess.
Anyhoo,
Hope everyone has better wind than I had last saturday (although friday was awfully nice!)
Well, I do actually have a few pics, but they were all taken in a drifter:-P
I can get a few hull shots and other up close pics, but I might need some help getting them up here, as I am notorious for my ability to not get files loaded properly.
Well folks, I have returned from falling off the earth (and by falling off the earth, I mean going to New Mexico. It was a lot of fun, but vacation leaves little time for this sort of thing.)
Soling1,
How did I place the keel and get the amount of lead? The mojo factor.
I really do very little math on these boats, so it’s basically what looks right is probably right. This seems to work when you have a design similar to others you have built.
As for the keel position, I typically keep that in about the middle of the hull (in profile), and usually come out with the center of the keel a little behind amidships. I try and keep the bulb centered on the keel and so putting it a little back from amidships keeps the boat floating level (the back end is a little more voluminous than the front end on my boats).
As for heavy air speed, she’s got it in a major way. Light wind she’s surprisingly responsive, but she’s definitely a big wind boat.
Zwarte Magica MM878-
You are right about that. A couple of differences that I noticed: that design certainly seems to have a “fancier” rig (although it is probably more efficient than mine) and it looked like those boats also have a pentagonal (deck, topsides, and two-piece V-bottom) as opposed to my box construction.
Also, if there built with fiberglass, that’s light years ahead of my boats (all balsa). I find if you use 1/8" balsa, it has plenty of strength without using glass.